Recurrent challenges in supply chains In media articles written for industry and professionals, there is a stream of ‘good news’ stories about technologies and the positive outcomes from implementation. However, media articles written for financial and investment people have different stories. Three recent articles have highlighted some basic and recurring challenges that affect supply chains: These situations are not specific … Read More
Nature provides Value and Risk through Supply Chains
Protecting Nature As climate reporting by companies becomes a mandatory requirement for doing business in developed economies, a similar development is likely for the protection of Nature. And Procurement will have a lead role in compliance for their organisation. The change in thinking required by Procurement to protect Nature is that growth in a business must be decoupled from the … Read More
Develop a Supply Chains Design Map to know your Network
Why is a Map needed? The network of suppliers and customers for your organisation will not become ‘integrated’, because each is an independent organisations with their own business objectives and policies. The need is therefore to build a ‘body of knowledge’ about customers, suppliers and the supply markets on which your organisation relies. An assumption can be that by acquiring … Read More
Segment inbound supply items to better understand risks
Supply Chain elements The global trading situation contains multiple risks, so not understanding your organisation’s core and extended supply chains is a risk to the business. To gain this understanding requires an analysis of the main elements within an organisation’s supply chains. These are: customers, finished goods inventory, suppliers and inbound supply items. For inbound supply items, an increased emphasis … Read More
Supplier Risks in Supply Chains identify their Segment
Uncertainty and Risk Segmentation of activities within your organisation’s supply chains is an early step to reduce the complexity of an organisation’s supply chains. Segmenting customers on the basis of ‘cost to serve’ was discussed in a previous blogpost. Here, the discussion is concerned with segmenting suppliers. But where many still regard buy price and total spend as the main … Read More