Logistics Blog and Supply Chains Blog

A training challenge. Productivity is a term not far from the lips of politicians and industry leaders. But while bemoaning the lack of productivity by workers, they conveniently ignore the fact that productivity is actually driven by the managers of enterprises. In the March Newsletter (subscribe at www.learnaboutlogistics.com) I discussed supply chain challenges for foreign multi-brand retailers who consider investing … Read More

Economies are changing. Industries, or companies within them, can change how they operate depending on changes in markets, competition and supplies. This can affect a business’s contracts with its logistics service providers (LSPs). For example, changes in the competitiveness of America is making it more attractive for some companies to ‘on-shore’, that is to once again manufacture in America. In … Read More

Understanding can take a long time. A recent survey of about 400 companies in America, conducted through Supply Chain Digest, indicates that Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) remains ‘a fairly immature process in the majority of companies’. And this is more than 30 years after the concept was first described! Why is it that a process designed to overcome a … Read More

The going on in metals. We assume the spot and future price of commodities are established on trading exchanges through an open market that prices the imbalance between supply and demand. True, but events can influence perceptions and therefore the price. For example, events can be short term, where traders think that a disturbance (man made or natural) in countries … Read More

Services are growing. A recent news article concerned a real estate agency supplying services to a telecommunications company. The work was to represent the telecom company in selling surplus property. Nothing surprising about the arrangement, except that the head of property investment at the telecom is involved in a business venture with the head of the real estate firm. So, … Read More