Blockchains as a disruptor. Start-up businesses become disruptors when entrepreneurs can see a business opportunity caused by failings in the current business model or complexity that can be reduced; but it requires availability of suitable technologies . This could happen to financing within supply chains, through the adoption of Blockchain technology. A recent report by Bloomberg describes a trial that is … Read More
Implement the S&OP process for supply chain success
S&OP as the hub of your business. My previous post discussed Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) becoming the ‘hub of your business’. After about six months, a successful implementation of the initial stage can result in the executive team working from one plan. That is an improvement over the more common situation, where the profit centre manager is lobbied by … Read More
Sales and Operations Planning, the hub of your business
Why are you not using S&OP? In business, we live (and die) by financial results. The Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet tell us the financial result of our actions for the past period(s). My question for clients is why financial budgets, with all their defects, is the only tool used for looking forward. For more than 30 years, Sales … Read More
There are capacity constraints in your operations
Planning is critical. For the flows of materials and money into, through and out of your business to be effective, they must be planned. Planning is a core capability of a successful business; without it, staff become reactive to events. This looks good as a ‘can do’ attitude, running around to ‘put out fires’, but it is an ineffective and … Read More
Build your inventory plan for a profitable business
Setting inventory policy. A Supply Chain manager will view performance across three aspects at the inventory policy level: customer service levels by inventory category/class; inventory turnover rate and the resulting operating profit. If this is done, inventory will not have to be managed against a financial target established in the annual budget. Instead, the inventory plan will be based on … Read More