Issue Archives: Quarter 4 2007
How big is your carbon footprint?
Before you can build an energy-efficient supply chain, you need to understand your company's carbon emissions.
Relationships for supply chain success
Supply chain management by its very nature depends on relationships and connections. In the first excerpt from their recent book, Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management: An Essential Guide for the 21st Century, the authors describe some of the relationships that play an important role in achieving supply chain success. In the second excerpt, they focus on consultants, looking at how they operate and when it makes sense to use them—or not.
Running inventory like a Deere
By restructuring the supply chain for one of its divisions, John Deere cut inventory and reduced freight costs to better manage assets and enhance shareholder value.
The persistent gap between supply and demand
A research study finds that most companies have a long way to go before they can achieve a demand-driven inventory strategy.
Gauging total cost, supplier by supplier
Because it reveals hidden costs, the "unit total cost" approach to purchasing can help companies accurately evaluate the cost of doing business with individual suppliers.
It's your supply chain — secure it!
IBM's top supply chain security executive makes the case for industry/government partnerships and for global supply chain security standards. We are all responsible for securing global supply chains, he says.
Web services: Will build to suit
The latest trend in computing allows supply chain managers to mix and match existing software programs to customize solutions for their operations.
Columns
Afterword
Mutual aid
Collaboration on humanitarian supply chains is not just a topic for academic research.
Career Ladder
To advance your career, develop a "personal brand"
These days, "doing your job well" doesn't just mean getting results; it also encompasses how you get them.
Monetary Matters
Black Sea nations struggle with rising tide of trade
Total waterborne trade moving through the Black Sea rose 10 percent per year during the last three years.
Perspective
Global warming and you
Will measuring carbon footprints be another onerous requirement with no benefits for business? Actually, it might prove to be a fruitful exercise—and not just for reasons of social responsibility.
Supply Chain Executive Insight E-Newsletter
Each month the Supply Chain Executive Insight e-newsletter will include brief articles about developments that are often overlooked by other supply chain publications. We will present you with summaries of the latest research as well as new ideas on how to make your supply chain operations more effective. And we'll offer commentary that sheds light on what's happening in supply chains today.Sign up now!
Free Articles From The Current Issue
Who keeps the engines of global commerce running?Although what supply chain professionals do every day impacts commerce everywhere in the world, their role in corporate success and competitiveness generally has remained in the background.
Emerging consumer markets: the new drivers of global economic growth
Consumption is still largely concentrated in North America and Western Europe, but consumers in emerging markets are stepping onto the world stage in greater numbers.
Global trade trends down as local consumption slowly grows
Global trade levels declined by 1.3 percent in Quarter 3 of 2011 while domestic consumption continued to grow.
Time to come home?
To offshore, nearshore, or "reshore"? A total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis can answer that question. For some companies, TCO analyses are suggesting that manufacturing close to the point of consumption is the best choice.
A hard look at the soft side of performance
Supply chain scorecards typically focus on operational metrics. But if companies want to capture a true picture of supply chain success, they need to measure employees' interpersonal performance, too.
Most Read Articles
Sponsored Links
Perspective
Power to the (supply chain) people
When the unexpected happens, let the managers on the frontlines make decisions to quickly address developing situations.
Forward ThinkingPower to the (supply chain) people
When the unexpected happens, let the managers on the frontlines make decisions to quickly address developing situations.
Globalization a top concern for supply chain managers
It's a big world out there, and supply chain executives know they need to master it. That's one of the takeaways from the latest Ohio State University Survey of Career Patterns in Logistics, presented at CSCMP's 2007 Annual Conference in Philadelphia.
Forward Thinking
Shopping study could shape grocery replenishment
The study turned up some surprising insights that challenge the conventional wisdom about consumer behavior.
Forward Thinking
Poor logistics performance hampers economic growth
A new study issued by the World Bank identifies "trade logistics"—the capacity to connect to international markets to ship goods—as a critical factor in a country's potential for economic growth.
Forward Thinking
Fraud strikes four out of five companies worldwide
A recent survey conducted for the risk consulting company Kroll found that four out of five companies have experienced some sort of fraud in the past three years. In every industry sector, companies have lost many millions of dollars to fraud, according to Kroll's latest Global Fraud Report.
Forward Thinking
Present-day pirates
The general public rarely hears about ocean shipping, but thanks to National Geographic, millions of readers are getting a look at a problem that's unknown even to many importers and exporters: piracy.
Forward Thinking
Toy recalls: Who's really to blame?
Wherever recalls of Chinese products have cropped up, it's been widely assumed that suppliers were at fault. But that may be untrue in many cases, say two Canadian researchers.
Forward Thinking
Breaking the supply chain language barrier
More than 20 supply chain practitioners, consultants, and academics came together earlier this year to develop mutually agreed definitions for a number of supply chain metrics.
Forward Thinking
Put an end to long-term forecasting?
Toss aside the conventional wisdom that says detailed, long-term forecasts are essential to balancing demand and supply. Short-term forecasts can produce more accurate results with a lot less work, a new white paper argues.
Forward Thinking
The human element
For international supply chain projects, cultural sensitivity, mutual respect, and clear communication can be as important as technology and engineering.
Forward Thinking
Benchmarking "do's" and "don'ts"
How can companies get the greatest benefits from benchmarking and best practices in their supply chains?
Forward Thinking
It's about time
Back when most people were hailing quality as the definitive source of competitive advantage, George Stalk had another idea: Although cost and quality matter, the real key to success is time.
Forward Thinking
The ups and downs of new product launches
Companies often fail to anticipate problems when they launch new products, according to André Kuper, a project manager for Hewlett-Packard Co.
Departments
Dialogue: A Conversation With a CSCMP MemberCitizen of the world
A wealth of experience on four continents has given South Africa's Abré Pienaar a global outlook that's balanced by an appreciation of local sensitivities.
Open Enrollment
Open Enrollment
Upcoming professional education programs around the world
CSCMP Notebook
CSCMP Notebook
News and ideas for success from CSCMP
