Journal

Free Supply Chain Benchmarking Service offered by Kinaxis

Brian — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:06:33 +0000

A Software as a Solution Supply Chain provider, Kinaxis, launched a new free Benchmarking Service for companies interested in comparing their supply chain performance against others across various metrics.

The benchmarking provides a competitive comparison and ranks your company on any of 24 standard financial and operational metrics, such as cash-to-cash, inventory turns, gross margin and return on invested capital. The service can also be used by private companies and it allows them to confidentially enter their metrics into the system to set up comparisons.

This type of tool can be very useful to a company to understand how other organizations are performing on the metrics that are most meaningful as well as identifying areas for perfomance improvement.

The Benchmarking Service is being offered at no cost to and just requires registering as a member of the free Supply Chain Expert community and then clicking on the Benchmark My Company

Kraft Foods Optimizes Transportation for Improved Sustainability

Brian — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:43:30 +0000

Kraft Foods has eliminated more than 50 million truck miles since 2005 through a focus on transportation sustainability efforts. The company made these sustainability improvements by shifting wheat shipments from truck to barge and by using technology to reduce costs and emissions in transportation.

Kraft's initiative is called Project MOST (Management of Optimized Sustainable Transportation) and utilizes Oracle's Cooperative Routing which is an integrated option for Oracle's Transportation Management application. By looking at your entire logistics network over time, Cooperative Routing has allowed Kraft to strategically examine the use of carrier and fleet resources in their supply chain. It does this by identifying historical shipping patterns and determining optimal asset utilization, while bringing visibility to potential continuous move opportunities.

Kraft has achieved a strategic approach to transporation by mostly eliminating one-way freight with the establishment of permanent lane assignments that have improved service, reduced costs and lowered their carbon footprint.

Inventory Optimization in a multi-echelon network

Brian — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:12:35 +0000

Companies are constantly walking the fine line between carrying too much on-hand inventory to ensure on-time delivery requirements or cut costs by maintaining lower inventory levels that lower their service levels. Given today's global supply chains, longer lead times and unpredictable demand from one month to the next, inventory is integrally connected to a firm's profit margin.

Companies with thousands of products that are located in hundreds of locations face enormous challenges in determining the right level of inventory. The challenge is even greater when the locations are situated in different tiers or echelons of the enterprise’s distribution network which is a common distribution model for retailers, distributors and manufacturers.

A multi-echelon distribution network presents many opportunities for inventory optimization that the enterprise must pursue to offset potential increases in transportation, warehouse and occupancy costs. The key to achieving those savings is to use a software inventory optimization tool that for managing your multi-echelon inventory. With the right set of tools and approach, it is possible to achieve both better customer service with less inventory and is a win–win strategy for your inventory management.

Intel slashes logistics costs by 80% for their new Atom chips

Brian — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:32:33 +0000

Intel's new Atom chip costs one fifth the cost from Intel's other chips and required a new supply chain design with substantially reduced costs. They achieved this by revaluating every assumption and focusing on ways to reduce inventory levels.

For its traditional chips, Intel operated on a nine-week order cycle time with with many order changes from their customers which led to higher inventory levels and sub optimized factories. Intel focused on shifting to a make-to-order model with firm orders accepted and then delivered in two weeks instead of nine.

One of the challenges that Intel faced with this paradigm shift was overcoming the instilled industry perceptions about the make-to-order model. With the success of this initiative, Intel is now looking at implementing the new approach to the traditional chip's supply chain.

http://www.scdigest.com/ASSETS/ON_TARGET/09-11-04-3.PHP?CID=2911

Tesco targets a 30% carbon footprint reduction

Brian — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:32:59 +0000

Tesco, a supermarket giant based in the UK, has set a goal of cutting the carbon footprint of its entire supply chain by 30% by 2020 as part of long-term plans to become a zero-carbon business. Sir Terry Leahy, Tesco's chief executive, said that the supermarket giant would focus on consumer behavior as it aims to become a zero-carbon operation by 2050.

Tesco is not only working with their suppliers to reduce packaging but also has modified their Buy One Get One Free program to a Buy One, Get One Free - Later in which consumers can pick up the free product in the future when it is needed. They also publish the carbon footprints of 114 products on their labels and is aiming to work out the carbon footprints of 500 products by the end of the year.

Leahy said: "Of course, we are taking action because it is the right thing to do, because we don't want our children and grandchildren to face the chaos of climate change. Other measures announced by Tesco today include using green systems and technology as well as support for a universal accountancy standard for carbon in products and services to provide a basis for carbon co-operation between businesses and promote carbon numeracy among consumers.

SaaS gaining momentum in the market

Brian — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:33:08 +0000

Software as a Service (SaaS) vendors have been gaining momentum due to their lower costs and quicker implementations. SaaS vendors offer an on demand software deployment that allows IT resources to focus on more strategic initiatives rather spending time and money managing expensive hardware. SaaS and cloud computing also offer improved energy efficiency and sustainability benefits.

Trend in near-sourcing instead of outsourcing overseas

Brian — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Companies like Tesla Motors are re-thinking their manufacturing outsourcing strategy and looking at near-sourcing their crtitical components. Tesla just shifted production of their 1,000 pound batteries from Thailand to near their facility in California. With volatility in fuel costs and overall high freight costs, there has been a shift towards "reverse globalization". Another factor in this trend comes from increased strength in Asian currencies which has made outsourcing to be less attractive to manufacturers. How will the trend of near-sourcing affect you and it makes sense to evaluate whether this strategy makes sense for you.

New Thinking in Supply Chain for Tough Times – and Beyond

Brian — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:32:30 +0000

I read an article from Dan Gilmore of SC Digest that discusses how companies are looking for new ideas on how to use their supply chains in dealing with the downturn and how to prepare for the recovery. Companies should consider work on projects designed to improve their supply chains so that they are more competitive as the economy improves. Areas that companies are looking to make improvements include supply chain network redesign, supply chain reorganization, SKU-rationalization projects, aligning metrics with people and the way you deliver value to the customer. Additionally, it makes sense to eliminate silos of optimization in an organization so that there is a holitic view and decisions are made with the entire supply chain in mind instead of optimization of one area at the expense of another.

http://www.scdigest.com/ASSETS/ON_TARGET/09-08-31-1.PHP?CID=2682

Expect increased focus on greenhouse gas in 2010

Brian — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:59:04 +0000

A recent AMR Research study shows that although companies are not currently measuring their greenhouse gas emissions, they expect increased focus on green initiatives in 2010. The report surveyed 313 corporations and showed greenhouse gas emissions will be the leading initiative for 20 percent of the respondents in 2010, a higher priority than any other initiative.

The report acknowledges the recession as a factor in affecting environmental awareness and companies are linking sustainability to driving continuous improvement and adding to the bottom line. When asked to identify the most important factors when it comes to going green, the leading response was “Business Opportunities”. Sustainability as viewed by companies has shifted from a nice to have to a need to have.

http://www.amrresearch.com/Content/View.aspx?compURI=tcm:7-43922

70% of companies looking to add a transportation solution due to their robust savings

Brian — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:18:34 +0000

Despite the lower spending levels at most companies and tough ecomomic climate, companies realize the benefit of investing in a transportation solution can reduce costs. According to a recent Aberdeen survey, nearly 70 percent of companies for the firm’s second quarter 2009 AXIS report on TMS say that they currently have a mandate from management to make technology recommendations for transportation-related solutions with 54 percent of respondents planning to adopt a related solution in the next 18 to 24 months.

AMR Research also has a new report that discusses the robust TMS savings that firms that invest in a transportation solution are receiving. According to AMR, TMS solutions offer considerable savings potential including "freight budget cost reduction, route and mode optimization, more competitive delivery options, and reduced network inventory levels".