INSIGHTS

How do you know if you are paying a competitive price to your vendors? Do you feel blindsided by price changes? Here we provide an outline of recommendations and questions to ask your procurement team so you can work towards putting the "strategic" back into your sourcing efforts.

Are you responsible for telling the story of how well you're managing your inventory? It can be challenging to determine if you're managing it efficiently because inventory is always in motion. Here are our insights into the narrative to present and the metrics to support it.

Most people are familiar with Lean / Six Sigma continuous improvement activities in manufacturing, but did you know many of those principles apply to supply chain as well?

Not familiar with this supply chain TLA? (Three Letter Acronym) A Request for Proposal is asking a supplier to quote pricing for a good or service. It may be called an RFQ, an RFX, or a Bid. Different names for the same concept.

In today’s rapidly changing landscape with increasing uncertainty and volatility, the effective management of relationships with your suppliers is more important than ever. Positive, mutually beneficial partnerships will ensure that your company is investing money, time, and energy with those ...

There’s no denying the fact that freight and storage are a cost that can be somewhat unpredictable and highly impactful to your margins if not thoughtfully approached.

Global supply chain disruptions and geo-political events have caused a resurgence in interest around re-shoring or near-shoring, defined as transferring business operations (manufacturing) back to or near to the U.S. For ease of reading, we will refer to “re-shoring” to cover both re-shoring, and ...

Maybe you’re not quite big enough to need a full-time supply chain leader or resource, but you’re feeling the pinch of #supplychainproblems that just don’t seem to go away. Or perhaps you’re on a growth trajectory that commands changes to how you’ve always been doing things, or building new ...

Increasing inventories are a common concern we are hearing lately. With the pandemic supply chains issues receding, companies are beginning to experience full warehouses and greater percentages of working capital tied up in inventory.

A great opportunity for cost-savings is to evaluate your distribution network. Especially if you have multiple warehouses, DC’s, or “nodes” in your distribution network, it’s important to ensure that it functions as cost-optimally as possible.

We wanted to share the trends we’re hearing/seeing in the US freight markets, in case it helps to make better decisions for the next 12+ months on your approach to freight and cost management.

In stark contrast to 12 months ago, a glut of inventory may be a dubious honor right now, especially if you’re looking out 12-18 months and starting to sense that demand for your goods is waning due to inflation, fears of recession, or simply ever-shifting consumer trends.

The past 2 years have shown that relying on a single raw materials source is a recipe for disrupted supply chains and an inability to meet customer demand. A robust supply chain is achieved not only by diversity, but also reliability and resilience. An effective procurement and supply chain ...

The past 2 years have shown that relying on a single raw materials source is a recipe for disrupted supply chains and an inability to meet customer demand. A robust supply chain is achieved not only by diversity, but also reliability and resilience. An effective procurement and supply chain ...

The past 2 years have shown that relying on a single raw materials source is a recipe for disrupted supply chains and an inability to meet customer demand. A robust supply chain is achieved not only by diversity, but also reliability and resilience. An effective procurement and supply chain ...

If you’re leading, running, executing, or accountable for the performance of a supply chain and you’re not intimately aware of what your inventories are doing, it’s not too late to get curious.

Why is US Rail Shipping So Hard Right Now? It can be somewhat difficult to find good information about the current market dynamics for US railroads so we leveraged our rail shipper network to tie together first-hand experiences with what we could find in the news and reputable internet searches, as ...

Inventory Strategy May Hold The Secret To Reduced CapEx Needs It’s been a crazy couple of years for manufacturing and supply chain, with near-constant disruptions, predictability has become all-but a thing of the past.

Some of the levers that drive inventory levels and management are easier to pull than others. An Inventory Planning system is certainly helpful because it constantly reviews your positions, effectively driving-out the review cycle time.

Successful and Strategic Supply Chain Management Would you consider your business successful if you could say, “our customers are hungry for more and we make good money serving them!” Most businesses would consider this a great indication of their success. We feel the same way about Supply Chain.

Delayed Customization Strategies: Supply Chain Management and Grocery Lists Did you know that you’re a supply chain strategist in your everyday life?

Over my career I’ve led investments and built partnerships with innovative companies ranging from startups to mid-sized businesses. I’ve typically represented the “strategic partner.” That means I represented the company with the resources but lacked the technology or nimbleness the small company ...

Change can be complicated, yet change is also a constant. Effective leadership through change isn't just tied to a specific event but is something leaders need to deal with on a daily basis. Your ability to lead effectively through significant changes is directly related to how you guide a team ...

Know your Metrics, Know your Business