global supply chain solution

Command and Control: Driving Global Commerce Management Excellence, part 1

2009-02-06T12:16:00.001-05:00

The global commerce landscape is markedly different than it was only 2 to 3 years ago. Available solutions provide global trade management, visibility, track and trace, compliance and landed cost either as a SaaS, hosted or traditional licensed model. Yet, companies still struggle to fully command and control their global commerce environment to drive the exceptional values promised. The next

Global supply chain visibility solutions - have they delivered?

2007-11-15T16:17:00.000-05:00

A recent Aberdeen study reported that the greatest problem for executives in global supply chain management is still visibility. In the study 79% of the executives from large companies and 41% of executives from SME that responded ranked "Lack of critical supply chain visibility" as the overall most important issue. The second greatest problem was "Uncoordinated multi-tier supply chain

Surfs up or is it a Tsunami?

2005-12-22T17:47:00.000-05:00

Globalization – a wave to ride or a tidal wave of massive destruction?Globalization is changing traditional business practices and for many companies the changes are of tidal wave proportions. In North America many senior managers are having nightmares of their products are drowning in a flood of low-cost import competition. The company’s or its divisions’ survival is at stake and if the

Global Inventory Management – From Theory to Reality/Driving value from the global supply chain

2005-08-24T13:35:00.000-04:00

With globalization and outsourcing of manufacturing capabilities to offshore producers it is time to look at the effect this is having on inventory across the global supply chains. The analysts, Gartner, Aberdeen, ARC and AMR who have looked at the issue of inventory in the supply chain have come to the conclusion that globalization is beginning to have a major negative impact on the amount of

The Case for a Global Supply Chain approach for the Enterprise

2005-06-15T18:22:00.000-04:00

Scenario 1: A large global 2000 company (it really doesn’t matter which industry) views itself primarily as a manufacturer. It has owned manufacturing facilities on several continents that manufacture most of the company’s products. It views its competitive advantage as being able to streamline its manufacturing facilities. However, because of competitive pressures for lower prices and the

Is it time to look at organizations from a Supply Chain rather than a ERP perspective?

2005-05-20T13:01:00.000-04:00

I have just returned from visiting several potential clients and I am still surprised how despite the discussions by consultants, analysts and the media about the need of companies to manage their business as an integrated enterprise demand/supply chain most still view their environment from a “within the four-walls” perspective.While controlling activities within the four walls is essential, and

Global Supply Chain Blog

2005-05-05T10:54:00.000-04:00

I have created the Global Supply Chain blog. I created this blog because there is a need for a venue where professionals and practitioners (read operations, finance and IT) people can come and freely exchange ideas on Global Supply Chain issues.People who are actively involved in Global Supply Chain management have always understood that their business is different from other aspects of the

Aligning Finance and Operations – The key to long-term business success. (Part 1)

2005-05-04T12:11:00.000-04:00

There is a huge rift in understanding and language between operations and finance people within an organization. Although both appear to deal with similar information the ability to communicate with each other is limited by common vocabulary, perspective, responsibility, and experience. This lack of commonality between these 2 groups leaves a very large gap in aligning corporate objectives. It

Does Company Size Matter? - Where the Risk lies in buying Global Commerce software solutions.

2005-04-26T16:38:00.000-04:00

I had a talk with Larry Lapide at the Council of Logistics Management convention in Chicago about the perceived risk by many companies, large and small, in buying software solutions from small and medium sized software vendors. His comments were extremely interesting. Larry said that he is advising students and industry execs that the risk factor of doing business with “smallish” firms that

Clients vs. Software Solutions Providers – why the client usually loses (or is less than satisfied).

2005-04-08T14:58:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I had an interesting experience. I received a telephone call from a consultant who advised me that because of our firm’s size his client had not selected us for consideration. He agreed that the application had a great functional fit. The client’s concern with our size was that in dealing with us (or other small software suppliers) they were at more risk than dealing with a larger

On-Demand Services: Is it hype or do they really work? (Part 1)

2005-03-29T12:37:00.000-05:00

In the arena of the global economy there is a lot of talk about outsourcing mission critical business activities to 3rd party providers in the name of better effectiveness and efficiency. The argument that an activity that is mission critical but not a “core competency” should be outsourced to companies that specialize in that specific area is compelling particularly if the internal capabilities

Global Commerce Management - Why ERP just doesn't cut it!

2005-03-22T10:48:00.000-05:00

I was thinking the other day about the massive trade deficit that the United States was running and the potential problems that it can create for the economy. It has been an issue for many years now and it isn’t going away anytime soon. The dependence of the U.S. on global trade and commerce is growing every year as a percent of the economy and