Supply Chain

Cost management has taken on increasing importance in all aspects of the business. And in no part of the business is it any more critical than in procurement and sourcing activities. In this article, professor Wendy Tate of the University of Tennessee explains the principles and techniques that enable effective cost management as part of an overall strategic sourcing approach.

In her book, Vested Outsourcing: Five Rules That Will Transform Outsourcing, Kate Vitasek talks about three case studies, with P&G, McDonalds and Microsoft, and their successful supplier relationships. A common theme was the shift away from a traditional customer-supplier relationship to a highly collaborative relationship aimed at developing a win-win solution.

According to a new survey by Consero Group, an international consultancy based in Bethesda, Md, over 50 percent of Chief Procurement Officers said their company pursues short-term savings from suppliers that undermine long-term value.

This survey, presented in partnership with Vantage Partners, LLC, was developed in connection with an invitation-only event hosted by Consero Group LLC in January 2013 for a group of Fortune 1000 Chief Procurement Officers.

Procurement leaders face new pressures in 2013 as companies focus on profitable growth and balance local agility with global scale in their value chains, according to new Procurement Key Issues Research from The Hackett Group.

From intelligently micro-segmenting their products to creating continuous inventory process improvements, few businesses have the capabilities and vision to transform their inventory into a competitive advantage.

The Logistics Management 2013 salary survey finds the highest salaries in logistics and supply chain management will be earned by those sticking to time-honored values: education, hard work, and company loyalty.

The concept of demand management includes demand sensing, demand shaping, demand translation, and demand orchestration throughout the value network.

Of all the Hackett Key Issues Studies conducted in the last five years, the 2013 edition shows the greatest year over- last change in priorities for both performance and capability-related issues. As companies adapt their operating models to the globalized business environment, business support functions are impacted in many ways.

This is Norfolk Southern’s fifth annual corporate sustainability report. It discloses the railroad’s significant environmental, economic, and social impacts to provide stakeholders a way to assess our commitment to corporate sustainability.

Infrastructure enhancements such as the National Gateway are critical for rail transportation to help create jobs, promote growth and sustain the environment.

Brick & mortar retailers in the grocery, mass and specialty categories have weathered tumultuous years with decreasing sales and increasing pressure from online peers. While e-commerce is not a fading trend, there exists widespread opportunity for improved performance of retail supply chains which will help brick & mortars compete in the new retail landscape.

The availability of downstream data has never been higher, but the efforts to use it are stalled. The answer lies in rethinking processes end-to-end to use the data. The answers fly in the face of traditional thinking and will require active stewardship by manufacturing leaders that understand why it is important to drive outside-in processes.

Brad Kerr, Senior Director, Supply Chain Management Applications, Oracle Corporation and Michael Pearcy, Senior Manager, Capgemini discuss fulfillment best practices as well as case studies featuring companies that have successfully deployed Oracle supply chain solutions to address their distributed order management and fulfillment needs.

As a transaction-oriented system, it seems only natural that ERP would have a major impact on the day-to-day activities of finance executives. This Analyst Insight examines the challenges facing finance executives today, and the ways in which ERP is helping them to overcome these challenges.

Top ERP performers report double digit cost savings as well as significant reduction in cycle times and improvements in customer retention and percentage of complete and on-time deliveries. Yet the average ERP implementation in wholesale distribution fails to produce anywhere near the results

When one of the largest off-price apparel store chains in the U.S. approached RedPrairie, the retailer’s management team had some very specific goals in mind. The retailer wanted to eliminate complexity from its store communications and employ targeted task management to drive sales, employee satisfaction and consequent productivity.

Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently spoke with Vitran Corporation President and CEO Rick Gaetz about the North American less-than-truckload (LTL) market, Vitran’s recent divestiture of its Supply Chain Operation (SCO) 3PL subsidiary, and the freight economy, among other topics.

While small businesses have increasingly found opportunities to expand globally over the past few years, companies face a staggering number of regulatory hurdles when looking to import or export. By Amber Road