Localized Supply Chains: How Not to Reduce Supply Chain Risk
In a recent Industry Week column, Paul Ericksen, a consultant, makes a number of arguments about the importance of considering the extended supply chain when setting up new facilities or onboarding new suppliers. The basis of his argument cites the case of a large multinational manufacturer “with a factory located in the upper-Midwest United States” […]
The Apple Watch: Generating “Supply Chain Strain” or Simply a Blockbuster?
I’m one of the many folks who are geeking out about the Apple Watch and have my place on the waiting list to purchase one. As a runner, the idea of a heart rate monitor that is simply on the wrist all day and accurate enough to be valuable is sufficient to put me over […]
Will Supply Risk Threaten the Safety of Tomorrow’s Drug Supply?
Even though this article only highlights the findings from a recent PWC and Axendia study looking at the future of the pharmaceutical supply chain, it echoes a number of the things I’ve heard from industry procurement and operatio…
Boeing: On Becoming 100% Dependent on Suppliers at 30,000 Feet
Kudos to Bob Ferrari for picking up on some recent commentary from Boeing CEO Jim McNerney, who recently voiced his opinion of how the aerospace and defense supply chain is becoming increasingly dependent on suppliers. The news got to Bob in a sort of roundabout social media way. He notes in this regard that “The […]
Supply Risk Lessons from Nissan’s Recent Production Shutdown
In July, Nissan had to commence a three-day shutdown at four of its manufacturing plants because of a supply shortage of key chip components from Hitachi. According to EE Times, “Nissan Motor Co. announced here that it is suspending production lines at four of the company’s five domestic assembly plants for three days starting Wednesday, […]
The Dangers of Lean — Ignore at Your Peril
Even though I’m married to a Six Sigma black belt who wants to run Kaizen events to improve my personal organization and process efficiency both in the office and out, I’ll be the first to suggest that lean principals can introduce material risk into the supply chain — especially in volatile and risky economic markets. […]
Did Toyota’s Lean Supply Chain Go Bad?
There’s been a lot of finger pointing in the press recently when it comes to Toyota?s suddenly accelerating escapades, which seemed to downshift into third gear with the accelerator floored (even to the point of a made-for-media car chase and forensi…
Rolling out a Supplier Performance Management Program ? Key Process Steps (Part 2)
In this second post in the series on key process steps for supplier performance management (SPM), we?ll turn our attention primarily to monitoring and administering a program once it’s up and running. As a reminder to those who may have missed the fi…
Earthquakes Show Supply Chain Risk Extends Beyond Supplier Financial Viability
Inside many companies, the recession has caused supply risk to move from a secondary issue to a primary concern. Despite this interest, many companies are approaching the topic from a narrow scope, considering only supplier financial viability as a r…
Oracle’s On Demand Procurement Launch
Earlier today, Oracle announced the formal launch of its On Demand suite of procurement products. These solutions, which Oracle labels as Oracle Procurement On Demand should be no surprise to Spend Matters readers (check our recent coverage here and…
