As customers continue to demand shorter lead times, it becomes imperative for manufacturers and distributors to become more responsive and improve order fulfillment cycle time. I've been working on my book The Amazon Effect lately, and it brings to mind the critical importance of responsiveness. There is no doubt [...]
October 13, 2015 While I was giving my speech at the APICS International Conference, my Mom was calling my cell phone to tell me that she couldn't wake my Dad up that morning. He had a stroke in his sleep. Of course I flew out to AZ immediately. He [...]
August 25, 2015 As I was debating about what to write about this week, two colleagues walked into my client's office for help in resolving an issue. Upon leaving, one said "It's not what you know; it's who you know". I thought this phrase rang true. Clearly, you have [...]
June 15, 2015 According to a recent KPMG survey on the Global Manufacturing Outlook, executives are thinking about innovation. 81% are altering their business models to to encourage collaboration with customers, suppliers and other partners to "improve the value of their innovation investments". Speed is critical. Thus, a key [...]
The best businesses see their employees as assets and treat them like partners.I constantly go back to what my HR mentor (Debra Daniels) used to say, “It begins and ends with people.” She was right! Earlier today, I went to lunch with 3 trusted advisors who work with the [...]
Look beyond your immediate customers to their customers, and so on, for cross-supply chain opportunities that could spell win-win-win for all I find that cross-functional teams can be some of the most valuable teams that generate winning ideas. By taking a diverse team of people with different backgrounds and [...]
Differentiate your company with first class customer service. Have you ever seen a company that provides consistent, exceptional service for its customers that has unhappy employees? I never have! From my view, it is not possible for longer than a short-term time frame. On the other hand, if you [...]
Believing you understand your customers’ needs can differ vastly from what they actually want. In the end though, the customer gets what the customer wants, whether from you or your competition. As I thought about an appropriate topic, I was reminded of the importance of starting with your customer. [...]
I've been thinking about the value of SIOP (sales, inventory and operations planning). Not only can it be a great way to gain bottom line results (capacity to support business growth, improved margins, accelerated cash flow), but it also can help align the functions of an organization. I've facilitated [...]
Increasingly, project management is a matter of getting more accomplished in less time. The simplest way to succeed is by using smart and simple approaches. Published in "Project Times" website, October 14, 2014 Click here for original article. Why is everyone searching for the latest and greatest technology and [...]
