November 9, 2015 Since I was largely away for a few weeks during my dad's stroke, hospice stay and funeral, I moved all non-essential meetings during that time frame. Now that I am "back", I have been trying to reschedule the meetings, follow-up on the ones I never planned [...]
Effective and successful leaders have the ability to formulate a company vision and also translate that vision into execution. Leadership will make or break your business. Put your eagle eye on ensuring success in this arena and you’ll thrive. The two core tasks of a leader are 1) to set strategy, [...]
November 2, 2015 I was just talking with a manufacturing client on the topic of SIOP (sales, inventory and operations planning). In their case, they have an incredibly stable business - it is the most predictable business I've ever run across in terms of sales forecasts. Even though the [...]
Successful companies put people ahead of strategy, process, and systems. While attending APICS 2015, I heard Jack Welch, former GE CEO and best-selling business author, speak about the value of people. My ears perked up as I have found that the best processes and systems will fail miserably without [...]
October 26, 2015 My Dad's funeral was this weekend, and it went as well as a funeral can go. We tried to make it a celebration of life. He certainly was a family man, and it was easy to remember all his good qualities. He drove me to skating [...]
October 19, 2015 I adored the Chicago Cubs when I was young. My childhood friend Vonda and I used to watch every game. She loved Ryne Sandberg, and I loved Jody Davis. It was great fun! We even went to Wrigley Field a few times. As my Dad just [...]
Slashing lead times is one of the most pressing supply chain trends. By identifying trends early on you can devise ways to leverage them to your advantage. I spoke to ISM (the Institute for Supply Management) last night about supply chain trends, and it reminded me of the importance [...]
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 [...]
Data migration may seem like a mundane and even daunting task, but the ability to leverage your system to get information to make better decisions will have a profound effect on your business. I've been involved in a few projects lately where data migration has been the hot topic. [...]
Collaboration during the planning process is instrumental in creating an effective end-to-end supply chain where everyone gets what they need when they need it. My most successful clients consider collaborative planning a no-brainer. In its simplest form, collaborative planning is partnering with your customers, suppliers and other supply [...]
