A reenergized demand plan is fortified with meaningful data trends that point the way to improved service levels and increased profit margins. Sales and operations planning, also known as S&OP or SIOP (to include inventory) processes are key to improving service levels, accelerating cash flow and increasing margins. Thus, [...]
Lisa Anderson, president of LMA Consulting Group and known as The Manufacturing ConnectorTM, celebrates her 100th newsletter, Profit Through PeopleTM and her 10th year in business by releasing a list of best practices, strategies and tips for manufacturers, distributors and supply chain managers. This compilation of elite ideas was [...]
Business moves fast as customers demand more and competitors look for an edge to beat you. Excelling in this environment requires a proactive approach with continuous process improvement at the heart. Take any business process. I have no doubt there will be hidden opportunities for process improvement. When is [...]
American businesses may have miscalculated costs and benefits when they joined the outsourcing bandwagon. With the tide rolling back, what direction should you take? For many years, companies outsourced as a natural course of activity. Unfortunately, often times, they didn't even perform an analysis of the total benefit; instead, [...]
Every manager juggles several projects at once, some more troublesome than others. Clearing your path of obstacles is a constant burden but with preparation, calm, creativity, and decisiveness, you can dodge roadblocks that obstruct project success. Published in “Project Times” website, May 20, 2014 Click here for original article. [...]
Want to stand out from the crowd and provide loyalty-endearing service with rapid turnaround times? Create a customer service edge. There has never been a better time to create a customer service edge! Gone are the days of picking up the phone with easy orders on the other end! [...]
Success begins and ends with your customers. I recently was the subject of what's called a "member spotlight" Q&A (question and answer) session about my business. Knowing my business centers on the supply chain, my interviewer asked me to draw a picture of a supply chain. It's always a [...]
Extract the right data at the right time in a meaningful format for decision-making. Almost every company I work with seems to get caught up in the bells and whistles of their new or upgraded software; however, when push comes to shove, the bells and whistles mean nothing if [...]
Warehousing is often overlooked for its simplicity, but it’s one of the strongest links in your supply chain. Warehousing is an often-overlooked area of the business. We store and ship. How hard can it be? Well, there are plenty of ways to dramatically improve your warehousing service and efficiency. [...]
