Get Better Results Than What Your Imagined By Focusing on Execution
I was talking to the three senior executives of a fairly large business. They were very happy with the business situation. Their business was operating in a comfortable oligopoly, with comfortable competitive pressures. The business strategy was noted to be very sound. But, they lamented, that the comfortable position never translated into equivalent profits. Every […]
What Is The Easiest Way To Cut Warehousing Logistics Cost To Minimum?
Very few companies seem to have enough warehousing space. Almost 80% of the companies I have interacted with as part of my projects (and that number runs in thousands, when you count the suppliers, customers and other supply chain partners of clients and customers) have sometime or other complained about running out of warehousing space. […]
If You Mistake Someone’s Technology for Their Competence, Then Who is Incompetent?
Impressive things are difficult to forget. And, sometimes difficult to describe in a manner which does full justice to their impressiveness. Let me make an attempt using what sticks in the memory after the last decade or so. We were at a presentation by a fairly large logistics company who were incumbents at a client […]
How Far Would You Go To Secure Continuity of Supply?
It is a legitimate question on supply chain security – How important is continuity of supply to you? How far would you go? Would you commission an act of aggression, if that was the only way of assuring supply chain security to keep the supply lines open? Would you go further than an act of […]
Can Suppliers Kill You By Their Inaction?
Let me tell a story. This is a very entertaining story, but that is not the reason I am telling it. It has even greater business value, especially for strategists, and senior executives. It shows how supply chain security irrevocably altered the fortunes of a company that was a global leader at one time in […]
How To Choose The Best Consultants For Your Project
Startling Statistics I came across a startling statistics which prompted a new line of thinking that I wanted to share – hence this article. Consider these statistics – over 70% of professionals would have worked as a consultant or will work as a consultant, at some point in their careers. In other words, if you […]
“The Start-ups’ Struggle” With Supply Chain – What is the Answer?
It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them. Steve Jobs (1955 – 2011), Business Week, May 25 1998 In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains of the sofa. But […]
Unique Supply Chain Challenges of Oil & Gas Industry
One of the common problems cited by the boards and senior management is that the consultants they hire do not understand their unique challenges. This applies even more to large cookie cutter approach based consulting houses with thousands of consultants where the guys who have the knowledge are too senior to focus on a couple of clients, and the guys who have the time have little knowledge, or experience.
Amazon spent $28B in freight costs last year. How well are they using their advantage?
Someone asked me this question on a popular social platform. The subtext was this: What kind of discount do you think they’ve negotiated with the major carriers (UPS, FedEx, USPS, etc.)? I have over 12 years of operational experience and 23 years of commercial negotiation experience with freight companies on large scale global freight operations. […]
What We Can Learn About Supply Chain Security From One of the Shrewdest Pivots In Business History
Two stalwarts in the mobile phone industry in March 2000 were equally impacted by the same event – a lightning fire in the chip manufacturing plant of their common supplier, Philips, in New Mexico.