A lot has to get done when it comes to launching a new product. Aside from marketing and selling, enterprise executives need to know how much to make, how much to stock, and how they’ll spread that stock. If the new product is replacing an older one, the enterprise would need to figure out whatContinue reading “What Is the Right Supply Chain Model for New Products?”
Author Archives: Ellery
How Control Charts Can Help Get Things Done Correctly and Consistently
How can enterprises better control their supply chains? How does one know if the supply chain is under control in the first place? A soy sauce manufacturer bragged about its wonderful customer service numbers. The manufacturer showed charts that it was delivering 98% of orders on-time and complete. There was no problem with quality asContinue reading “How Control Charts Can Help Get Things Done Correctly and Consistently”
How Do We Define Quality?
Quality is a strange subject. It’s strange because people talk about it a lot especially when they have a complaint or an admiration about a product or service. At the same time, people don’t seem to take it seriously especially when they settle for a cheaper product or service because they don’t have the budgetContinue reading “How Do We Define Quality?”
What is the Right Way to Serve Customers?
A manufacturer of metal parts hires a management consultant to help stimulate sales. The consultant at once suggests the manufacturer prioritise production of its top twenty (20) best-selling items. The manufacturer thus makes one month’s worth of stock of each of the twenty (20) top-selling items. Three (3) months later, the stock is hardly selling. Continue reading “What is the Right Way to Serve Customers?”
We Need Better Monitoring Systems
Most executives like performance measures. Otherwise known as metrics, key performance indicators (KPI’s), analytics, or scorecards, enterprises embrace performance measures as a means to assess how their businesses are doing. The point of a performance measure is to check how an individual or team is doing against a target that is set by superiors. (NoContinue reading “We Need Better Monitoring Systems”
The Basics of Supply Chain Mapping
A map is a visual representation. In the context of supply chains, it describes the flow of operations and/or information pertaining to the procurement, transformation, and logistics of products and services. To put it another way, it’s a visual aid that shows what a supply chain looks like and how it functions. The simplest wayContinue reading “The Basics of Supply Chain Mapping”
Twelve (12) Things Supply Chain Engineers Do for Enterprises
Supply Chain Engineers (SCE’s) are much like any other engineer. Just as engineers design, build, and install structures and systems, SCE’s do the same specifically for supply chains. Supply chain engineers shape the networks, processes, and systems that underlie product and service streams. Their projects are either big and small. Project scopes can range fromContinue reading “Twelve (12) Things Supply Chain Engineers Do for Enterprises”
Bad Things Happen to Everyone
Asian airlines such as Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, and ANA are known for their excellence in customer service. A lot of people love flying with these airlines. But thanks to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, these same airlines are experiencing their worst business slump in recent memory. No one wants to fly these airlines not becauseContinue reading “Bad Things Happen to Everyone”
Why We Need to Build Supply Chains
Enterprises are planning to rebuild their supply chains in the wake of the pandemic of 2020. Well, no, not really. Many enterprises are planning to resume production and boost inventories in the aftermath of the COVID19 pandemic.1 Some firms will narrow their product lines to those that are in high demand (e.g. toilet paper). OthersContinue reading “Why We Need to Build Supply Chains”
About Overtimers Anonymous
I’ve been immersed in work since 1984. My long-spanning career since graduation from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee include managerial assignments at P&G Philippines, a harrowing experience as an entrepreneur in freight logistics, participation in several successful consultancy projects, and finally as an administrator of a company that builds and leases warehouses and offices. Overtimers AnonymousContinue reading “About Overtimers Anonymous”
Ellery's Essays 