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”
Author Archives: Ellery
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”
“Are You Happy With Our Service?”
A bank had a survey booth near its front door in which one drops a small plastic ball in either of two (2) slots: Happy With Our Service Unhappy With Our Service I dropped the ball on the Happy slot. The teller was courteous and polite and since I was just updating a passbook, IContinue reading ““Are You Happy With Our Service?””
Beating the No-Win Scenario
In the movie, Star Trek: the Wrath of Khan, Lieutenant Saavik (played by Kirstie Alley) asks Captain Kirk (played by William Shatner) how he handled a no-win scenario called the Kobiyashi Maru when he was a cadet at the Starfleet Academy. It turns out Kirk is the only cadet in Starfleet history who ever beatContinue reading “Beating the No-Win Scenario”
Seizing Opportunity and Addressing Adversity via Supply Chain Engineering
We should not focus just on adversity. We should also focus on opportunity. We tend to point to adversity when there’s disruption. But as much as there is adversity behind every disruption, there is also opportunity. This should be common business sense but it can be difficult to accept when there’s a raging disruptionContinue reading “Seizing Opportunity and Addressing Adversity via Supply Chain Engineering”
What Have We Learned About Adversity vis-à-vis COVID19?
COVID19 is the latest and worst adversity to global economies in recent memory. Despite the early warnings in late 2019, enterprises around the world were caught off guard. Executives could only watch helplessly as borders closed and governments enforced lock-downs that shut many businesses down worldwide. Despite all our talents, experiences, and knowledge, weContinue reading “What Have We Learned About Adversity vis-à-vis COVID19?”
Ellery's Essays 