When the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 catastrophically caused a sudden global economic recession, enterprises went on the defensive to keep their businesses afloat; executives promised stakeholders they would transform their organisations to become more resilient. Risk management was the popular precursor to resilience. In risk management, managers laid out possible threats and prepared for them. Continue reading “Don’t Forget Productivity in Promoting Resilience”
Category Archives: The Supply Chain Engineer
Ergonomics Can Be Helpful, Really Helpful
When it comes to productivity improvement, the first thing many executives think of is head count, how many people are needed for the job. The last thing many managers think of is the human factor, how to better improve the working conditions for the individual person. Ergonomics (or human factors) is the scientific discipline concernedContinue reading “Ergonomics Can Be Helpful, Really Helpful”
About The Supply Chain Engineer
Supply chain management has figured prominently in organisational priorities since Keith Oliver in a reported conversation with a Philips manager, Mr. Van t’Hof, coined the term in the 1970’s, and it has become even more so at the onset of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Supply chains are operational relationships made up of activities that transformContinue reading “About The Supply Chain Engineer”
Three (3) Questions Supply Chain Managers Always Need to Answer
When it comes right down to it, supply chain managers have three (3) questions to answer: How do we get what we need when we need it? How do we make available what whoever needs them at when they need them? How do we deliver to whomever wants them when they need them? When supplyContinue reading “Three (3) Questions Supply Chain Managers Always Need to Answer”
The Many Questions Supply Chain Managers Are Asked to Answer
The following are questions customers typically ask supply chain managers: “Why is it taking you so long to deliver my order?” “When will you deliver?” “How many of the items we ordered will you deliver today?” “How much of an item do you have available?” “Your items didn’t meet our specs; when will you replaceContinue reading “The Many Questions Supply Chain Managers Are Asked to Answer”
How Sales & Supply Chain People Can Work Together
Customer inquiries and quotations have long been seen as traditional jobs of sales professionals. Field sales representatives visit customers and strive to get orders from them. When customers inquire, sales professionals are expected to answer with accurate information. Trouble starts when sales professionals have no adequate answers to give. Sales professionals may know prices, terms,Continue reading “How Sales & Supply Chain People Can Work Together”
Pursuing Perfection Beyond the Acceptable Quality Level (AQL)
An ad promotes an Internet Service Provider’s (ISP) subscription plans. On the bottom in small fine print is written “30% minimum speed at 80& reliability.” The Philippines’ National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) in a memorandum in 2011 mandated that ISPs should provide at least 80% service reliability to customers: An ISP therefore should be able toContinue reading “Pursuing Perfection Beyond the Acceptable Quality Level (AQL)”
The Death Industry’s Supply Chain
Dying is a complicated business. No one really plans for it in advance. For those who are charged with the affairs of the ones who pass away, there is always so much to do and limited time to do so. Funeral service providers have become more than just parlours where proprietors prepare the deceased forContinue reading “The Death Industry’s Supply Chain”
Automated Queuing Systems Don’t Reduce Waiting Times
A large bank installed an automated queuing system at its branches. Clients were required to enter the details of their transactions on a terminal and receive a queuing number and then wait to be called by the teller via a display on a video screen. The system replaced the previous process of clients writing onContinue reading “Automated Queuing Systems Don’t Reduce Waiting Times”
Problems are Doorways to Opportunities
Since the start of 2021, semiconductor chips, which are used in cars, trucks, computers, and smart-phones, have been in short supply. Supply has been so short that automotive companies have shut down assembly lines and consumer electronics corporations have delayed roll-outs of new products. Bloomberg reported in its September 22, 2021 Supply Lines newsletter thatContinue reading “Problems are Doorways to Opportunities”
Ellery's Essays 