One common priority we have as supply chain managers is managing inventories. We make items available when needed but at the same time make sure we don’t have too much that ties up our enterprises’ money. Sometimes, inventory management takes so much of our time that it dominates our job more than anything else. InventoryContinue reading “Managing Inventory”
Tag Archives: management
Managing Demand
Supply chains had been under a lot of pressure. Since year 2020, supply chain managers had to deal with shortages in merchandise and rising costs for reasons traced to the coronavirus pandemic, natural disasters, deteriorating trade relations between countries, and military conflicts. The need for supply chain engineering was mentioned repeatedly as a newContinue reading “Managing Demand”
What Should We Do When There’s Clamour?
In November 2022, this happened: The Taylor Swift Ticketmaster crash. Ticketmaster, an online ticket sales platform, cancelled ticket sales for popular singer Taylor Swift’s 2023 United States concert tour after its online ticket purchasing system crashed. The company cited “extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory.” Investigations and numerous complaints followedContinue reading “What Should We Do When There’s Clamour?”
What Our Superiors Expect
Customers expect perfection in service. But what do our superiors expect? For those among us who are supply chain professionals or managers, we answer to our employers, our superiors or bosses, the owners and executives who rule the enterprises we work for. And as much as customers expect us to be perfect in serving them,Continue reading “What Our Superiors Expect”
Attaining Flow via Systems & Platforms
We complain how little time we have. Or we complain about how long we have to wait. Either time is too short or too long. We lose track of time when we’re engrossed in a task. But we use a lot of it when we distract ourselves from our jobs. Time is an intangible resourceContinue reading “Attaining Flow via Systems & Platforms”
Three (3) Real-Life Cases of Demand Fulfilment
We fulfil demand in different ways. For instance, we make products available such as at store shelves. Another example is we customise and deliver based on what our customers order. We encounter challenges in fulfilling demand, however. And we sometimes don’t know we do. The Case of the Missing Dumpling I went to aContinue reading “Three (3) Real-Life Cases of Demand Fulfilment”
The Order-Winning Operations Strategy
We, whether we are executives, entrepreneurs, or employees, face challenges and disruptions every day. Most of us have goals or at least have things we want to realise or get done. We hate it when we run into obstacles. We therefore develop strategies to anticipate and overcome them, if not get around them. Goals areContinue reading “The Order-Winning Operations Strategy”
Formulating the Operations Strategy
Every enterprise has a strategy. Not all have an operations strategy. A strategy is not a vision nor is it a mission. A strategy is also not a goal and nor is it an action plan. A vision is a desired future state. Where do we want to be 1 to 5 years from now?Continue reading “Formulating the Operations Strategy”
Dissecting Demand and Its Four (4) Stages
What do we think of when we discuss demand? We tap it, capture it, deliver it, and get people to pay for it, but do we really know what it is? We equal demand with how long a line is at a restaurant, or by the sheer number of customers at a shop. We sayContinue reading “Dissecting Demand and Its Four (4) Stages”
Compliance is Not Service
Every year, banks notify us that we need to update our background information for the accounts we opened and deposit our money in. They say it’s a rule of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas or BSP, the governing monetary authority of the Philippines, where I live & work. All depositors must comply to enjoy theContinue reading “Compliance is Not Service”
