The retail owner didn’t believe in supply chain management and I don’t blame her. The retail owner runs a store that sells office supplies. Her business was hit by the coronavirus pandemic that began in 2020 but which she recovered from as soon as infections subsided and the local government lifted restrictions. The retailContinue reading “‘I Don’t Believe in Supply Chains’”
Tag Archives: operations management
Appreciating the Value of Veteran Employees
When I was a young industrial engineer at the food production division of a multinational company, the accounting department asked me to find out why there was a large reported loss of refined coconut oil. They’re the ones we always look for when we need something. I went to the production manager and he toldContinue reading “Appreciating the Value of Veteran Employees”
The Importance of Making Available What We Promise
I ordered a box of latex gloves from a 3rd party seller on a popular e-commerce website. The seller confirmed my order by email and after 24 hours, the order status on the website was that the box of gloves was being prepared for shipment. One week later, the order status said it was atContinue reading “The Importance of Making Available What We Promise”
Paying Attention versus Getting Attention
A columnist at a leading daily newspaper writes every week about ghosts, spirits, reincarnation, or in other words, supernatural stuff. He is obviously popular as he’s been writing for the newspaper for decades. He seems to be doing well as he’s consulted for some people and spoke at gatherings. I laugh at how people canContinue reading “Paying Attention versus Getting Attention”
Behold The PSI: A Basic Tool for Supply Chain Planning
The PSI or Production-Sales-Inventory is a basic spreadsheet template for supply chain planners. It looks like this: The PSI has three sections: production, sales, and inventories. Production represents the in-flow of an item or what’s going into inventory. A basic example is finished goods input coming from a manufacturing operation’s output. We can also callContinue reading “Behold The PSI: A Basic Tool for Supply Chain Planning”
How NOT to Manage a Crisis
My manager apologized for coming in late for the meeting. She came from her home at Marikina but got stuck in traffic because she couldn’t use the LRT-2 commuter train. The LRT-2 station nearest to her home has been closed since October when two (2) rectifier transformers tripped and caused a fire. (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/four-4-starting-points-getting-reliability-you-want-ellery-samuel-lim/) The LightContinue reading “How NOT to Manage a Crisis”
Ellery's Essays 