Inventory Record Accuracy:  A Step to Supply Chain Improvement

Managers of a large food condiments manufacturer bragged that their finished products Inventory Record Accuracy (IRA) was 99%.  They added that they met this level constantly, not just when I as a consultant was there auditing the manufacturer’s supply chain operations.    How do you compute the IRA?  I asked the warehouse manager.  The warehouse officeContinue reading “Inventory Record Accuracy:  A Step to Supply Chain Improvement”

The Supply Chain Surrounds Every Product

The enterprise sells, its customers order, and the enterprise delivers. This constitutes the basic process of demand fulfilment.  As the enterprise creates demand through marketing & sales, it fulfils it.  The enterprise and the customer agree on the terms and conditions of the latter’s order.  Delivery of the order should arrive at the right place,Continue reading “The Supply Chain Surrounds Every Product”

Lessons from an IT & Logistics Mess

A multinational consumer goods corporation initiated a comprehensive information system project for all its departments, manufacturing & logistics operations included.  The lead person of the project was Dana, one of the corporation’s up-in-coming IT managers.  Dana convened a working group comprised of senior heads of respective departments of the multinational’s various departments, i.e., finance, sales,Continue reading “Lessons from an IT & Logistics Mess”

What to Do with Unserved Orders

A global fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) corporation had set up a contact centre in Singapore to centralise sales orders management in the Asia-Pacific region.  Customers and field sales of the Southeast Asian market of the FMCG company would inquire or send their orders via email, SMS, or via internet calls to the Singapore office.  TheContinue reading “What to Do with Unserved Orders”

Ten (10) Examples Towards Building Better Supply Chains

For years, experts have cited the urgent need for supply chains to adapt and get better.  In 2005, Paul Michelman via the Harvard Business Review wrote: “Threats to your supply chain, and therefore to your company, abound—natural disasters, accidents, and intentional disruptions—their likelihood and consequences heightened by long, global supply chains, ever-shrinking product lifecycles, andContinue reading “Ten (10) Examples Towards Building Better Supply Chains”