products – Ellery's Essays

Managing Inventory

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”

We are Consumers in a Take-It-or-Leave-It World

I’ll never fly, Emirates, the Dubai-based airline, ever again. At least I’ll avoid it as much as I could. The Emirates flight I took from Manila to Dubai was horrible. I had a economy seat in which I could not get the in-flight entertainment system to work. The flight attendants ignored my requests for assistance. Continue reading “We are Consumers in a Take-It-or-Leave-It World”

Products & Services: What’s the Difference and How Do We Maximise Their Value?

What’s the difference between a product and a service? A product is an item of value that benefits a user. A service is an activity that leads to the benefits for those availing of it. Products are tangible, i.e., as in solid, liquid, gas, or energy, or as virtual (e.g. software, streaming videos, speeches,Continue reading “Products & Services: What’s the Difference and How Do We Maximise Their Value?”

Why Redundant Systems are Out-of-the-Question Necessary

We expect nothing less from those who provide what we feel we deserve.

Just About Every Enterprise is a Supply Chain Enterprise

I and ten million people in Manila have the same problem every day. Mobile phone reception—it’s lousy. It would take several tries to call someone on my mobile phone and when I do, chances are the conversation would stop in the middle. Poor cellular reception is a norm in the Philippines. It’s just so hardContinue reading “Just About Every Enterprise is a Supply Chain Enterprise”

What Organising Really Means

There are four (4) basic functions to management: planning, organising, directing, and controlling. We can picture what planning, directing, and controlling are. They’re kind of straightforward and self-explanatory. Organising, however, is not. When we “organise,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? We perhaps think of putting our stuff in order, like filing awayContinue reading “What Organising Really Means”

Logistics Solutions Can Be Simple

A medium sized retailer of health food items imports products from abroad. The retailer prides itself with a very well organised warehouse and a crew of workers that swiftly repack the imported products and send them to the retailer’s stores all over the country. The retailer’s sales department, however, has constantly complained about lack ofContinue reading “Logistics Solutions Can Be Simple”