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”
Tag Archives: supply chain
What Do You Want from Supply Chains?
There is no straightforward answer to this question. Supply chains have multiple stakeholders. These stakeholders consist of individuals and enterprises which serve as the links of the supply chains. Every enterprise also has an internal supply chain, which makes the people of the enterprise stakeholders to the larger supply chain. Stakeholders, therefore, would differ onContinue reading “What Do You Want from Supply Chains?”
The Need for Clarity Before AI in Supply Chains
It’s near the end of 2025. Just about everyone is talking about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how technology firms are racing to capitalise on it. Executives want AI to be integral in just about every business area. That includes supply chains. Aside from all the automation firms are installing into their operations, executives are aimingContinue reading “The Need for Clarity Before AI in Supply Chains”
What the Supply Chain Must Be
There are many things we like supply chains to be. Popular examples are resilient, sustainable, and agile. For some of those at the end of the chain, they’d simply want them to be dependable or on time, especially when it comes to deliveries. And for many supply chain professionals, they’d want vendor supplies to beContinue reading “What the Supply Chain Must Be”
Make It Visible
The planet Earth and its Solar System reside in the Milky Way galaxy, a spiral collection of a 100 to 400 billion stars. Yes, that’s billion, not million, and far more than a thousand or hundred. We can only see only a few thousand of stars in the night sky and only so much moreContinue reading “Make It Visible”
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”
The Supply Chain Problem Many Don’t See
The escalator at the shopping mall was out of order for four (4) weeks. The mall managers perhaps didn’t think it was a big deal. Mall customers could still walk down the broken escalator from the ground floor to the lower level or take a nearby elevator. Never mind that any elderly person or parentsContinue reading “The Supply Chain Problem Many Don’t See”
The First Step is Always the Hardest
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” In building a supply chain, that single first step can be a doozy. When we construct a home or facility, the first thing we think we of doing is plan. Seek a site. Draft a layout. Determine our budget. Schedule the construction. But thatContinue reading “The First Step is Always the Hardest”
The Changing & Un-Changing Supply Chain
Since Keith Oliver and a Mr. Van ’t Hoff coined the phrase in the 1980s, supply chain management has evolved from an obscure middle-management responsibility to a high-echelon business priority. Supply chains had become hot topics in executive suites and business school lecture halls. At the same time, operations managers face endless enigmatic problems asContinue reading “The Changing & Un-Changing Supply Chain”
The Need to Change the Supply Chain
When a parcel arrives at my doorstep, I see myself at the end of a supply chain process—a process which involved multiple operations from procurement, manufacturing, to logistics. But I could care less. What mattered is I got my parcel and the items I ordered. The individuals in the respective supply chain processes which enabledContinue reading “The Need to Change the Supply Chain”
Ellery's Essays 