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?”
Tag Archives: supply chain
The Three Capacity Types
How much can we make? How much can we buy? How much can we deliver? These are typical questions executives ask their managers all the time. Executives often want straightforward answers; they’d rather be spared the complicated assumptions behind any of them. Calculating capacities can be a headache. It’s never really as straightforward as aContinue reading “The Three Capacity Types”
Balancing Unstoppable Production and Benefiting from It
I used to work in a flat glass factory. The flat glass factory I worked at used float technology. It starts with a furnace that melts raw materials such as silica (sand), soda ash, dolomite, and limestone. Molten glass flows from the furnace to a tin bath, a chamber of molten tin, in which theContinue reading “Balancing Unstoppable Production and Benefiting from It”
Why Enterprises Need A Chief Supply Chain Officer
“Behind every great leader there was an even greater logistician.” -M. Cox On a trip to Saudi Arabia in 1990 at the start of preparations preceding Desert Storm, the American-led military operation to take back Kuwait from invading Iraqi forces, United States Air Force General Chuck Horner was granted only one companion to accompany him. Continue reading “Why Enterprises Need A Chief Supply Chain Officer”
Four (4) Supply Chain Scenarios and What to Do When They Change
We don’t know when it’s going to rain. So, we build dams. Dams are reservoirs, inventories of fresh water. Having a reservoir assures an adequate supply of water to meet the continuous demand of communities. Supply chain managers face a myriad of challenges in their operations. But one can categorise some of these challenges whenContinue reading “Four (4) Supply Chain Scenarios and What to Do When They Change”
What Is the Right Supply Chain Model for New Products?
A lot has to get done when it comes to launching a new product. Aside from marketing and selling, enterprise executives need to know how much to make, how much to stock, and how they’ll spread that stock. If the new product is replacing an older one, the enterprise would need to figure out whatContinue reading “What Is the Right Supply Chain Model for New Products?”
How Control Charts Can Help Get Things Done Correctly and Consistently
How can enterprises better control their supply chains? How does one know if the supply chain is under control in the first place? A soy sauce manufacturer bragged about its wonderful customer service numbers. The manufacturer showed charts that it was delivering 98% of orders on-time and complete. There was no problem with quality asContinue reading “How Control Charts Can Help Get Things Done Correctly and Consistently”
The Basics of Supply Chain Mapping
A map is a visual representation. In the context of supply chains, it describes the flow of operations and/or information pertaining to the procurement, transformation, and logistics of products and services. To put it another way, it’s a visual aid that shows what a supply chain looks like and how it functions. The simplest wayContinue reading “The Basics of Supply Chain Mapping”
Twelve (12) Things Supply Chain Engineers Do for Enterprises
Supply Chain Engineers (SCE’s) are much like any other engineer. Just as engineers design, build, and install structures and systems, SCE’s do the same specifically for supply chains. Supply chain engineers shape the networks, processes, and systems that underlie product and service streams. Their projects are either big and small. Project scopes can range fromContinue reading “Twelve (12) Things Supply Chain Engineers Do for Enterprises”
Supply Chains are All About Flow
Supply chains are about flow: the movement of product from one stage to the next, from a starting point—a source—to an endpoint—a user. We call them product streams, demand flows, pipelines. But supply chains are hardly these as streams and pipelines imply a single fluid in motion. What flows in a supply chain isContinue reading “Supply Chains are All About Flow”
Ellery's Essays 