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: technology
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”
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”
Arguing for Engineering
Engineers have been the go-to people to solve problems or implement pre-decided solutions. Engineers build edifices architects design, install equipment which executives prefer, and fix things that were creating problems no one else could solve. Engineers deal with the complicated technical stuff like designing rockets and constructing skyscrapers, repairing nuclear reactors, setting up oil drillingContinue reading “Arguing for Engineering”
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”
Missing in Supply Chains: Productivity
If there’s one thing I find missing in every business news story I’ve read, it’s: productivity. If there is an article about productivity, it usually is in the context of labour efficiency or how much output workers churn out over a given period. Some media writers define productivity as to how many tasks we completeContinue reading “Missing in Supply Chains: Productivity”
Building the Supply Chain at Both Ends
A supply chain essentially has two (2) ends: the suppliers (e.g., vendors, service providers) and the customers (e.g., clients, consumers, users). We who manage our businesses work both ends at the same time as our suppliers see us as customers and our customers see us as suppliers. We multitask as both suppliers and customers. InContinue reading “Building the Supply Chain at Both Ends”
Collaboration: The Secret to Supply Chain Success
It’s hard to find a supply chain success story. Either there isn’t any or enterprises would prefer to keep it private, not wanting to share any secret they consider proprietary. Some so-called experts (ones like me who write blogs and claim they are) say companies like Apple, P&G, Walmart, and Toyota are supply chain successes. Continue reading “Collaboration: The Secret to Supply Chain Success”
I Build Supply Chains, So What?
“We do not share a common definition of supply chain management across the industry. Just take a look at the various professional associations to which you belong. Procurement organizations and logistics associations alike claim supply chain management as their expertise. And to be fair, APICS, which defines supply chain management from end to end, hasContinue reading “I Build Supply Chains, So What?”
Ellery's Essays 