We who are supply chain managers have their hands full doing their jobs. The problem is we work with what we only have. Executives of enterprises determine our scopes; executives also decide what resources & assets we will have at our disposal or have authority over. Supply chains extend beyond the borders of enterprises, andContinue reading “Working What We Have vs. Changing What We Work With”
Tag Archives: vendors
Shifting the Supply Chain Management Paradigm
Supply chains consist of interdependent relationships within and between enterprises. No one enterprise dominates an entire supply chain, though many have tried. And because we who work in supply chains participate in these relationships, we need to learn to work with each other, if not together. We, therefore, require a paradigm shift. Most of usContinue reading “Shifting the Supply Chain Management Paradigm”
Making the Most of Ishikawa’s Fishbone Diagram
Kaoru Ishikawa was a Japanese professor who championed quality improvement. He is credited with the formation of quality circles, groups of workers & supervisors who work together to improve their operations. We remember Kaoru Ishikawa for his namesake Ishikawa Diagram, more popularly known as the fishbone diagram, a tool quality circles would use to identifyContinue reading “Making the Most of Ishikawa’s Fishbone Diagram”
Engineering Supply Chain Productivity
We are only as productive as that of our vendors and customers. If vendors don’t deliver the materials we need when we need it, we wouldn’t be able to make available products no matter how efficient our manufacturing & logistics operations are. And if customers habitually cancel or change their orders which they booked withContinue reading “Engineering Supply Chain Productivity”
Building the Entrepreneur’s Business via Supply Chains
All businesses begin from entrepreneurship, in which creative individuals turn ideas into profitable realities. There had been many who tried their luck as entrepreneurs. Many failed; some succeeded. It didn’t matter if the products or services entrepreneurs introduced seemed mundane or looked grandiose. What mattered was that entrepreneurs worked hard to develop their ideas intoContinue reading “Building the Entrepreneur’s Business via Supply Chains”
Understanding the Supply Chain Engineering Roadmap
We know what we want, i.e., we have a vision. We know where we’re at versus what we want, i.e., we did our reality check. We see the disparities between our present-state & future-state performances, i.e., we mind the gaps in our supply chain operations. The next step in building our supply chains is toContinue reading “Understanding the Supply Chain Engineering Roadmap”
Thirteen (13) Do’s & Don’ts in Supply Chain Envisioning
Before we change, improve, or build our supply chains, we must first have a vision. We must first agree with our partners what we want our supply chains to become. Envisioning is not an activity of a single individual or enterprise when it comes to transforming our supply chains. It requires consensus between stakeholders ofContinue reading “Thirteen (13) Do’s & Don’ts in Supply Chain Envisioning”
Envisioning: The First Step to Building Supply Chains
Supply chains are big, long, comprehensive, and complicated. Managing them means dealing with multiple customers, vendors & service providers. We buy and deliver from and to distant places or just next-door. We sell many types of products and handle much more in raw & packaging materials and in-process inventories. We move merchandise via elaborate sea,Continue reading “Envisioning: The First Step to Building Supply Chains”
Why We Need to Collaborate & Not Accommodate in Improving Supply Chains
We formalise our supply chain relationships via agreements we forge with our partners, who are our vendors, 3rd party service providers, & customers. We manage our supply chain operations to ensure we perform to the agreed expectations of our partners. Most supply chains have existing infrastructure in place when we negotiate with our partners. OurContinue reading “Why We Need to Collaborate & Not Accommodate in Improving Supply Chains”
Bridging the Supply Chain Management-Engineering Gap
Engineers turn scientific ideas into reality. They do it by identifying problems, studying the data, and finally solving them. Engineers apply concepts from the pure sciences, such as Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, & Biology. We see these concepts come to life in the fields of civil, electrical, mechanical, & chemical engineering, and in their sub-specialties suchContinue reading “Bridging the Supply Chain Management-Engineering Gap”
Ellery's Essays 