Last week, I published an article on outside-in planning. The article introduced the concept of self-service planning and challenged companies to rethink the concepts to adopt outside-in supply chain planning. While technologists advocate a practice of crawl, walk, run, for me, I think companies should just jump. It is a step-change, not an evolution. For me, the concepts of outside-in and self-service planning are intertwined. Let’s start with definitions: Self-service Planning: Decision support technologies designed for business leaders to use analytic techniques on a collaborative platfor ..read more

I take supply chain management seriously. My focus is writing research for the business leader that is an early adopter attempting to drive first-mover advantage. I am also known for telling it like it is. This blog post on my take of the On March 29th, Blue Yonder announced a binding agreement to acquire One Network for approximately $839 Million. The goal is to create a multi-tier enterprise supply chain ecosystem. I am passionate about the goal, but feel that this acquisition is not the answer. Let me give you some background. To date, I have read sixteen write-ups from press, thought lead ..read more

During the 1980s, I was part of a management team for a large manufacturer. My job was redesigning work to improve effectiveness. The plant was 24 acres under one roof. The concept was a factory with many factories in a common facility. The Company was attempting to gain economies of scale by grouping manufacturing technologies within a common infrastructure to reap the benefits of a co-generation facility, a centralized warehouse, and a talented administrative team. This experience was a great growth opportunity. Each morning, an administrative assistant met with a cup of coffee. She also ga ..read more

On Friday, I presented an overview of outside-in planning to a consulting group. I love the questions when I present. The reason? The dialogue helps me to think more deeply to explain the concepts. Today, I am again teaching an open class on outside-in planning concepts. Over the next five weeks, seventy business/technology and consulting leaders will complete the course. I am attempting to provide a safe space for leaders to work together on a topic that is new and evolving. Here I provide a Q&A from the session on Friday. 1. Can you describe the outside-in model? Figure 1 defines the lay ..read more

We are in the middle of a hype cycle. The acronym for artificial intelligence (AI) is seemingly everywhere, but the value proposition is nowhere. Like any hype cycle, the market will overheat being over-hyped, then fall. The question in my mind is, “Will we drive substantial improvement in outcomes? Or transform work?” What I see today, I find disappointing. How about you? Before reading this post, consider reading my prior blog post, Don’t AI This. Let’s Start With Clear Definitions My inbox is full. The market is flooded with references to AI, but few stop to give a definition. To combat the ..read more

On February 2, in a small town in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania on Gobbler’s Knob, an unsuspecting furry Groundhog is plucked from a burrow to predict the weather for the rest of the winter. When the groundhog sees his shadow, the belief is that North America will experience an additional six weeks of winter. In contrast, in keeping with the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition, if the groundhog does not see his shadow, the forecast is for an early spring. The 1993 movie Groundhog Day made this tradition famous. The movie storyline focuses on Phil Connors (played by Bill Murray), a bitter newscaster, tr ..read more

Today, we published The Supply Chains to Admire for 2023. Congratulations to the 34 winners. (For a more detailed analysis, check out the Power point summary.) The companies that outperformed industry sector performance while driving improvement and sustaining value are: Apple, Assa Abloy AB, BorgWarner, CCL Industries, Celanese, Cummins Engine, CF Industry, Decker Outdoors, Gilead Sciences, Intuitive Surgical, Hubble, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Leggett & Platt, Lockheed Martin Corporation, LyondellBasell, Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize NV (Ahold), Monster Beverages, Nike Inc., Nvidia, No ..read more

This weekend, I edited the Supply Chains to Admire report. The report was scheduled to publish in the summer of 2023, but life got in the way. The full report publishes this week. I laugh that writing the report is like a root canal. An analysis of improvement, performance, and value of over 500 public companies in 28 industries over a decade. (I posted my working summary.) However, writing it is a great time to get into industry patterns and think. With surgery, I just never got to the report finished. Writing it takes weeks. In retrospect, I am glad that I did not publish it in the summer ..read more

Today is a writing day. My last post was December 7th, 2023. The month of December was my longest writing respite since I started this blog in January 2010. Posting the first blog seems like yesterday, but thirteen years and over 540 blogs later, taking a pause from a weekly deadline was badly needed. I give thanks for all my readers, but I relished the break. The time gave me a good time to reflect and finish the reports that I should have completed in the summer when I recovered from Uterine Cancer. January 2023 started my journey fighting the healthcare system to understand my symptoms whic ..read more

Today, I speak at the North American Manufacturing Association, Manufacturing Leadership Conference, in Nashville on the use of data to improve supply chain resilience. This follows the recent announcement by the White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience launching 30 proposed actions to strengthen America’s supply chains and the ASCM recent publication on resilience. Here I share some insights from my research. Background The Council of Supply Chain Resilience met for the first time this month. The Council is co-chaired by the National Security Advisor and National Economic Advisor, and i ..read more