Chain Reaction

In this episode Tony Hines talks about business success. Here is the link to the full text of the talk  Fashioning Business Success | LinkedIn I hesitate to write or talk about business success. It is like writing about the Holy Grail. There are so many opinions and little evidence to determine what business success looks like. Nevertheless, given this caveat write about business success, I will....

In this Christmas Special this is the first of three episodes looking at past, present and future of supply chains. In this episode Tony Hines looks at the road travelled by supply chain professionals over the past half century and more. Noting  that the phrase supply chain itself was only coined back in 1982 and then it was simply looking at what went on in a single firm. It is remarkable to thin...

Supply Chain Critical could well describe many supply chains around the globe right now. In this episode Tony Hines takes a look at US food and other supply chain disruptions following President Biden's initiative to get parties around the table to discuss issues. On November 29th the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued an order to discuss what's going on in those supply chains.  The F...

Inflation in the US is at a thirty year high standing at 6.2% and in the UK the Consumer Price Index stands at 4.2% in November up 1.1% from a month ago. As demand goes up and supply remains short inflation is one consequence. In this episode Tony Hines discusses cause and effect and what it means for supply chains. Shipping is such an important part of global supply chains and 90 per cent of glob...

In this episode Tony Hines provides a short summing up of the recent COP26 event in Glasgow UK and discusses what's next for supply chains beyond COP. He also takes a look at the importance of supply chain partnerships and the benefits they bring to organizations. It is a way of accessing complementary skills. He revisits some early lessons that he thinks are just as important as ever for sup...

In this episode Tony Hines discusses greener, cleaner, frictionless trade as well as catching up on some news issues. The fire on the container ship off the coast of Victoria British Columbia is another reminder of the hazards involved in transporting chemicals. A new way to produce electric vehicles is discussed focusing on Arrival's Oxfordshire site. Some interesting innovations point to th...

In this episode Tony Hines discusses why supply chain research is such a rich area of knowledge generation with both practical relevance and academic rigour. The episode will be of particular interest to those doing research into supply chains as well as new entrants to supply chain management. Students on MBA courses and doing research degrees may find this episode of particular interest. Board m...

Timing is everything says Tony Hines when it comes to achieving supply chain advantage. Whether it is how long it takes to procure goods, process work-flows or transport goods (raw materials, work-in-progress or finished inventories) to the customer. Time endows advantage. Of course time can also be a problem if you do not manage it well. Managing time in supply chains is a risk. Ther are uncertai...

In this episode Tony Hines looks at the troubled waters everywhere in supply chains. As the world is slowly opening up trade again excessive demand for energy, shipping and other goods has put pressure on struggling supply chains grappling with labour shortages. In Europe wholesale gas prices increased by 60 per cent in just one day before falling back. This was a result of Russia controlling supp...

This episode discusses some issues affecting supply chains in the news this week. They include: Problems for Pig Farmers in the UK; The Oil Spill in the Amplify Pipeline in California; Ways to lower your carbon footprint in supply chains and what governments are doing to achieve net zero targets; There are still supply chain issues in the UK because of a shortage of HGV drivers and the shortages o...

This episode takes a retrospective view of supply chain disruptions during the Pandemic. In it we examine the rhetoric of policy makers and the realities of disruption and in some cases the supply chain chaos caused by a failure of planning and execution. Evidence for the claims is brought into focus. Some of the unusual events were certainly that but were they really ‘Black Swans’. One could argu...

Energy Supply, Cost and Disruption This week's episode takes a closer look at energy cost and food chain disruptions occurring in the supply chain.  Energy usage in the UK still dominated by fossil fuel 47 per cent Gas and 2 per cent Coal. Last week the UK had to bring back a coal source when wind powered fell short of the target. Border Controls and Food Supply Disruption Border controls pos...

In this week's episode we follow up from last time and discuss what went wrong with supply chains in the past eighteen months and how to fix the weakest links in your supply chains. Tony Hines makes the distinction between two types of problem that disrupt supply chains. His type 1 problem is one caused by issues in a particular supply chain. Type 2 problems are systemic and effect all supply...

Since the pandemic began in 2020 disruption to supply chains has become expected.  Transport is at the centre of getting the right goods to the customer in the right place, at the right time and at the right price. On time and complete delivery was the mission for those delivering supply chain promises. Retail Logistics has been responsible for some great innovations in combining technologies to d...

In this episode of Chain Reaction Tony Hines revisits some of the stories he covered in the past few months and gives an update on those disruptions in global supply chains. Shipping containers in short supply with sky high prices likely to push up prices at the store. Driver shortages in the UK since Brexit means idle trucks and disruptions to supply.  See how labour shortages are affecting food...

In this episode Tony Hines reviews the need to achieve zero carbon to protect the planet for future generations. He examines what this means for supply chains and how supply chain thinking could contribute to help solve the problem. He offers some pointers of what we need to do and how you can play your part in the supply chain. The problem in a nutshell is human activity and its impact on the pla...

Disruption is the new normal according to Tony Hines. In this episode disruption in food supply chains are discussed in the context of food security, environment and climate change. Defintions of food security are drawn from Tim Lang’s excellent book “Feeding Britain – Our Food Problems and How to Fix Them” . Sustainability means different things to different people. It is a synonym for environmen...

In this episode Tony Hines takes a look at Kaizen  a Japanese word for Continuous Improvement or Change for the Better. This approach was central to the success of Japanese manufacturing systems. Toyota embedded Kaizen in its manufacturing system. The approach is useful for all organizations and as important today as it ever was.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show   THANKS FOR LISTENING PLEASE SUP...

Developing teams that understand how they can play their part in achieving cost effective solutions to supply chain problems is key to creating value. In this episode Tony Hines discusses what it means to be cost effective and explains why it is necessary for all organizations.  Being cost effective is a culture that can be developed in any organization achieving more with less. It is a key princi...

In this episode of Chain Reaction Tony Hines discusses cost concepts that are essential to understand for those managing supply chains. Sources of value and cost in the supply chain and the wider system are examined in the discussions. To achieve supply chain advantage you must understand cost and value. Some of the most important things to understand about costs are direct costs related to the pr...

If you're wondering what transport at zero mph is listen to the episode. Tony Hines discusses why transport at zero is on the rise. Demand is increasing for goods but supply is often short in the time of Covid. Production capacity is short too as plant closures have occurred on a regular basis. In the last episode we discussed the problems due to shipping transport. This week we take a look a...

Miquel Serracanta Domenech asked me a question last week about my thoughts on the disruptions in global shipping following disruption at Yantian and other ports in China due to Covid 19. A supplementary question was what will the new normal look like? Many businesses are asking the question: Where is my box? This got me thinking more about the problems currently being experienced by many businesse...

We like to spot trends and we like to make lists. So here is my list of ten supply chain trends creating supply chain advantage for 2021. 1. Develop Resilient Supply Chains 2. Digital Transformation of Supply Chains 3. Sustainable Supply Chains 4. Visibility and Transparency 5. Risk Reduction Strategies 6. Managing Layered Complexity 7. Demand Sensing Technologies 8. Contactless Commerce 9. Cyber...

In this episode Tony Hines discusses pressing problems and how to solve them. In the discussion he defines and explains what is meant by a pressing problem. Drawing on supply chain concepts he puts pressing problems in context. The theory of constraints is used to focus attention on critical problems. A number of tools and techniques are briefly discussed that may help to solve an organization&apo...

In this week's episode Tony Hines discusses predictions and the unpredictable. Forecasts are built on the premise that the future is a continuation of the past. Data are gathered about previous performances and projected forward to give a forecast. If you have line items that are fairly standard and demand is stable then forecasting techniques are very useful but what if demand is more unpred...