The SupplyChainBrain Podcast

Talk all you want about the deeper aspects of supplier-buyer relationships. But doesn't it always come down to price? Well, maybe. But supply-chain partners aren't doing an especially good job of managing that critical piece of the puzzle. In fact, the current approach is in many instances ''myopic and inefficient.'' So says Kate Vitasek, a member of the faculty in th...

Looking to implement new supply-chain software? Without proper change management, you're bound to fail. The most dazzling I.T. package will never deliver on its promise unless managers factor in the human element. That means dealing with a natural resistance to change. It's not just about the possibility of lost jobs, or the fear of becoming irrelevant to the organization. Many people si...

Decades after its debut, radio frequency identification technology is finally poised to realize its potential in the retail sector. The key is item-level RFID – something that hasn't been possible up to now, thanks to high tag costs and the reluctance of many retailers to expend limited resources on its development. Finally, though, there's real progress being made – Macy's, Kohl&ap...

Small or medium-sized suppliers looking to get their products into Walmart needn't fear the beast. Deserved or not, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has a reputation for dictating terms to its suppliers both large and small. Assuming the latter can even get a foot in the door, it would seem unlikely that they would get much personal attention or desirable shelf space. There is a way to work with Walmart,...

Manufacturers like the U.S. They really like it! So says the latest edition of the Manufacturing-Sourcing Outlook Study from AlixPartners. Believe it or not, the U.S. has become the number-one choice for companies seeking to reshore production back to the West, after decades of favoring China and other low-cost parts of Asia. Not to overstate the case, of course – manufacturers are a long way from...

You'd like to think that the people who manage a global supply chain are as diverse as the pieces that make it up. But that's not always the case. To be sure, there are a good number of women occupying senior-level management positions in various parts of the supply chain today. Among them is Lynn Torrel, senior vice president of global supply chain and strategic accounts with Avnet, Inc...

Maybe people and robots can co-exist in the workplace after all. Automation isn't always about replacing humans with machines. In fact, recent advances in industrial technology are allowing them to work side by side. In this episode of the podcast, Julie Shah describes the work her team is doing on ''scheduling the choreography of robots'' in factories and distribution cen...

Wanted: 60 professional, dependable long-haul truck drivers – in the midst of a nationwide driver shortage. Headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., Longistics is just a few months away from observing 30 years as a family-owned provider of global logistics services. But it has more to celebrate than that: rapid growth in the company's business is causing it to hire 60 additional truck drivers, forming...

Demand forecasting would be a snap – if only people weren't involved. Retailers and manufacturers struggle to match forecasts with actual purchasing patterns. Much of the time they fail – and, despite the growing sophistication of software and analytics tools, they don't seem to be getting much better at the task. One problem is the growing complexity of markets, products and consumer de...

The risk of cyber crime hitting your supply chain is greater than ever before. The possibilities extend well beyond old-fashion website hacking. Global supply chains today are vulnerable to any number of scams that originate in cyberspace, says Peregrine Storrs-Fox. He is risk management director with Through Transportation Mutual Services (UK) Ltd., known more familiarly as the TT Club, an intern...

Born in the wake of one devastating hurricane, the American Logistics Aid Network found itself in the eye of another. ALAN was formed in response to a series of unusually intense storms in 2005, most notably Hurricane Katrina. Today, the organization draws on an extensive roster of private companies, trade associations, government agencies and relief organizations to respond to any manner of disas...

Every business has its rock stars. In the world of supply chain, you might call Joseph C. Andraski the lead singer. Joe Andraski has truly had an ''incredible supply-chain journey,'' to steal a phrase from the title of his new book. In this episode, he relates how he got started in the business, learning some valuable early lessons about working with fellow employees, both abov...

Deck Same-day service: It's the ultimate goal of e-commerce retailers – and the ultimate desire of consumers. But is it really feasible? A number of players have already jumped into same-day delivery in select markets, or announced their intention to do so. Amazon.com is vying with Google and eBay to get orders to buyers within a matter of hours. FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service are als...

Should we allow U.S.-flag merchant shipping to go the way of the passenger pigeon, the wooly mammoth and the Great Auk? It will happen in 10 years if steps aren’t taken to prevent it, says maritime industry and homeland security expert Denise Krepp. Former chief counsel to the U.S. Maritime Administration, she currently is a private consultant and professor at The George Washington University and...

Anheuser-Busch InBev has laid out a five-year path to sustainability. One of the world's largest brewers, Anheuser-Busch has committed itself to an ambitious plan for slashing the use of water, energy and packaging material, as well as the emission of greenhouse gases, by 2017. In this episode, Hugh Share, senior global director of Beer Better World for Anheuser-Busch InBev, details the steps...

Imagine your organization as one giant brain. One that's not thinking properly. Businesses today are mired in conventional thinking, says Michael Vaughan, chief executive officer and managing director of The Regis Company. He's the author of The Thinking Effect: Rethinking Thinking to Create Great Leaders and the New Value Worker. In this episode, Vaughan joins us to talk about how the c...

The Highway Trust Fund is broke. And the nation's transportation system is broken. What's to be done? Step one is finding new sources of funding for repairing our crumbling roads, highways and bridges, as well as the construction of new ones. The battle over where to get the money has raged for years, even as the federal gas tax has gone without an increase since 1993. In this episode, J...

All of a sudden, the future looks bright for nuclear power. Along with that rosy forecast, however, comes a raft of new challenges to the industry's global supply chain. The list is daunting: Scaling up to meet future growth. Ensuring a base of reliable suppliers and ready availability of product. Securing safe and efficient transportation. Preventing the flow of counterfeit components. How c...

Humankind is forever striving for perfection. When it comes to the job of demand forecasting, however, perhaps we ought to be a tad less obsessive. Nobody's arguing that the forecast is irrelevant. Suppliers and retailers need some way to get a handle on what the customer's going to buy. But the all-consuming quest for the perfect number is bound to fail. Reality has an annoying way of r...

And you thought that sponsorships for the Olympics were all about consumer products and services. Meet the Official Carbon Partner of the Sochi Games. It's Dow Chemical Company – also, by the way, the Official Chemistry Company of the International Olympic Committee. Dow is deploying its new Climate Solutions Framework to create the first-ever, 100-percent carbon-neutral Olympic Games. The in...

Is trade compliance nothing but a headache? Or can it be good for business? Some international trade regulations force importers and exporters to sharpen their knowledge of suppliers across multiple tiers, as well as the status of products in transit. Others are just a burden, and do nothing but drive up supply-chain costs. So what can traders expect from the ''unprecedented wave'&a...

Will we ever get rid of those dreaded spreadsheets? In a recent survey by Logility and APICS, 47 percent of respondents said they were still using manually produced spreadsheets to support their demand-planning process. Change is tough in any organization, and it can be a challenge to convince planners to give up something that's worked so well for years. But there's evidence that spread...

If you're a supply-chain executive, there's a good chance that the next tsunami, hurricane, flood or other disaster will take your organization by surprise. Again. For all their talk of the importance of good risk management, companies just can't seem to tackle the issue effectively. In a survey by the American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC), 83 percent of respondents said t...

What's really going on in Chinese factories? Founded in 2000, China Labor Watch is an independent organization dedicated to monitoring labor conditions in Chinese factories producing a wide range of consumer products. Over the years, the group has uncovered multiple instances of labor abuse, insufficient wages, safety and health violations, and poor living environments. It relies on undercove...

How is your demand forecast like a tabloid psychic? Their record for accuracy is just about the same. Rob Byrne, chief executive officer of Terra Technology, says big consumer-products companies typically have an average weekly forecast error of more than 50 percent. He joins us in this episode of the podcast to explain why. Byrne lays out all of the challenges that affect the retail forecast: cor...