Executive Summary APICS’ has shown a distinct distaste for reality and provides inaccurate information to decision-makers and worker bees. We cover the problems with APICS. APICS would like you to think of the perfect world before contemplating supply chain management. APICS’ Distaste for Reality Some people have a distaste for reality. Most of us prefer…
Executive Summary Boeing created a massive boondoggle with the outsourcing of its Dreamliner, which has long-term implications for Boeing and the international aerospace business. This is what happens when Boeing only cares about short-term profits and executive compensation. Introduction to the Dreamliner Debacle Supply chain collaboration and outsourcing for Boeing are not as straightforward as…
Executive Summary Companies regularly ask for supply chain inventory benchmarking. We cover the topics of benchmarking and what it means. Introduction One approach sometimes proposed to determine the potential opportunity for supply chain improvement has been to find benchmark studies of companies’ supply chain performance similar to the enterprise in question. This article will explain…
Executive Summary The earliest EDI tells an interesting story about the usage of EDI. How EDI messages were structured and the implications. Introduction Electronic Date Interchange or, more commonly, EDI is a structured way for companies to communicate with one another. EDI is also a document standard as well as how the data is transmitted….
Executive Summary The telegraph, telex, and postal system have essential implications in the history of the supply chain. We cover how these technologies changed the supply chain. Introduction to Earliest Technologies The supply chain has always interacted with the communication technologies of the day. In today’s instant information environment from a distance, it is interesting…
Executive Summary The advantages of water-based transportation and what water-based transportation is best used for. Introduction Transportation by ship is the oldest form of large-scale transportation. To understand why transportation by ship has and had even more so in the past, such as greater ability to move material more economically than land and even air-based…
Executive Summary Fossil fuels were instrumental in promoting the first industrial revolution. We cover power stations’ growth, the line shaft in factories, and how the steam turbine improved and factory changes. Introduction to Electrified Manufacturing Infatuated with recent technology developments, the far more essential technology improvements that came before information technology. This article will learn…
Executive Summary Forecasting changed enormously after computerization. We cover some of the significant differences in the eras. Introduction Forecasting can be divided very neatly into pre and post-computerization. The earliest computerized forecasting systems were simplified examples of what we have today. Demand planning systems can be seen to have the following components: The associative data…
Executive Summary Background on the history of supply chain planning. A fascinating supply chain process diagram from 1946. The area of coverage of the diagram. A short bio of the diagram’s author. What the diagram tells us about system evolution in this area. The Background on The History of Supply Chain Planning In a previous…
 Executive Summary IT analysts help create a bubble about marketplaces. After they got the story so wrong, they moved on hype up other topics. Advanced Planning 2.0? During the tech stock bubble that had formed around technology companies, some companies were focused on electronic collaboration through the concept of an online marketplace. This development was…