In his session “The Digital Tipping Point” at the American Aerospace & Defense Summit in 2016, Matthew Cordner, Director, Global ERP and Business Intelligence at Textron Inc., told the audience that, “For many companies in mature markets, excellent product performance is no longer a differentiator, it merely earns you the right to compete.” What differentiates a company, he argues, is their ability to provide superior insight and agility. Cordner provided Netflix and Dell as examples. Though these companies did not sell especially superior products to what was already on the market, it was innovation in their supply chains that allowed them to be successful. Netflix, which began by delivering rental DVD’s to customers, improved on the Blockbuster model by selling the same product but getting it to customers faster and more conveniently. They were able to collect tremendous amounts of data that allowed them to not only to go digital and recommend content to viewers but also produce that content and capture more value from their products.
Read More →The Customer-Centric Supply Chain: Lessons from Volkswagen & Adidas
With big data, increasingly sophisticated segmentation, the ‘Amazon effect’, and the omnichannel experience taking center stage, customer expectations are higher than ever. In order to compete, companies need to take a customer-centric approach to their supply chain, which means starting with a focus on the end consumer and mapping the supply chain backward from there. To do this effectively, organizations need to: utilize data from different sources, choose metrics carefully, and align teams around those metrics. At last year’s American Supply Chain Summit, we heard from thought leaders at Volkswagen Group of America and Adidas Group about how they are doing this effectively and seeing great results.
Read More →Lean Implementation throughout the Supply Chain
So you’ve been successful at implementing your own lean initiative, but now you’re being squeezed by your customers, who want lower prices and higher quality, and your shareholders who want higher profits. How do you satisfy both stakeholders? Generis thought leaders from Navistar, Under Armour, Toyota, the Lean Enterprise Institute, and Wabash Corporation share how they have worked with their suppliers to implement lean throughout the supply chain to decrease cost and improve product quality.
Read More →3 Technologies that are Rapidly Changing the Supply Chain Landscape
At Generis’ 2017 American Supply Chain Summit, Dave Malenfant, Director of the Center for Supply Chain Innovation at Texas Christian University, shared with us the three most disruptive technologies that are changing the supply chain industry today: 3D printing, drones, and driverless trucks.
Read More →Supply Chain Visibility in Pharmaceutical Outsourcing
While pharmaceutical companies are ultimately responsible for assuring the control and review of outsourced activities and the quality of purchased materials, many struggle with supply chain visibility due to the complexity of multi-tiered supply chains, inadequate IT systems, limited experience, and resource constraints. The supply chain has gotten increasingly complicated over the past decade. The complexity arises from the entrance of vendors from many countries into the marketplace; vendors that previously played a small or limited role. Mergers and acquisitions have also complicated the supply chain, particularly around quality.
Read More →Supply Chain Strategy: Managing an Aggregated Demand Network
XPO’s Supply Chain Aggregation Strategy consolidates the global demand and distribution of the managed commodity. The strategy provides a self-regulating consumption-based process that ensures optimal inventory levels at all points of the supply chain. XPO’s solution is flexible, scalable and can be applied to a wide range of commodities in various industries.
Read More →Does Data Help or Hamper Your Ability to Execute Effectively?
Winning the game requires you to manage the details in short increment time intervals. For a fast/short cycle time business, if you learned that you missed the day at the end of the day, it’s too late to do much about it. But if you had the ability to measure and address performance in hourly or shorter time frames, there’s time to take action to ensure you meet the day’s goals. To learn more about data-driven daily management, check out this eguide by Dploy Solutions!
Read More →Managing Your Cold Supply Chain to Ensure Your Vaccinations Get to Where They’re Needed Most
World Courier is transporting Zika diagnostic test kits to and from South America. Companies trust us to transport and store time- and temperature-sensitive products, and the urgent and sensitive Zika diagnostic test kits are no exception! In the midst of concerns, especially for the well-being of athletes, World Courier’s capability and expertise are another reason to have peace of mind. The Zika virus was a huge fear for the 2016 Olympic summer games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the white paper below, World Courrier explains the process and challenges of transporting Zika tests for the 2016 Olympic games to ensure the safety of the Olympic athletes and those attending. Take a look at the full white paper below!
Read More →Optimizing Temperature Control for Biopharmaceuticals
This article first appeared in BioPharm International, October 1, Caroline Hroncich Today pharma companies are faced with an ever-changing market that includes increased regulatory challenges, globalization, and heightened competition (1). Biopharma companies are rapidly expanding into emerging markets where there are new opportunities for drug development. Conversely, logistics companies must keep up with the demand, ensuring all storage technology is equipped to retain the safety and efficacy of a drug by the time it reaches the end of its journey. This article by World Courier delves into these relevant industry topics: Common considerations for shipping biopharmaceuticals; Temperature management in extreme climates; Recent advancements; and Looking ahead. Learn more about optimizing temperature control for biopharmaceuticals in the article below!
Read More →Q&A with Intel: Looking at the Factory of the Future
When looking at the future of manufacturing, we wanted to gather thoughts and insights from our American Manufacturing Summit elite speaker Dr. Irene J. Petrick of Intel, an internationally recognized expert in strategic road mapping and innovation, and the Director of Business Strategy for the Industrial and Energy Solutions Division in Intel’s Internet of Things Group. At Intel, it is Dr.Petrick’s job to provide leadership in the integration of business and technology strategy and to develop solutions that will drive exciting technology to create smart edge devices and end-to-end solutions. In the manufacturing space, there have been major shifts towards smart manufacturing, with a goal to optimize the manufacturing process entirely. Dr. Irene Petrick believes that smart manufacturing triggers are likely to emerge from needs-based business drivers such as operational efficiency and flexibility, ROI, and enhanced customer relationships, and social accelerators such as a growing middle class with an appetite for customized products and a declining manufacturing workforce. Solutions that support the convergence of operating technologies and information technologies will accelerate this manufacturing transformation. It is important to note that there are four shifts that drive smart manufacturing adoption: Modular Manufacturing Digital Threads Networked Ecosystems Human and A.I. Choreography Today’s manufacturers have the opportunity to increase the transparency in their operations using IoT technologies that will acquire and transfer data from the asset through the fog to the cloud, resulting in efficiency ROI, and closer customer relationships, Dr. Petrick notes. …
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