Automate or Die
Until it attains godlike profitability, reduces costs to zero, and hears the pathetic mewling of its last, defeated competitor, Dell Computer won’t stop remaking its business. Its three-part strategy for ultimate victory? Web, Web, and Web.
Content: Article | Author: Stacy Perman | Source: Business 2.0 | Subjects: Best Practices, Operations | Industry: Personal Computer
Online Logistics Market (Europe)
Global Sourcing: Another Critical Purchasing Skill
Many purchasing organizations are being challenged to increase the level of “global sourcing” to tap into promising opportunities and to fend off competition. Unfortunately, many companies are ill equipped for the challenge: though global sourcing employs the same set of activities as domestic sourcing, there is also greater complexity. Based on our experience, most companies need to enhance the skills of their purchasing organizations to … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: C.V. Ramachandran, Timothy M. Laseter, Tonya M. Leary | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Operations, Strategy
Inc.com’s Guide to Controlling Costs
Simple, everyday cost-shaving strategies can help get your business off the ground. Or, if you’re further along in the process, these strategies can help you grow your business faster.
Content: Online Resource | Source: Inc.com | Subjects: Operations, Small Business
Systems, Modules or Components? New Light on Purchasing
Capturing the full potential from suppliers has always been a challenge. To pull it off, successful companies have devised ways to effectively integrate the right suppliers into their business processes. In so doing, they have created powerful supplier relationships that simultaneously encourage cooperation and competition. The results of these best-practice relationships are demonstrable. But how are such relationships achieved? This article, a follow-up to ‘Balanced … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Authors: C.V. Ramachandran, Keith H. Voigt, Timothy M. Laseter | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Operations
How to Treat Customers Right: Winning the Channels Challenge
The proper care and feeding of customers is a hot topic these days. Whether the discussion goes under the name customer satisfaction, zero defections, loyalty or intimacy, the customer issue has pushed its way to the top of the agenda for a growing number of C.E.O.’s.Yet despite all that attention, surprisingly little is said about a core problem many a chief executive faces: how do … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Author: Evan R. Hirsh | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Operations, Strategy
Offshore Outsourcing Facts
Process improvement by poka-yoke
Shigeo Shingo is credited with creating the concept of zero defects and the techniques of poka-yoke (Japanese for mistake-proofing). The approach seeks to remove the causes of defects, or, where this is impossible, to inspect each item simply and inexpensively to determine that it passes the quality threshold – with no defects.
Content: Article | Author: Michael Fisher | Source: ManagementFirst | Subjects: Best Practices, Operations
Supply Chain Management
Balanced Purchasing – Common Global Sourcing Mistakes
Balanced Purchasing – A framework for achieving balance between competitive pricing and cooperation
Balanced Purchasing – Global Sourcing Issues( PANAMSAT)
Balanced Purchasing – Global Sourcing Assesment
Balanced Purchasing
Short article centers on a traditional 2×2 consulting matrix for purchasing, with the price as the x-axis and cooperation as the y-axis. This high-level analysis is interesting in that it was published in early 1996 before the huge SCM craze.
Editor’s Note: This is part 1 of a 3-part series.
Part 2: “Systems, Modules or Components? New Light on Purchasing”
Part 3, “Setting Supplier … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Author: Timothy M. Laseter | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Operations
The Purchasing Machine: How the Top Ten Companies Use Best Practices to Manage Their Supply Chains
Content: Book | Authors: Dave Nelson, Jonathan Stegner, Patricia E. Moody | Subjects: Best Practices, Operations
Average Cost of a Truck Roll
The Power of Six Sigma: An Inspiring Tale of How Six Sigma Is Transforming the Way We Work
Content: Book | Author: Subir Chowdhury | Subject: Operations
Keeping Score: Developing an Effective Strategy for Supply Chain Measurement
Few business areas need to be measured more extensively, more frequently, and more effectively than logistics. When evaluating criteria for individual metrics, consider this checklist.
1. The validity/reliability of the measure
2. The robustness of the measure
3. The usefulness of the measure
4. The completeness of the measure
5. Cost-effectiveness
6. Compatibility
7. The level of detail
8. Behavioral soundness
9. Administration problems … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Author: Julia Kuzeljevich | Source: CEO Refresher | Subjects: Management, Operations
Top Three US-based Company Expenses
Ship It!
Because of its ability to link people around the world, the Internet is causing a global logistics transformation. Moving goods and dealing with customs and tariffs is still hard, but software automation and supply-chain suites are starting to help the process.
Content: Article | Author: Jeff Sweat | Source: InformationWeek | Subjects: Operations, Trade