Research with Results: a blog from the Aberdeen Group » Supply Chain Management

Inforum 2012

Bryan Ball — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:28:34 +0000

I recently attended Inforum on 4/22/12-4/25/12. There was great attendance and CEO Charles Philips did an excellent job of presenting his company’s vision for their technology, product and sales direction. The management team was introduced and actively involved in all phases of the event in briefings and main stage sessions. Perhaps not new news, but [...]

E2open Collaboration Center with Supply Dashboard…

Bryan Ball — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:10:40 +0000

During the Aberdeen SCM Summit on April 4th and 5th, E2open announced their 8.0 E2 Collaboration Center with Supply Dashboard. A key feature of the release is the cross-network visibility of the supply chain with the ability to drill down into problem resolution from the alert view. This type of approach has the potential to enable [...]

Another indication of price volatility frustration…

Bryan Ball — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:42:36 +0000

The following article appeared in CNNMoney on Tuesday of this past week and it highlights the challenges that companies are facing in their attempts to manage price volatility in fuels and other raw materials.Delta to buy an oil refinery By James O’Toole @CNNMoney May 1, 2012. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Delta Air Lines announced plans [...]

Reverse Logistics Helping to Push Companies Forward!

Kevin Permenter — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:11:45 +0000

As the numbers of selling channels continue to grow, retail companies are turning to reverse logistics as a means of managing logistics cost and, even, as a place that can drive new revenue opportunities in terms of remarketing, service and refurbishments etc. In fact, a recent Aberdeen research report, “Fulfillment Excellence and Dynamic Event Warehousing Come [...]

Returning from our 6th annual Supply Chain Summit

Bryan Ball — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:07:24 +0000

I just returned from our 6th annual Supply Chain Summit in Chicago and wanted to report on a few highlights in case you weren’t able to attend. Our theme was centered on transformational initiatives, featuring speakers from across several industries and disciplines within supply chain.The intent was to identify stories and relevant initiatives such that [...]

Only a few days left to sign up!

Bryan Ball — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 20:16:46 +0000

Only a few days left until our Aberdeen 2012 Supply Chain Summit in Chicago on April 4th and 5th at the Swissotel. It’s not too late to sign up and if you have questions check out our event site. Our theme for the event is Transformational Initiatives for The Chief Supply Chain Officer which I [...]

CSCO View of Risk and Price Volatility

Bryan Ball — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:55:46 +0000

Results of our 2012 CSCO indicated that price volatility for raw material, commodities and fuels topped the list as the most disruptive forces in the past year. Cost is always a high priority pressure in any supply chain survey but to have these items ranked even higherthan the earthquake and Tsunami in Japan as far [...]

Supply Chain Excellence Key to the Omni-Channel Retail Experience

Kevin Permenter — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:32:20 +0000

End User Quote: “Inventory availability across channels will reduce markdown cost. Seamless interactions with customers across all channels will increase sales. In depth customer information/history across all channels at point of interaction with customer will increase sales.” ~ Mid-Sized North American Retailer Achieving high levels of merchandise availability in today’s omni-channel environment cannot be achieved without [...]

Emerging Social Paradigm in Consumer Products: Strategies for Harnessing Social Business tools in Consumer Products Companies

Kevin Permenter — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:49:10 +0000

End User Quote: “Customers simply want it now. The product must be available, shipping or pick up easy, payment a non-event. To us this is a topline issue. Price compression in consumer electronics means you have to get every sale. Making sure your customer can get what they want when they want is paramount to [...]

The Three Rules for Inventory. What are they and what do they mean for your company?

Bryan Ball — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:47:19 +0000

Inventory Optimization usually means “minimize” inventory to most managers, but in fact it really means “right sizing” the inventory. The gap in understanding behind the true meaning always sparks an interesting dialog around the subject of “how much?” That dilemma when “right sizing” is to find the critical balance characterized in the three rules for [...]