April 10, 2008
Member Question: What is the difference between Supply Chain and Value Chain? My Response: To begin, the reference to supply or “value” chain is a misnomer in that it implies a sequential architecture. This is a term that is on its way out as an organization’s supply “practice” is actually centered on the synchronization […]
April 8, 2008
Some professions, such as software developers, regularly utilize the similarity heuristic. For software developers, the similarity heuristic is utilized when performing debugging tasks. A software bug exhibits a set of symptoms indicating the existence of a problem. In general, similar symptoms are caused by similar types of programming errors. By comparing these symptoms with those […]
March 26, 2008
Member Question: What methods are available to measure purchasing performance for both buyers and sellers? My Response: The challenges associated with quantifying (re measuring) performance extend beyond the mechanisms for capturing the data to include its timely application relative to ongoing real-world decision making. Specifically, is the current methodology capable of incorporating centrally established acquisition […]
March 24, 2008
Member Question: What’s the #1 reason Six Sigma initiatives fail? (Maybe Six Sigma needs to be applied to Six Sigma . . . ?) My Response: At a Value Network Summit in 2007 Glenda Turner (a Supply Chain Integrator with Boeing) made the following statement; “Now that I know the value networks methodology, I would […]
March 18, 2008
Editor’s Update: Interesting that an article in 2013 talking about “integrating social and enterprise process” is thought to be covering new ground. I am of course talking about today’s Forbes post by Rawn Shah titled “SAP Realizes Enterprise Social Processes.” Back in 2008 I wrote an article on my government funded research in the late 90s titled “Optimization Modeling and […]
February 28, 2008
The following is an interesting question I received from a Master of Science (M.Sc.) Business Technologies student who is working on her thesis “Measuring Confidence in Supply Chain Management System: An empirical approach.” Reader Question: My name is Diana Esparza, M.Sc. Electronic Business Technologies full time student at the University of Ottawa. Currently, I am […]
February 18, 2008
The following is the third track in the Q&A series which posed the question, “Are Multiple Supply Chain Networks Important?” Given the continuing strong reader response, the series will be extended for the balance of this week. PI Question: A 2006 Report made the following statement: “Designing and operating multiple supply networks to meet the […]
February 13, 2008
The following is the second track from the still growing number of responses I have received from readers around the world regarding the question, “Are Multiple Supply Chain Networks Important? PI Question: A 2006 Report made the following statement: “Designing and operating multiple supply networks to meet the needs of specific market segments–supply chain innovation […]
Is Ford’s auto-xchange the “Real Deal?”
April 11, 2008
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In an excerpt from my March 18, 2008 post titled Optimization Modeling and the Modern Supply Chain I made the following statement: “The key starting point is to recognize that the term supply chain is a misnomer in that it implies a sequential order of events (in the spirit of your question, a non-deterministic set of […]