The current status quo is that the shipping industry’s cycle is not synchronized with global economy’s one. As a consequence, the ratio between demand and offer for sea transportation of containerized cargo is bringing shipping line’s revenues even below operational expenses on the majority of the trades. Shall we start panicking? No, maybe we should […]
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Combine Customers’ Online and In-store Shopping Experience for Sales
Fifty percent of smartphone owners compare prices online while in a store, a phenomenon known as “showrooming,” according to Wiser. One third of these then go on to purchase from competitors. Meanwhile, 69 percent of smartphone users “webroom” by researching products online and then visiting a local store to purchase them, reports a Merchant Warehouse study. As […]
Industry Value Chain: Understand Its Importance and Application to the Mining Industry
Editor’s Note: Ganesh Rajagopalan is a seasoned management consultant and former investment banker. He is also a leading author on Flevy, having published numerous business frameworks on topics such as Strategy Development, Investment Analysis, and Value Chain Analysis. You can view all his materials here. * * * * Most would be familiar with the term […]
Supply Chain Excellence begins with Understanding the Supply Chain
Whenever we ask what supply chain is, we get different answers depending who we ask. Some say it is planning and purchasing; or procurement; and some say inventory management; and some others may say it is logistics management. Yes, all these correct answers. But, there is much more! According to APICS (Association for Operations & Supply […]
Do You Have a “Strategy for Speed?” Start by Conquering the “10 Plus Wastes”
There is always much talk about the basic technology (and supplemental technology) solutions that are designed to optimize systems in an effort to work “smarter” in a distribution center or warehouse–to possess a “strategy for speed.” Managers are now under more pressure than ever (and they should be) to carve out space and optimize throughput. […]
Improving Office Productivity with 5S Principles
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with the first step. – Lao Tzu, a famous Chinese philosopher Around the world, more and more organizations have started to adopt Lean principles and practices to improve competitiveness. As a holistic approach, office activities must fully support shop-floor manufacturing operations to eliminate waste as a means […]
Your Supply Chain Doesn’t End Where You Think It Does
The physical supply chain is made up of thousands of moving parts, literally. Before it’s a laptop, your computer may have started as a screen from South Korea, a CPU from the United States, a processor from Japan, combined in China in a case from Taiwan, and shipped to a retailer in the United States. […]
Credibility in the Supply Chain and Elsewhere
Trust is built on credibility and credibility comes from acting in others’ interests before your own. – anonymous If leaders have credibility, people want to work for them. But credibility is important in many areas, not just in leadership roles. For instance, sales professionals need credibility to be successful. You have to do what you say […]
Have You Heard of Postponement Strategy in the Supply Chain?
The postponement strategy is based on the following two basic principles of demand forecasting. The accuracy of forecast demand decreases with an increase in the time horizon. The farther the time window for which the demand is being forecasted, the more inaccurate it will be. This effect can be shown as a funnel: as time extends farther […]
Effective Use of Cross-functional Teams
Software is a necessity in all facets of business today, but people are needed to manage the software and ensure data integrity for accurate data output. People are your most important product. Use them to continuously improve your organization. Cross-Functional Teams are a good way to use multi-talented people to solve many kinds of problems […]
Flevy Author Spotlight: Our Interview with Lean Pioneer, Vishnu Rayapeddi
Lean Management has been an area of increasing interest for Flevy customers. As of now, we have over 300 documents related to various Lean concepts and Vishnu Rayapeddi contributed close to 100 of these documents–with a focus on training series. Vishnu is a pioneer of Lean Management, combining the power of Lean Thinking, Six Sigma, Balanced Scorecard, and other best-class […]
2 Types Of Performance Metrics Everyone Must Differentiate
There are leading and lagging indicators in business. It is important that managers understand the difference between them and ensure they have both types of metrics to get an accurate picture of performance. However, there are also some important issues to watch out for. All performance measures are, by definition, backward looking. They tell us […]
