Supply Chain Illustrated

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Recent Posts

An Exercise in Precision

Because precision is, um, well, precise, you now have a different starting point for your journey’s second leg. Which means all the future plans you made will need changing.

One-Size-Fits-Some

In traditional MRP, we start with a prediction of demand called a forecast, which is typically a range. We are forced to choose one single number to represent that range which we then input into a complex calculator.

There must be a better way

I asked a group of supply chain purchasing and planning professionals a simple question. I asked them how they decide just when to place an order and just how much.

Use Demand Driven MRP to Achieve Success

Reduce Inventory, they said. And they’re still saying it. We’ve been working on the same things for decades. How is it possible that we are chasing the right things, but not achieving the goal?

A CFO, a CEO and a COO walk into a bar.

If you have product available, then sales will result. You will only maintain that level of sales if you have the capability to produce to the customer demand. And if you produce only what the customer is buying, then you will have the money to pay bills, including worker salary.

Safety Stock – a misleading solution

Typically, your family uses three eggs per day, so you set a safety stock level of six (two days worth). This means you never intend to have less than six eggs. That way, you should not have to rush to the grocery store just because of eggs.

Julie and Matt go to a Demand Driven Planner Workshop. Eyes Wide Open.

Today, we find Julie, Matt and two other members of their team attending a Demand Driven Planner workshop. There is a certification possible, but right now Julie and Matt just want to evaluate if this methodology is as promising as it seems. We catch up with them during a break in the class.

Sales and Operations Planning. Let’s re-imagine it.

What is the purpose of starting a Sales and Operations Planning process? For many, S&OP is a process to get information to flow between various parts of the business, the most obvious being Sales and Operations (hence the name). The premise, I believe, is that if Operations knows what is happening in Sales, then they will be able to respond. Great starting point. At some point, perhaps it worked well.

The Mystery of Company Culture vs Work Life Balance.

I was mapping what I thought my own Work-Life balance should include, based on one current methodology. Physical, Emotional, … and then I went off the rails. Because I started thinking about the viewpoint of the company and how aligning the company’s Work-Life balance offering with the individual’s Work-Life balance requirements will make a huge difference in achieving that balance.

Perspectives need to change.

So, as we slowly spin into chaos, we have to finally admit that trying to use a tool based on precision and exactness creates a challenge as our world becomes more and more imprecise.

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