According to the proverb “calamity is the touchstone of a brave mind,” in these tough times some supply chain management (SCM) vendors have been trying to take stock (no pun intended) of their offerings and how best to offer these to customers, to mutual benefit. In fact, I have recently seen some intriguing (if not bizarre) press releases (PRs), which read like some type of whitepapers or presentation transcripts.

They were certainly different (and therefore refreshing) from the customary dry and fluffy PRs that most communications folks use (especially during ordinary times). One such “educational” PR came this past summer from the spend management vendor Emptoris, and was analyzed in my blog post on five procurement commandments in a down economy.

A more recent similar PR came from JDA Software Group Inc., a provider of integrated merchandising and supply chain and revenue management planning, execution, and optimization solutions for the consumer-driven supply chain and services industries.  The PR came on the heels of the worldwide economy continuing to struggle and going into a tailspin, whereby new orders in the manufacturing sector are falling at record rates.

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