Many people are aware of a reality show on television titled “Jon & Kate Plus 8”, which features a couple that is separated and ready to get divorced. Occasionally couples have disagreements and need to get away from each other to sort things out then come back to the table with new perspectives.  That’s what JDA and i2 have done with their deal from last year. JDA plans (once again) to acquire i2 Technologies. This time around, the offer is for $396 million (USD). Read the rest of this entry »

Many CFOs, CTOs, supply chain managers, and logistics managers struggle to decide which supply chain management (SCM) software is best-suited to their organizational needs. It doesn’t help that there is an abundance (literally hundreds) of SCM solutions available on the market. Today, I’ll help you understand key SCM modules, and look at some key players with well established SCM solutions. Read the rest of this entry »

In a previous blog post, I discussed two approaches to bringing down the overall cost of your supply chain (by using either cost-cutting or -reducing methods). Another blog was about bringing cost down by using better or best inventory management processes and practices. As we have already discussed the methods, processes, and practices, let’s look now at some of the technological aspects of reducing cost.

The first question that comes to mind is: will supply chain software help reduce the cost of the supply chain? So the riddle is to have or not to have supply chain software within your organization…? Read the rest of this entry »

As economic conditions worsen, organizations are stumbling on variety of customer demands ranging from superior services to lower costs. These extra requirements not only cause added strain on the organization’s supply chain, but makes achieving financial goals difficult. Read the rest of this entry »

Recent uncertainty in the global economy is not only having a negative impact on international economies, but an equally deleterious effect on global supply chains. As with the international economies they serve, global supply chains are interwoven and inextricably linked to one another. For instance, if one link is severed in the supply chain it can cause a ripple effect which could collapse the entire chain. I’ll look at some of the concerns for potential supply chain collapse, and some strategies to limit your exposure to such a risk. Read the rest of this entry »

As a little kid growing up in former (and erstwhile happy) Yugoslavia and watching my elders, day in, day out, downing dozens of strong Turkish coffees with their neighbors and relatives (while discussing sports, weather, world politics, and the neighborhood gossip) I would sometimes naively ask for a sip of coffee. The deterring line (a bogey-man tale) from my folks would be that “kids that drink coffee end up with a tail on their rear side.”

A few decades later (being currently admittedly addicted to Starbucks triple-shot espresso drinks), it appears that modern supply chains suffer from long tails, albeit not due to anyone’s premature coffee consumption. That (and much more) was the enlightening conclusion of the recent Webcast entitled “Long Tails and Optimizing Inventories” conducted jointly by AMR Research, ToolsGroup, and Supply Chain Digest. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m a bit swamped right now, but I thought I’d address a number of specific requests from your comments in Supply Chain Management 101 by pointing you to a bunch of other free resources on our sites:

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I covered the basics of ERP previously, and thought I’d move on to supply chain management (SCM), which we’re also featuring in tomorrow’s TEC Newsletter (go to Newsletter archives), with lots of white paper goodness, to boot.

So,

What is SCM? Read the rest of this entry »