January 2012.
Sadly, many companies are going through the annual physical inventory process at this time of year, wasting the company’s money and resources while providing no real value to the business or its customers. Why do they do it? Two reasons: (1) the accountants and auditors insist and (2) there is little confidence in the inventory records because of questionable processes and controls .
Posted in Customer Service, ERP/MRP, Inventory, Management, Manufacturing | Tagged business planning systems, customer service, cycle counting, ERP, inventory accuracy, inventory records, Manufacturing, manufacturing management, MRP, physical inventory | As the United States struggles to climb out of the recession, the manufacturing sector has been particularly strong, leading the way with increased output and solid sales and profits.
Five week APICS CSCP study program: January 28 – February 25, 2012.
With the APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) program, you can take your career and organization in a new and exciting direction.
Posted in Best Practices, Customer Service, Education, Inventory, Logistics, Management, Manufacturing, Operations Management, Planning, Process Improvement, Quality, Risk, Supply Chain, Sustainability | Tagged APICS, best practice, certification, Certified Supply Chain Professional, compliance, continuous improvement, course, CRM, CSCP, CSCP Exam Content Manual, demand forecasting, ECM, education, exam preparation, free trade zones, fulfillment, Global Supply Chain, globalization, implementation, inventory, inventory planning and control, logistics, management, marketplace, operations, performance improvement, planning, point-of-sale, professional development, risk, SRM, supply chain, supply chain management, sustainability, trading blocs | October 2011.
Advice and Assistance for Manufacturers.
A surprising variety of products have caught the focus of consumer groups and regulatory agencies and been faced with the need for a product recall.
Posted in Best Practices, Inventory, Management, Manufacturing, Process Improvement, Quality, Risk, Supply Chain | Tagged batch, Coast Guard, Consumer Product Safety Commission, controls, cost, EPA, FDA, food safety, Food Safety Modernization Act, inventory, lot, NHTSA, procedures, process control, product recall, production, recall, recovery, regulatory agencies, risk quality, supply chain, traceability, USDA | Don’t Fly Blind.
Although many company leaders have contingency plans for their information technology infrastructure, few professionals give the same consideration to safeguarding their supply chains.
Posted in Best Practices, Customer Service, Inventory, Logistics, Management, Manufacturing, Operations Management, Planning, Risk, Supply Chain | Tagged APICS, Certified Supply Chain Professional, contingency plan, contingency planning, CSCP, demand, inventory, inventory buffers, opera¬tions management, production, program, risk, supply chain, trans¬portation, warehouse | You see it everywhere—in advertisements, in your emails, at the water cooler—but you are reluctant to enter the conversation. Does your lack of cloud computing put you and your company hopelessly behind?
Posted in Management, Operations Management, Planning, Risk, Supply Chain | Tagged APICS, benefits, Cloud computing, costs, return on investment, risks, security, software-as-a-service, strategic systems planning | August 2011.
Advice and Assistance for Manufacturers.
In the 20+ years since, Lean has continued to be a focus of manufacturers striving to improve throughput, reduce costs and increase agility. Why is it that Lean still resonates while other initiatives tend to come and go on a regular basis?
Posted in Best Practices, Lean, Management, Manufacturing, Marketing, Operations Management, Process Improvement | Tagged agility, cost reduction, empowered teams, engineering, improvement, Kaizen, Lean, Lean Manufacturing, management, Manufacturing, marketing, operations management, process improvement, production, production worker, response, throughput, Toyota, webinars, white paper | Outsourcing decisions shouldn’t be based solely on cost.
Posted in Logistics, Management, Manufacturing, Marketing, Risk, Supply Chain | Tagged core competence, cost, distribution, Manufacturing, marketing, outsource, re-shoring, risk, sourcing, supply chain | Several years ago, it was almost fashionable to outsource to low-wage areas of the world to reduce costs. Business leaders developed the mind-set of “off shoring is always cheaper:’ and they scarcely looked beyond unit cost plus transportation.
Posted in Inventory, Lean, Logistics, Management, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Sustainability | Tagged back-shoring, buyers, capability, capacity, communication, cost-of-goods, costs, demand, exchange rates, expenses, forecast, Green, import, labor, lead time, Lean, logistics, lot size, management, Manufacturing, MFG.com, near-shoring, off shoring, on-shoring, outsource, production, Productivity, quality, re-shoring, safety stock, shipping and handling, sourcing, suppliers, supply chain, trade exchange, transportation, unit cost | July 2011.
Advice and Assistance for Manufacturers.
Don’t assume that your big investment in system implementation or process improvement is necessary to get a big return (ROI). Have you picked all the low-hanging fruit?
Posted in ERP/MRP, Education, Inventory, Management, Manufacturing, Operations Management, Process Improvement | Tagged consulting, cycle counting, ERP, expedition costs, inventory reduction, JIT, kanbans, Lean, Manufacturing, measurements, MRP, MRP/ERP, on-time shipments, overtime, pre-implementation, process improvement, production efficiency, quality improvement, return on investment, ROI, system implementation, training | 