The industrial internet of things (IIOT) is on the minds of many supply chain management professionals. The potential benefits are just too good to ignore, and companies large and small are feeling a true sense of urgency as competition and consumers continue to demand heightened efficiency and responsiveness from supply chains.......Read More

Although the internet of things (IOT) is new to the lexicon of many business professionals, using the internet to provide real-time information about a “thing” actually has been happening for a long time. For years, IOT capabilities have led to heightened efficiency, accuracy and economic benefits; enabled users to be more agile and responsive; and produced related competitive advantages. The barrier to entry continues to decrease every year, and businesses are taking notice. In fact, experts estimate that the IOT will incorporate about 30 billion objects by 2020. ......Read More

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is a forum where the governments of 34 democracies with market economies work together, as well as with more than 70 nonmember economies, in order to promote economic growth, prosperity and sustainable development. The member countries account for 63 percent of world GDP, three-quarters of all trade and 18 percent of global population.......Read More

Transparency in global supply chains is vital. Without it, it’s impossible to anticipate and manage supplier risk, minimize supply chain disruptions, prevent litigation, and protect your brand. Unfortunately, for years now, global supply chains have been a bit of a murky business. As the impact of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ripples across the globe — alongside increasing antibribery and corruption regulation and enforcement in many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries — the pressure for supply chains to be transparent continues to mount.......Read More

For supply chains to be fully effective, manufacturing links must be stable, predictable, agile and responsive. One way to accomplish these goals is with product wheels. These scheduling tools organize the variety of products made on any asset in order to optimize campaign lengths and sequences and therefore improve throughput and customer fill rate while reducing cost and inventory.......Read More

The Panama Canal opened in 1914 after decades of deadly struggle between humans and nature. The French first attempted to build it but gave up after eight years of torrential rains, mudslides, engineering mistakes, and mosquitoes carrying yellow fever. Americans then took over the project—first getting rid of the mosquitoes and next using state-of-the-art engineering and earth-moving equipment to finish the job. The fact that the canal operated for a century without major modification is a testament to the skill and foresight of its creators (McCullough 1978).......Read More

As I drove by my local airport the other day, a blanket of early morning fog obscured the buildings and runways from my view. Although I couldn’t see them, I could clearly hear that airport operations were underway. Jets were taxiing, taking off, and landing despite the low visibility. I am not a pilot, but I tried to imagine what it would be like flying a plane in low-visibility conditions. What a leap of faith it would require to take off and fly at hundreds of miles per hour without being able to see what’s ahead. Of course, modern planes are equipped with radar, GPS, and other sensor technologies that let the pilot perceive what the eyes cannot, even in clear weather.......Read More

​No company wants to have its products recalled. However, if a recall is necessary, the priority is to minimize the ramifications and complete it as quickly and efficiently as possible. Certain industries—such as consumer packaged goods, pharmaceutical, and automotive, among others—are well acquainted with the need to properly accomplish recalls. However, many other industries also are at risk, and they might not even know it.......Read More

Pinpointing the location of products and components throughout a facility in real time is crucial for shop floor managers and their employees. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and effective enterprise resources planning (ERP) can significantly improve production control by making it possible to easily read valuable information stored on item tags.......Read More

In the late 1960s, a toy appeared in the US market called The Visible Man. It was the model of a human with a clear shell that allowed you to observe the inner workings of the human body and the interrelationships of the skeleton, organs, and circulatory system. I remember being fascinated with how the systems of the body interacted to create a unique individual. ......Read More

In order to simplify their supply chains and reduce risk, many organizations are choosing the path of vertical integration. However, the trade-offs sometimes are substantial.......Read More

Ray Reagans, PhD, talks about how the silo effect relates to knowledge sharing and exploring the development, types, and components of business networks and how they facilitate communication. ......Read More

How committed is your organization to speed and flexibility? Being fast and agile means listening, trusting, and enabling meaningful action. It takes a self-confident leader to really make it work—but it's well worth it. ......Read More

In today’s constantly shifting business landscape, there exists a crisis of confidence—and trust. The number one reason trust doesn’t exist between you and your employees, customers, and partners is that you lack the motivation to build it. ......Read More

Kaizen is a Japanese term referring to continuous improvement that centers around the elimination of waste in production. Carolyn Sly and Mary Ann Mauldwin spoke with APICS about how kaizen events can create lasting improvements in organizations. ......Read More