Productive warehouse management can help businesses meet requirements and maintain market share in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. In order to transform warehouse management processes, the professionals involved must have an awareness of the current state of things, create a clear vision of how they want the future state to be and then define the project’s business value for all stakeholders. ......Read More

As more manufacturers pursue online sales direct to the end user, supply chain management professionals are challenged to fulfill a growing number of individual, small shipments. Operations that are structured and staffed for cases, pallets or full truckloads are simply insufficient. Traditionally, manufacturers considered logistics, transportation and distribution to be necessary evils — they were required, but didn’t really offer any great business opportunities. The rise of e-commerce is making these competencies integral; yet many companies are ill-prepared to handle them.......Read More

American psychologist Abraham Maslow once wrote, “I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.” Most of us are familiar with this this concept, which is known as the law of the instrument, or simply Maslow’s hammer.......Read More

In his article “The Limitations of Cycle Counting,” author Richard T. Graff, CFPIM, writes: “Practitioners shouldn’t confuse measurement of accuracy with control of that accuracy.” Although he penned the piece way back in 1987, this quote remains just as accurate today as it was more than 25 years ago. Indeed, measurement is only the first step in the journey, not the end point.......Read More

Tolerating ineffective and wasteful processes will reflect poorly on managers' capabilities and, accordingly, their career prospects. ......Read More

Ultimately, the key to reducing supply chain expenses is to understand cost drivers. Product unit handling configuration is one such driver. It has great savings potential and has not yet been explored by many companies.......Read More

William Walker, CFPIM, CSCP, CIRM, is presenting a session on the new economics of global supply chains at the 2008 APICS International Conference & Expo in Kansas City, Missouri. He will discuss the evolution toward value-added segmentation and why only companies that are close to their customers, very flexible, and very fast will be able to deliver value and remain viable.......Read More