Emerging role of sentiment analysis in demand-driven supply chains By Lincoln Wood, Torsten Reiners and Hari Srivastava Recent trends in supply chain management have been driven by the attempt to understand supply chains and mitigate the remaining “risk [that] comes from not knowing what you’re doing” (W. Buffet). Sensors and smart tags launched a new…
Finance programs reward supplier CSR efforts In 2010, athletic footwear and apparel manufacturer PUMA set out to monetize the “true costs” of its reliance on nature as a source of critical supplies, such as fresh water, clean air, healthy biodiversity and productive land. The goal, Executive Chairman of PUMA SE Jochen Zeitz reported at…
Unique deal gives Nike instant infrastructure in the Americas From the moment Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman hijacked his wife’s waffle maker to create Nike’s first grooved-sole sneakers in 1971, the Nike brand has been synonymous with innovation and high-performance athletics. Just as its product focus has remained steadfast on delivering footwear and sportswear designed to…
What supply chain managers can learn from wolves in Yellowstone By Robert Handfield and Tom Linton The era of the digitized supply chain is bringing about unprecedented levels of change in global trade. The rapid digitization of the communications infrastructure, cloud-based computing, mobile technology and the rise of the digital ecosystem will enable transparent, real-time…
How tech startups are compelling and enabling offshoring reversal For members of the electronics industry, dealing with disruption is just another day at the office. Every so often, however, established tech companies face Disruption (think of it like capital-L Law vs. lowercase-l law). This is where many multinationals find themselves today. Ironically enough, it is…
One-on-One Profile Education: Johannes holds a degree from the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany (1997) in Business Administration and Mechanical Engineering and a degree from the University of Greenwich, London (1995) in International Business Hobbies/Interests: Running, Architecture, History Honors/Recognitions: Named one of Top 25 Most Influential Supply Chain Leaders in Europe Personal Philosophy: Nobody is perfect, but…
Welcome to the May 2017 issue of Supply Chain Navigator. This week I will be attending the Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference in my hometown, Phoenix. One of the things I appreciate most about this event is the opportunity it affords me to meet and learn from supply chain peers representing a broad array of…
By Kamban Parasuraman, Principal Engineer, AIR Worldwide and Aaron Michel, Senior Engineer, AIR Worldwide As “big data” quickly becomes the new standard for “all data” in technology-driven enterprises, advanced data analytics has become the key to competitive advantage in a number of fields, including supply chain risk modeling and mitigation. However, deriving actionable insights from these…
IBM’s Watson technology bridges gap between supply chain risk management and big data In the five years since IBM’s Watson bested reigning Jeopardy champ Ken Jennings to become the undisputed king of trivia; cognitive computing technology has evolved into one of the most significant technological change agents of the generation. Applications of Watson’s natural language…
By Chris G. Christopher, Jr., Director, U.S. Macroeconomics & Consumer Economics, IHS Markit Global trade and the many supply chains that support it are continually subject to shifts in economic conditions, geopolitical regimes, and politics. Recently, two major trends have emerged that have the potential to disrupt supply chains and global economic growth: economic slowdown…