Many manufacturers and distributors are faced with bridging the skills gap in current employees and new hires. I recently partnered with the APICS (the leading association for supply chain and operations management) Inland Empire chapter to complete a survey on skill gaps as it is becoming a critical topic [...]
Noticing hot supply chain trends first is a great way to leverage emerging trends and stay ahead of the competition. An often overlooked secret to success is to be a front-runner in identifying and leveraging emerging trends. Since I work with manufacturers and distributors from small to large [...]
Excellent leverage opportunities are easy to overlook, and a powerful advantage for those who look for them. If you had the opportunity to make $1,000,000 with 100 hours of work or 10,000 hours of work, which would you choose? It sounds like a no-brainer; however, if that’s true, why [...]
Systems pragmatists focus on achieving exponential returns on investment (ROI) with a combination of top-notch business processes, systems, and people. Business process improvement is starting to make a comeback as executives are thinking about how to increase efficiencies. I’m a fan of selecting a few critical priorities and re-focusing [...]
Leverage Social Networks to Drive Business Results I’m frequently asked which social media tool is best for those who want to get started. For manufacturing and distribution professionals, undoubtedly, it is Linked In! One of the most recent statistics I’ve heard is that there are more than 259 million [...]
As the year wraps up, successful executives are thinking about how to not only finish up the year on a strong foot but also, how to kick off the New Year with rapid progress. So it makes sense to take a step back and think about a few year-end [...]
Perception is reality and underappreciated employees move onto other opportunities. Retaining top talent should always be a priority; however, in today's market, losing even one top player can make the difference between success and failure. Since the recession, employers have expected employees to be generalists. In essence, employees at [...]
Acknowledge your ERP implementation project leaders for their ability to manage multiple moving parts. I've found that successful ERP implementation project leaders are unsung heroes as few executives could or should understand the 1000's of moving parts & critical elements to achieving success. What are a few of these [...]
Businesses face many hurdles—some we can control and others we cannot. How we manage risk is what determines our success. As this topic came up frequently at the APICS 2013 conference and has affected almost every one of my clients in the last year in some manner, I thought [...]
