Every production planner has the challenging job of managing a complex set of conflicting priorities - meeting customer requested ship dates and new product trials, supporting manufacturing and logistics performance objectives, and addressing finance's objectives as it relates to inventory levels and cash flow.
In working with clients across multiple industries including industrial equipment, food and beverage, building and construction products and healthcare products, there is no doubt that clients using a SIOP (sales, inventory and operations planning) and integrated business planning process are pulling away from the competition.
Clients are growing quickly. No matter the industry and company size, clients and colleagues are seeing growth. The only question is how quickly and whether they can keep up. Capacity constraints are popping up everywhere. On the logistics front, Southern California has no available space; the ports are backlogged, prices are rising [...]
If you aren't seeing the end-to-end supply chain as strategic, you will miss your opportunity to get ahead of the competition and grow as rapidly as you otherwise could! How quickly can you scale with increasing sales volume? [...]
Listen to Lisa Anderson being interviewed on ALBA Consulting's Interlinks.
COVID has disrupted every business. Some are growing far faster than supply can keep up while others have dropped like a rocket. Still others have almost identical dollar volume yet double the number of orders at half the order size, creating significant disruption in warehousing, shipping and transportation. [...]
Learn how implementing SIOP can drive revenue predictability and growth for your business with these insights from Lisa Anderson.
Inventory has emerged as a hot topic lately. In today’s Amazon-impacted business environment, customers expect rapid, customized deliveries, the ability to change their mind anytime and easy interactions.
As we toured several e-commerce facilities such as UPS and Amazon, it became obvious that the sheer volume during peak season presents a huge dilemma. For example, UPS goes from 250-300 containers per night to 450 during peak season. Now that is quite a surge! Amazon has similar surges and stated facts such as 68 million orders on Cyber Monday.
In thinking about the answer to the question, "What if you sell more?", most sales people would cheer. Most accountants would add up the additional revenue and profit. And, often, the Operations resources would be glad the leaders are in a good mood. But does anyone know if we are set up to successfully handle the increased sales if they occur?
