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manufacturing

Strategies for AI in Manufacturing & Supply Chain

What is All the Hoopla Over ChatGPT? If you haven't been living under a rock, you've heard about ChatGPT and other AI (artificial intelligence) competitors such as Google's Bard and Elon Musk's AI platform. Everyone has gotten into the conversation, from marketing professionals to tech experts to people like [...]

SIOP / S&OP: Balance Customer Orders, Inventory, & Profitability

If you want to serve your key customers successfully (with high on-time-in-full (OTIF), short lead times, and proactive service) so that you can take advantage of the opportunities coming down the pike while addressing the hard realities of the current business environment (potential recessions, high interest rates, and less access to capital), you MUST balance sales, operations and inventory.

Interconnection of People, Technology & Businesses

On a recent trip to Europe, I was fortunate to combine work with pleasure. Finland is diverse from Helsinki to the arctic circle, and we were thrilled to gain picturesque views of the northern lights. I was surprised there are multiple cruise ships that go from Helsinki to Estonia each day because the people and countries are interconnected.

Silicon Valley Bank’s Failure Kicked Off a Liquidity Crisis

Silicon Valley Bank's Failure kicked off panic in the financial markets and banking system. They had too much money tied up in long term bonds paying at low interest rates, and they didn't have the liquidity to keep up with the depositors requests to take money out of the [...]

SIOP/ S&OP Playbook: Creating Predictability & EBITDA Growth

The "Solution" to Successfully Dealing with Shortages, Delays & Inflation Supply Chains: There is No "Return to Normal" There is no "return to normal". Non-stop disruptions are the norm. Proactive clients are still struggling to hire the "right" talent in the "right" place at the "right" time. Material lead [...]

Hot Topics in 2023 – Sustainability, Skills, and Automation

In this episode of Interlinks, I'm joined again by my colleagues from the supply chain special interest group of the Society for the Advancement of Consulting (SAC) to discuss some of the big issues facing businesses in 2023, namely sustainability, talent, and automation.

SIOP (Sales Inventory Operations Planning) Book Published

I am thrilled to announce that I have published a book on SIOP (Sales Inventory Operations Planning), also known as S&OP and IBP (Integrated Business Planning). Why is SIOP VITAL to Success? I think our introduction says it well, and so I'm going to give you a preview. As [...]

Impact of Supply Chain Disruptions – Inflation, Recession, Volatility, Opportunity?

In this episode of Supply Chain Chats, Lisa Anderson talks about impacts of supply chain disruptions and global unrest on inflation, recession, volatility, and opportunity. She uses the price of plastic as an example of the continuing impact from the Russia-Ukraine war and discusses China’s Zero-COVID policies impact on inflation and recession.

West Coast Ports Diminishing Volume

According to the The Journal of Commerce, the West Coast ports are losing volume. The West Coast share of imports coming from Asia is down from 61.1% in 2021 to 58.8% in 2022 while the East Coast and Gulf Coast ports rose. According to the JOC, the ILWU contract negotiations are causing this change although there are concerns about drayage and rail as well.

Labor Scheduling: How to Maximize Operational Effectiveness While Servicing Your Customer

At its simplest, labor scheduling is determining which people (and which skills) you should have at which sites at which work centers at what time (shift) to ensure the right products can be delivered to the right customer at the right time.

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