Supply Chain Archives

The Ongoing Shipping Container Shortage and Possible Effects on Tomorrow’s Supply Chain

We have all seen it in the news. Covid-19 outbreaks, labor shortages at the port as well as in trucking, and port delays coupled with high demand from consumers are causing major supply chain issues. Shipping containers are in short supply, or perhaps a better way to say it is that they are waiting to be unloaded or loaded resulting in a shortage. In this blog, let us try to enlist some possible future impacts of this situation. Let us look at it from the perspectives of the different players in the supply chain.

By Sujit Singh|2021-10-18T14:14:02-04:00October 19th, 2021|Demand Planning, Inventory Management, Inventory Planning, Supply Chain, Supply Chain Management, Supply Planning|

What is Happening to Our Supply Chains?

Everyone is talking about supply chains these days. Ever worsening weather, a global pandemic, and a labor shortage have generated a perfect storm that has pushed global supply chains to their breaking point. I propose that the problem has been building for some time and this perfect storm may just be the reset we need.

By Dr. Vicki Mekler|2021-10-18T15:35:12-04:00October 13th, 2021|Demand Planning, Inventory Management, Supply Chain, Supply Planning|

3 Aggregation Mistakes When Reporting Forecast Accuracy

It is important to measure and improve the forecast accuracy at the right level of aggregation. If you measure at too high a level, your accuracy picture will look better than what it needs to be as the data at high (aggregated) levels is more forecastable. By contrast, at too low a level...

By Sujit Singh|2022-08-30T14:18:34-04:00October 6th, 2021|Demand Planning, Forecast Accuracy, Forecasting, Supply Chain|

How to Choose the Right Demand Variance Method to Calculate Safety Stock

In today’s blog, we will share some examples to help Inventory Planners explore different methods available to calculate Demand Variance and decide which method is best suited for their products and businesses.

By Nakul Tilak|2023-05-26T10:15:07-04:00September 29th, 2021|Inventory Planning, Safety Stock, Supply Chain|

Sustainability in Supply Chain Planning: Waste or Revenue?

When many companies produce products, they also produce by-products. Often, they have no use for these by-products and so they are discarded or sold off as scrap. But companies that embrace sustainability do not accept this fate. Some companies have found a way to turn their waste streams into revenue streams...

By Dr. Vicki Mekler|2021-09-21T10:32:06-04:00September 21st, 2021|Supply Chain, Supply Chain Sustainability|

An Approach to Setting Forecast Accuracy Targets

Learn the best approach to setting forecast accuracy targets and how to set expectations for your management team.

By Sujit Singh|2021-08-30T10:56:06-04:00August 25th, 2021|Demand Planning, Forecast Accuracy, Forecasting, Supply Chain|

How Forecastable is Your Data?

Having access to an accurate forecast is very beneficial for businesses. If used correctly, it can provide better margins, increase market shares, and many other positive results. At a more tactical level, it can help reduce the costs associated with meeting the customer demand and make the supply chain more efficient.

By Sujit Singh|2023-05-26T10:17:26-04:00August 17th, 2021|Arkieva Data Analysis Wing, Demand Planning, Forecast Accuracy, Forecasting, General Topics, Inventory Management, Supply Chain|

Data Science Tools of the Trade: Rolling Rounding to Handle Those Pesky Decimals

In many areas of supply chain management, analytic methods generate estimates with “pesky decimals”. The traditional method to eliminate the decimals is rounding. In this blog, we demonstrate the importance of this method and how to calculate these improved integer estimates.

By Dr. Ken Fordyce|2021-08-10T14:33:27-04:00August 10th, 2021|Data Science, Tools of the Trade|

Sustainability in Supply Chain Planning: In Practice

Integrated Supply Chain Planning is the best way to be sure that you are running your business in a way that is best for your whole business. When you address your energy needs independent of your supply chain planning you can drive up costs unnecessarily and create rework. Industrial gas companies know this better than most because their production process is an extremely energy-intensive one. Keeping energy use to its minimum is a pinnacle of smart sustainable business practices.

By Dr. Vicki Mekler|2025-07-11T13:45:37-04:00July 27th, 2021|Supply Chain, Supply Chain Sustainability|

Five Steps to Develop an Effective S&OP Process – Step 4: Balance Supply and Demand

Over the past 5 weeks, Jeff Ondria has hosted a set of short interviews on LinkedIn about the five distinct steps to develop an effective S&OP process. In today's blog, we discuss step 4 Balancing Supply & Demand where we will answer some key questions with respect to balancing supply and demand.

By Dr. Ken Fordyce|2021-07-13T13:27:41-04:00July 13th, 2021|Central Planning, IBP, S&OP, Supply Chain Management, Supply Planning|

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