A colleague and I were talking recently, and the conversation turned to what is the relationship between Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD) and the Standard Deviation (STDEV). In this post, I will explain to you the math behind that approximation, which by the way, only applies to normal distributions.
Over the past few years, the chatter about the role of AI to “optimize” supply chain has been almost endless. Some of the material is great, other is hype, some conjecture, and in most cases, we will not know the impact...
For most involved in Supply Chain Management, optimization is viewed as one of the three primary methods to create a supply or central plan that matches or balances assets with demand. Historically effective use of space involved minimizing unused space or maximizing revenue from a fixed amount of space. COVID-19 has upset the social order.
If you are thinking “machine learning and AI” will save you from data disasters – think again as the pandemic behavior is playing havoc with machine learning models.
An often-heard theme in supply chain management (SCM) and COVID-19 is “data-driven” – being data-driven is the path to success. For COVID-19 “science-driven” is often said in the same sentence. For SCM demand or customer-driven replaces “science”. This blog will point out a few examples in the COVID-19 challenge demonstrating COVID-19 is an OM challenge.
Arguably the two most important core components of managing the supply chain or demand-supply network are demand management (DM) and Central Planning (CP). CP is sometimes referred to as master planning or supply planning.
The current COVID-19 situation highlights the supply chain management challenges in any turbulent time. In this blog we identify five key points: preparedness, larger good, anticipate, and not react to events, responsiveness, and an intelligent stochastic estimate of demand.
For those that work regularly in the supply chain or managing the demand-supply network (DSN) models are commonplace to help with similar questions. This blog will provide some basics about models that all will find helpful...
In a recent blog on Inventory Forecasting the core challenges and business importance of estimating inventory are outlined. A projected inventory position across time (plan) is a natural co-product of most central or master planning models that match assets with the demand to create a projected supply line linked to demand.
The tragic outbreak of the Coronavirus has again demonstrated the need for ever vigilant health care services and fast response. It has demonstrated that supply chain interruptions from a manufacturing excursion to a port strike to an infectious disease outbreak require two actions from any firm: preparation and response.