When I posted about Agile Demand Planning a couple of days back, some of you wanted to know the mechanics...

When I discuss agility with various Supply Chain teams, their initiatives are usually centred around supply side agility...

Supply Chain teams often grapple with designing an optimal level of stockouts and obsolescence. Their design...

I have seen many Supply Chain teams engage in endless analysis of their current issues and What-If scenarios. These...

Companies embarking on OTIF as a key measure of their Supply Chain performance often struggle to set an improvement...

When I wrote about OTIF a couple of days back, many supply chain professionals got in touch with me. They are...

Of late, I see many companies focusing on measuring and improving their On Time In Full (OTIF) performance...

Of late, many companies are investing considerable time, effort and money In Supply Chain visibility. They are even...

Companies working on Supply Chain excellence need to craft their path carefully, as it depends on the specific context...

Many companies are embarking on the journey of Supply Chain excellence. They look for customer pain areas...

Many companies struggle to maintain a consistent Supply Chain performance. They experience periodic crisis...

Tata Mumbai Marathon was a pleasure to participate in today morning. Though it’s a repetitive project, the organisers...

Supply Chains typically have three types of latencies...

Supply Chain planning and execution processes need to work in harmony, in a symbiotic relationship. However, several...

I have recently noticed some companies implementing a complicated Planning tool, which is more like a black box...

Mindful observation is a great feed for innovation. We need to develop the habit of observing consumers for a good...

Various functions in a company’s supply chain have a tendency to speed up their operations. They feel it would lead to...

Supply chain teams are generally overwhelmed with so many improvement ideas on their plate. Where should they...

Several supply chain teams use averages for parameter setting, except Demand where estimation is more nuanced...

New Year is full of resolutions made by various people. These are often highly ambitious and without a concrete set...

Plant residence time is the total time elapsed between input materials entering a plant and corresponding finished...

Agile Supply Chains work on demand sensing at the front end and flexibility, responsiveness in backend operations...

Many supply chain improvement initiatives are seen as urgent by the team, especially if these relate to customer service...

If we are working on a major supply chain improvement initiative, it is important that the team involved in designing...

When supply chain teams take up improvement initiatives to make their supply chain more agile, they often...

Supply Chain teams often get overwhelmed by the seemingly enormous change and complexity involved in...

Agile supply chains use Demand Sensing at the front end to get a reliable demand signal. The choice of demand...

Effectiveness of Supply Chain planning depends significantly on the choice of demand signal. It should ideally...

Supply chains in most companies follow a pretty uniform planning process, starting with a monthly Demand Planning...

Many companies now-a-days sell through multiple channels. The most common is Offline channel, catering to...

Improvement projects in supply chain need not be overtly complicated. In fact, most improvements require just...

When we look at improving the performance of a company’s Supply Chain, an area often overlooked is the impact of...

Take some time to pause and reflect. Where is the current constraint in your Supply Chain? As it turns out, it’s...

Every Supply Chain team aspires for a breakthrough improvement in its performance. However, their initiatives...

There is a lot of hype these days that Supply Chain rules are meant to be broken. Unless we break the rules...

Most companies claim to be consumer centric – actively engaged in gathering consumer feedback and acting on...

Many companies are currently in the process of implementing sophisticated Supply Chain planning solutions...

When I talk to Supply Chain teams of various companies, I find many of them completely stressed out. Their team...

Most businesses, being customer centric, claim to give high importance to their customer service levels. However...

Most companies are declaring their quarterly and annual results now. It is interesting to find a repeated pattern...

A company’s Supply Chain has the power to differentiate its business versus its competitors and even give it the Decisive...

Several Supply Chain leaders struggle with their ever-shifting focus between improving product availability and system...

OTIF is an important metric of customer service. Most businesses have an undergoing initiative to improve it...

Teams working on Supply Chain improvements must sustain them over time. If the pace is too fast, some of the...

I have seen some experts promise quick turnaround of Supply Chain operations. Promises like ’30 day turnaround...

Some Supply Chain initiatives take a long time to implement. Teams working on such initiatives need an early confirmation...

Consumer Packaged Goods companies spend quite some time and effort in designing their finished goods...

Companies working with assumption of deterministic demand often work out detailed production schedule and freeze...

Companies often plan their production capacity loading on the basis of their demand forecast. It is also a common...

Most Supply Chain teams working on cost reduction initiatives look at the freight incurred on finished goods logistics...

Market reality tells us that consumer demand is difficult to predict. Whatever models we use, even if these...

Supply chain leaders are full of stories when their well-designed initiatives failed to deliver the promised benefits...

Several cricketers in the Indian team are known for their agility. Their bodies are in shape to support agile performance...

My last post laid out the importance of integrating Demand Sensing with Replenishment solutions. I got a few...

Many companies have now moved to replenishment in their Supply Chain, convinced that it improves product...

Supply chains work on the twin objectives of improving product availability and product freshness. There are several...

I have seen many Supply Chain teams setting internal targets which are ‘achievable’. This implies that the...

The primary function of a supply chain is to ensure that its goods and services are available to consumers...

Supply Chain teams typically work on several improvement projects at any given time. This leads to bad Multitasking...

Supply Chains are complex systems with inter-dependencies and variability. I have come across some designs which...

There seems to be a misconception in some supply chain teams that flow improvement means increasing the flow...

If we want to develop an intuitive understanding of the entire supply chain and the problems on hand, we should...

There has been a lot of discussion, of late, about designing Resilient Supply Chains. We should appreciate that the design...

Companies at the forefront of pursuing supply chain excellence have developed ‘Humility’ as a differentiating...

Line functions like supply chain involve several repetitive tasks, which must be performed efficiently, day in and day out...

It’s a dilemma that consultants often face. Supply Chain teams would love simple and elegant solutions to their pressing...

When we visit Gemba (actual place of action), it’s important to identify where its bottleneck is. This is done by looking...

I was at the Delhi airport a couple of days back and saw a huge line for Security Check. When I finally reached the...

Resilience in supply chains is gaining importance, of late. Teams feel that disruptions and uncertainties, both...

Markets will continue to surprise us, despite our best planning methodology. How do we treat these surprises?...

B2B businesses compete on delivery lead time and reliability, assuming that quality and price are at par. Promising faster...

Most leading companies and a whole lot of their competitors have now adopted the ‘best practices’ in their industry...

Most supply chain leaders focus on improving efficiencies, so that they can excel in handling the several repeatable...

Supply Chain teams focus on ensuring product availability at the Point of Sale. However, despite our best efforts, there...

Supply Chains are complex systems with many inter-connected entities, from vendors to the end consumers, and...

Several leading companies use demand forecasting to run their supply chains. Their biggest pain point revolves around...

Taguchi, in his famous work on ‘Theory of Experiments’, distinguished between ‘Main effect’ of taking an initiative...

We know that vendors should be treated as partners. Is it just a sweet talk or does it reflect in our actions...

Several companies are working on initiatives to make their supply chains more resilient. However, the objective...

Most large companies still operate on monthly demand forecasts to derive various supply chain actions of procurement...

If we look at the improvement projects in supply chain of a company, we are likely to find a plethora of projects...

If we want to make our supply chains more resilient, the common perception in many teams is that it would be...

A question I have been asked often is… ‘How do we get more agile?’ When I ask them about their thoughts on it, the...

Companies contemplating agility and resilience usually start with demand sensing and move on to agile...

A common question I have been asked in multiple meetings and conferences is… If the consumer demand is...

When supply chain teams talk of various types of disruptions, their mitigation measures usually revolve around...

The topic of resilient supply chains was discussed at the ISCM conference a couple of days back. What struck me the most...

Mumbai got its first significant rainfall of this season today morning. And the disruption to city life is clearly visible...

Most leading CPG companies have started using Demand Sensing for deployment of finished goods across their network...

We saw in the last post how Murphy is neither a friend nor a foe. It strikes everyone in a random manner...

Supply chain professionals are full of stories on how Murphy has hit them over all these years. Since these stories talk...

Supply Chain teams carry out two important activities on a regular basis. The first one is done by planners to create...

Amazon is known for its focus on Customer Obsession. The entire company takes customer needs, their problems and...

Most supply chain teams work on improving their company’s supply chain. They also set targets for improvement...

Most teams are busy with projects to improve their supply chain in terms of pushing the envelope for better customer...

I recently had the opportunity to vote in my constituency and used it to observe how the overall voter experience...

Integrated Planning in supply chains typically starts with Demand Planning. Most companies use some version...

We know that supply chains should be designed for the specific context of a business. There is no ‘one design fits...

Supply chain teams are generally flush with improvement ideas, properly analysed on paper and in simulations...

Supply chains require seamless synchronisation and harmony among various functions such as planning...

If we look around, there are many instances of major supply chain transformation projects, undertaken by leading...

The three key supply chain capabilities for improving product availability and freshness are:

Supply Chains are complex systems involving multiple entities with inter-dependencies and inherent variability...

Most companies take past sales as a surrogate of consumer demand. In CPG companies, several companies are still...

Supply chain teams engage in solving a lot of customer problems, some of which pertain to major customers with...

Most supply chain teams seem to be working on efficiency improvement projects, hoping to get net cost savings...

How does your supply chain team respond when the going gets tough? Let’s face it, the going is likely to get tough...

Most companies have improved and fine-tuned their supply chin processes over time. These are now firmly set in their...

It’s a common feedback I get from many supply chain leaders. Their team seems to be busy firefighting everyday… talking...

Many companies have instituted Demand Sensing in their supply chain. It helps them understand the demand coming ...

I have heard from many supply chain leaders that they have noticed a marked drop in responsiveness of their supply ...

Many companies are embarking on initiatives to implement replenishment in a leg of their supply chain to start with...

Any company’s extended supply chain is operated by multiple partners. It is impractical for any one entity to direct...

It’s a new fiscal year and many supply chain teams have embarked on cost reduction initiatives. A word of caution...

My interactions with several supply chain leaders indicate that year ends, like today, cause a lot of additional work and stress...

Supply Chains for most companies operate on certain basic assumptions, which have hardened into current practices...

Some of the most frequent comments heard from Supply Chain teams: ‘Last month end saw very high overselling...

Supply chain improvement is an ongoing journey. Whatever be the current level of performance on key parameters...

We hear a lot about using AI/ML in supply chain design and planning. Many companies are experimenting with it...

Business constraints typically manifest in the areas of demand, capacity, supply, or cash. In case a resource capacity...

I mentioned in my last post that supply chain teams should focus their time, effort and resources on only a few carefully...

Supply chain teams are full of improvement ideas. When I talk to any team, they typically list down hundreds of...

I have heard from many Supply Chain teams that they are chasing several objectives. Some of these seem to...

I have heard it from a lot of Supply Chain teams, when we discuss fundamental improvements or transformation...

Many Supply Chain teams, in their journey of improvement and transformation, often experience chaos from...

Today is a special day which reminds us that 2024 is a leap year. Does is have an impact on Demand Planning...

Companies with a Demand Driven Supply Chain encounter frequent changes in the suggested plans. This is expected...

I have seen far too many supply chain professionals hesitating to take help from others, even if it comes willingly and...

Many supply chain transformation projects fail to take off due to the ‘Fear of Unknown’ in team members as well as in top...

Many supply chain transformation projects fail to take off due to the ‘Fear of Unknown’ in team members as well as in top...

Many companies are in the process of implementing Demand Driven Supply Chain and I have been helping them...

Many companies are looking at substantial investments in a new supply chain planning software. Here are a few pointers...

I was intrigued when I read Dan Ariely’s pathbreaking book ‘Predictably Irrational’. I thought only a few consumers...

If the goal of a business organisation is to make more money, now as well as in the future, the near term focus of the supply...

FMCG marketers know it well. If a product variety has been offered to consumers and it has a good traction, taking it...

Supply chain teams in most companies are working on making their supply chains more agile and responsive to actual...

Supply chain professionals use several hypotheses to run and improve their operations. These are often rooted...

The twin objectives of Supply Chain are ‘product availability’ and ‘product freshness’, both of which should be...

I am often asked by Supply Chain leaders questions like ‘How do we know whether our company is agile or not?’ or ‘What...

All consumer companies have some sort of demand forecasting in place. They also track actual demand manifesting against...

Companies in consumer industries face a lot of volatility in demand. There are often instances when customers need higher...

We discussed in my last post how important it is to spot googlies early enough and how the real expert...

Cricket lovers have long been intrigued by the concept of a googly, which is a highly deceptive ball bowled to confuse...

Many leading companies have designed their supply chains for stability. They have found a working mechanism in monthly...

We discussed in the previous post how leading FMCG companies have struggled to leverage the D2C channel for...

I have seen many leading FMCG companies trying to get into Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) channel, as it looks quite lucrative...

This is the time of the year when we see New Year resolutions floating around, from our friends and colleagues...

The purpose of inventory buffers in supply chain is to ensure that we have enough stocks to meet the maximum demand...

Demand Planning process in consumer companies is based on various assumptions, some with a major impact...

A lot of companies are embarking on cost reduction programs. These initiatives typically look at various cost elements...

Supply Chain teams of leading companies try to deploy the latest tools and technologies available in the market...

FMCG companies at the leading edge are improving their flexibility and responsiveness for better customer...

The science of Demand Sensing is based on deciphering signal from noise around the demand data we get continuously from...

Most supply chain teams work on various efficiency improvement projects. However, single minded focus on efficiency is often...

Supply chains work in a dynamic demand environment, where plans need to be refreshed daily. Leading supply chain...

S&OP process in most companies requires demand forecasting to be done monthly. It’s a practice which is rarely questioned...

Almost every FMCG company I have interacted with has a major initiative to improve product availability...

My interaction with several supply chain teams indicates that they love their current design, even when it is sub-optimal...

Many supply chain professionals fall in love with the design of their supply chain, especially if it has been done or tweaked...

I have seen many leading companies with their cutting edge supply chains. The teams often get complacent and feel that their...

When we walk on a slippery road, we intuitively take smaller steps. We may like to explain it through Physics that angle...

Supply chain teams in consumer companies often have an elaborate process for forecasting consumer demand...

Many companies have developed their entire demand and supply planning processes on the assumption that...

Imagine a situation where a new product is introduced by our company. The supply chain team has ensured that enough...

I have seen many leaders approach their supply chain transformation project as a technology initiative. They firmly believe...

Supply chain teams often mention that they get requests from customers to either expedite delivery of an existing order or...

I was recently working with a team which was struggling to control process variability on an important plant operation...

We come across so many suggestions for creating focused work for our employees. The book ‘Deep Work’ by Cal Newport...

Companies selling consumer products track a set of quality parameters important for their consumer experience...

Companies at the leading edge of Supply Chain transformation are incorporating Demand Sensing in their planning...

I was recently at a leading pharmacy chain in San Diego and saw that milk cans were completely stocked out. Seeing empty...

Conventional S&OP operates with a ‘feed forward’ mechanism, wherein procurement plan, production plan, and finished...

A key initiative to make supply chains far more responsive is to deploy Demand Sensing at the front end and couple...

A major lever for improving the performance of supply chains is to improve the flow, for which TOC offers a good...

Supply chain improvement projects should result in simplification. However, as we know, simplification is not easy. It requires...

I have seen several Supply Chain improvement projects which introduce quite complex processes to solve a supply...

Companies facing recurrent issues with their supply chain should have a relook at their supply chain design. It is...

Several progressive organisations have embarked on 5S to improve their process and product quality. While most of...

I have come across several companies who have undertaken large scale quality improvement projects. Some of these...

Supply Chain teams undertake various improvement initiatives. Each of these initiatives should take us closer to the...

Supply Chain teams seem to be in a continuous assessment mode to check how effective their supply chain is. I have...

Let me start by saying that I am a strong advocate of Demand Driven Supply Chains (DDSC), which help in aligning supplies...

I recently came across a company which had an initial success with their IOT pilot implementation. Encouraged by this...

I had an interesting conversation at a leading retail store recently. My favourite brand was stocked out on the shelves...

A common problem faced by many supply chain teams is the yo-yo in the overall system inventory of their fast moving...

Most supply chain teams recognize that the backend supply chain needs to be more flexible. They launch a host of initiatives...

It’s a tricky subject. Supply chain works efficiently if various partners share information in a transparent manner...

Supply chain teams run several initiatives during the year. Do these initiatives remove a major limitation, which is coming...

During my discussions with various supply chain teams, I have come across so many widely held beliefs. In most cases, these...

Many companies have gone ahead with Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) for their input materials. It started in automobile...

I have seen many implementations of replenishment based supply chains where the improvements are only marginal...

I was recently talking to a leading foods company who want to switch over to replenishment based DDSC. They were...

'Constraint' has been one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted words. Many supply chain teams want to get rid...

Dr. Goldratt has emphasized that all change management efforts should follow the 3-step process, answering the...

I have seen certain supply chains where every action regarding stock deployment, production schedule and purchase...

We have a divided opinion on this topic. Some supply chain teams mention time and again that a lot of their improvement...

I have seen Demand Driven Supply Chains (DDSC) getting implemented in many companies across various industries...

When I speak to supply chain teams across industries, I notice a lot of inertia, a tendency to maintain status quo and not...

Most supply chain initiatives require significant change management efforts. Many of these initiatives involve external...

These are the words of Dr. Eli Goldratt, which mean a lot to me. I have seen time and again that supply chain professionals...

Every company’s supply chain is unique in the context in which it operates and the goal the company is pursuing. I have...

I have seen many supply chain teams spending months in carrying out detailed cost benefit analysis for every...

One of the most frequent comments I have heard across various supply chain teams relates to underselling or overselling...

One of the most frequent comments I have heard across various supply chain teams relates to underselling or overselling...

Many companies use the monthly demand forecast, finalized at the S&OP meeting, to prepare the Master Production Schedule...

Agile supply chains require capabilities of sharp demand sensing, operational flexibility and responsiveness. I have seen...

I have met several supply chain leaders who feel that their current processes have stabilized and should not be tinkered...

Most supply chains run on complex processes, since we haven’t understood the inherent simplicity in the system...

We saw in the previous post how Inherent Simplicity is different from simplification of supply chain. While simplification...

One of the key concepts in TOC is the Inherent Simplicity of complex adaptive systems like supply chains...

Many companies adopting Fast Replenishment systems across their extended value chain have done away...

Supply Chain teams often struggle with outliers in their data. These are found in all data sets… demand data, supply data...

Many supply chain teams use the monthly sales forecast for their finished goods deployment. The practice is quite...

Supply Chain teams work on several KPIs. Some of these are truly customer-facing while many others are internal in nature...

Many businesses use Forecast Accuracy (FCA) as a KPI for their Demand and Sales teams. However, the implications are...

Many businesses work on the concept of a ‘single number’ as a target for various functions. This ‘single number’...

Many supply chain teams start their production, procurement, deployment planning from the monthly demand...

Of late, I see a lot of interest in implementing some planning solution for the entire Supply Chain. When I speak...

Most Supply Chain teams actively look for benchmarking their processes with leading players in their industry...

Dams are used to control flow to downstream entities. Strange though it may sound, we don’t find dams in nature...

Companies using TOC are familiar with the ‘5 Focusing Steps’ to identify and manage the system constraint. The first step...

Many organisations are adopting OTIF as their primary supply chain measure, as it is directly customer-facing...

It’s quite common to see large chunks of push sales happening at the month-end, quarter-end, and year-end. How does...

Let me admit that this is a touchy topic, which is widely prevalent but rarely discussed. When I interact with the...

Many companies, implementing inventory replenishment system for the first time, often take the easier route of...

Companies who are moving to a Demand Driven replenishment based supply chain often struggle with long lead times...

Many companies have the practice of raising purchase orders on vendors on a monthly basis. This practice has been...

If we want to design the Supply Chain with a dynamic equilibrium between S&OP and S&OE, an important design element...

Actual demand for a new product at the granular level has high variability and is difficult to predict. On top of it, there...

Supply Chain teams undertake improvement programs on an ongoing basis. Is the focus of these programs...

Most companies have separate systems for their S&OP and S&OE processes. Their differences in approach range from...

Vendor reliability, in terms of timing, quantity, and quality has been a cause of concern in many companies. The problem...

The holy grail of supply chain design is to match supplies with demand on an ongoing basis. If the demand goes down,...

Most companies struggle with improving the accuracy of their sales forecast. They try different forecasting software, using...

When we work on improving a supply chain to substantially enhance product availability and product freshness, we...

All supply chain professionals undertake Gemba walks from time to time, be it on the shop floor, in warehouses, or in...

This question looks simple, but the fact remains that most teams find it difficult to answer it in simple terms. If you...

We have heard far too often that companies should experiment more, fail fast, learn from failures. I have seen the...

This relates to my recent experience at the sales return counter of a leading supermarket in Powai. The counter...

When companies expand their capacity by installing a new production line, they try to balance the capacity of various equipment...

Many Supply Chain teams aim to run their production lines at full capacity. It is advisable only if the constraint is internal...

Technology solutions in various cases are deployed to serve a specific purpose. It is often to expedite the transactions...

While considering improvement in certain critical customer-facing processes, supply chain teams do consider the potential...

The market forces at play are generally stronger than what individual companies can influence, especially when it comes...

Improvement latency is hardly ever discussed and tracked in companies’ supply chains. Even the definition is not clear...

Companies use various methodologies to get the demand outlook for different time horizons. Short term outlook...

Companies use various methodologies to get the demand outlook for different time horizons. Short term outlook...

FMCG companies generally design their supply chains for an MTS (Make to Stock) environment. The design works...

Supply chains in most companies are designed as primarily ‘Make to Stock’ (MTS) or ‘Make to Order’ (MTO)...

I have seen umpteen instances where an expensive asset is under-loaded by planners. It happens when demand...

Supply chains function through an active participation by several important players… vendors, manufacturers,...

Most companies are currently in the process of finalizing their next year’s budgets. It is quite an effort-intensive...

Sounds pretty obvious, doesn’t it? It is also confirmed by Physics. However, we see it happening all the time ...

Conventional distribution systems in FMCG have CFAs invoicing to distributors, who in turn sell to retailers. A prevalent...

Cities struggling with traffic congestions often resort to the time tested initiative of making certain streets open to only...

If you visit a factory, it is quite common to see large chunks of WIP lying on the shop floor, waiting to be processed by the next...

Most companies are now focusing on OTIF improvement… Deliver their customers’ orders on time in full. They are...

Many companies undertake Supply Chain transformation projects and find them expensive, time consuming and...

Supply Chain professionals often talk about Murphy hitting them from time to time. They also sometimes, though much less...

Most companies, even with replenishment systems in place, end up pushing sales at the end of each month and...

If you look at the performance dashboard of a company, can you locate the system constraint? Well-designed dashboards...

Most companies have designed and implemented their Supply Chain dashboards, which keep them updated...

Many companies celebrate ‘Employee of the Week’ or ‘Employee of the Month’. It’s a good practice and serves as a great...

When companies notice a significant shift in demand for their products, most teams struggle with shortages and inventory...

Supply Chain teams work on several improvement initiatives. A key element often missing in these projects is the...

Every marathon run provides a different experience, a new perspective and lots of learning. I was eagerly looking...

Companies working on a monthly forecast based supply planning look at the demand patterns once a month and a lot...

I have seen some experts talk about increasing complexity of supply chains. However, if we look at the fundamentals...

Most Supply Chain improvement initiatives, including the large scale transformation projects, promise improvements...

Supply Chain teams identify profit improvement initiatives from time to time. While some of these pertain to revenue...

Improvement initiatives in Supply Chain are typically aimed at eliminating certain Undesirable Effects (UDEs). These could...

Many supply chain improvement initiatives don’t live up to their promised benefits. For example, the direction of solution...

I have observed New Year resolutions of so many people and wondered why they try setting such ambitious...

I was recently working with a pharmaceutical company where the team was grappling with the twin issues of...

What really differentiates excellent supply chains from others is the direction and frequency of improvement...

We have heard of many companies going in for a large scale digital transformation. The benefits promised by the...

We have seen the recent surge in customer waiting times at certain large airports in the country. This is just a symptom...

Our objective of creating harmony amongst various supply chain partners can be fulfilled only if all supply chain actions...

Supply chain professionals acknowledge the importance of harmony amongst various partners, both internal as well...

While a few supply chain teams strive to customise their service offerings to individual MT or ECom chains...

Supply chain teams often experience increasing pressure from customers for tweaking the delivery parameters...

How frequently do Supply Chain teams discuss this topic? Moreover, does it lead to a conclusion? My experience...

Supply chain teams often remark that their own supply chains are inherently complex and the complexity has gone...

Management teams roll out so many supply chain improvement projects every year. Many of these are well thought out...

We have seen across organisations that Procurement professionals take pride in getting quantity based discounts...

In consumer goods companies, consumers’ tolerance time for product availability is practically zero. If a brand is stocked...

Supply chain professionals rarely think about this question, as the answer seems so obvious to them. There are hard...

I have asked this question to many people over the past few years and met with a similar reaction. People laughed...

I am again stirring up a hornet’s nest. There are strong views on either side. Most practitioners of TOC and DDSC avoid...

Our work with companies in the apparel industry indicates the need to question many prevailing practices. One such...

Every industry has certain prevailing supply chain practices which are taken as given. Most teams don’t question these...

Supply chain teams struggle with various types of disruptions, be it internal or external, as it affects their customer...

It looks like a trivial question but has profound impact on how supply chains perform when brands roll out consumer...

I have heard it quite often from Supply Chain leaders that they are struggling with several conflicting objectives. They are...

There are several cost components that are left unleveraged in a conventional cost mindset. One such common...

Supply chains run on several assumptions that we need to make from time to time. A few of these are explicit...

Supply chains are expected to face environmental chaos from time to time, which can’t just be wished away...

Every supply chain experiences bouts of orderly performance, interspersed with spells of chaos. Innumerable efforts...

Most supply chain professionals aren’t comfortable with uncertainty. As a result, they try imposing certainty on some...

History has a lot of lessons for us. Dinosaurs were once the most successful species and considered invincible...

My interaction with several supply chain leaders across various industry sectors indicates that their teams develop...

I have seen several Supply Chain teams struggle to improve flexibility in their backend operations. They...

All supply chain professionals aspire for a harmonious relationship with their business partners, especially...

I have often discussed with various supply chain professionals the need for crashing supply lead time and ensuring...

Most companies endeavour to improve the effectiveness of their supply chain and the questions they often grapple...

I was working with a medium-sized FMCG company. The procurement function had conventional processes like monthly...

Inventory buffers in Demand Driven Supply Chains are set at ‘Maximum demand during RLT, adjusted for supply reliability’...

Supply chain teams are often seen indulging in several firefighting efforts. Why is firefighting so common...

Companies working on monthly forecasts and serving their depots directly from factories often send large quantities...

In my last post, I mentioned that certain variations should be minimised and certain others embraced...

Many Supply Chain teams work towards minimising variations in their processes so that the outcomes are more...

Many companies are on the lookout for a good supply chain planning solution. The process seems to be pretty...

Supply chain teams have several ongoing improvement projects at any point in time. Some of these are expected...

Most supply chain teams work on continuous improvement of their operations. However, the way...

Let me start with the companies which run their supply chains based on monthly forecasts. Most of these companies...

Most FMCG companies depend on aggregate demand forecasting for their supply chain planning. Many of them...

One of the important parameters often ignored by supply chain professionals is the latency of demand data, which...

Most companies have a plethora of improvement initiatives in their supply chain. Each of these initiatives tries...

Many of my friends and acquaintances have been on diet for weight reduction. Does it help? Most of them ended up...

The question looks trivial, but the implications are profound. Most companies with product availability issues have...

Most Supply Chain teams focus on improving the accuracy of their planning process and the discipline in execution...

If the Supply Chain performance falls short of the ambitions or expectations, most companies carry out some sort...

Charles Darwin made the profound discovery ‘It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most...

One of the main reasons for poor product flow in the supply chain is overproduction or early production...

If we want to design a supply chain which is demand driven, hence responsive to any changes in consumer demand...

Most companies have some difficulty in coordinating the actions of various functions to meet consumer demand...

There are many Supply Chain professionals who aim at improving the utilization of various resources under them...

Every company has a few products which are slow movers, and we often wonder why these aren’t picking up in the market...

When I speak to supply chain professionals, they agree that the entire supply chain, from vendors to consumers...

Production teams in most companies have a razor-sharp focus on improving their production efficiencies. This is...

Many companies undertake benchmarking initiatives from time to time. The objective is to see how their supply chains...

Supply Chain teams often struggle with certain capacity constraints in the system. It may be in input material availability...

I have seen companies operate with a multitude of performance measures, which take a lot of effort to target...

Companies often segregate their product portfolio into Make to Order (MTO) and Make to Stock (MTS). The classic...

Many companies take up improvement projects to improve the company’s profitability as a % of sales revenue...

It is intriguing that the biggest cost element in supply chains is often ignored in our profit improvement projects...

Most companies have made their supply chains so complex that customer service takes a beating. Their employees...

Of late, the practice of experimentation and iteration in launching new products and services has gained significant ground...

We have discussed in the last three posts how inventory buffers should be sized, what should be the trigger for buffer...

Frequency of resizing various inventory buffers in the supply chain is a critical parameter which decides how responsive...

We discussed in the last post that buffer sizes should be based on the forward demand prediction at the level where...

Most consumer businesses operate in a scenario where consumer tolerance time is much lower than the supply...

Dynamic Buffer Management (DBM) is a widely used technique by TOC practitioners to ensure that product...

Supply Chain professionals often struggle in a fast-changing marketplace. They wonder why supplies are not responding...

Whenever I ask this question to Supply Chain professionals, I get a polarized response with each side having strong...

Many Supply Chain professionals have good improvement ideas but fail to implement them. What gets in the way...

Companies undertaking any major improvement initiative often focus on improving an important performance...

Most companies have a plethora of initiatives at any point in time, overwhelming the employees...

Most of the users of Google Maps love it. The underlying reason is its accurate prediction of ETA. Though it does change...

It sounds quite trivial, isn’t it? Why should I even write about it? If we look around us and deeply observe various...

Most Supply Chain teams spend a lot of their time and effort in improving customer fulfilment. Gaps in fulfilment...

While Learning & Development efforts in companies are largely focused on individual learning, the holy grail...

Most supply chain teams get stressed during execution of consumer promotions. When the promo starts, many sales...

Semiconductor chips have been in short supply for quite some time. The tight situation is likely to continue...

We know that consumer demand patterns evolve at the most granular level. The same product may witness a highly accelerating...

If the system constraint happens to be a specific equipment on the production line, we must use that equipment to...

I have come across several supply chain teams who must deal with capacity shortages – be it in production...

Supply Chain professionals encounter numerous surprises in their daily planning and execution. Many of these are quite...

Supply chain execution in the short term needs to be planned at the most granular level. The planning horizon for this...

Most Supply Chain teams have a list of improvement projects. The list can be quite overwhelming and take a lot of time...

Purchase managers in several leading companies use cost as the basis for vendor selection, as they are possibly evaluated...

This topic normally ends up in a hot debate… Scientists insist on proper cause-effect analysis and logical solutions...

When I interact with various supply chain professionals, they tend to define their current issues in black and white...

Most supply chains have quite a good amount of scope for improving their key parameters of product availability...

I have often heard from supply chain professionals that product freshness on the retail shelves is important...

Demand signals coming from the market on a continuous basis carry some amount of noise with them. Supply chain...

Most supply chain teams I have interacted with, resist frequent changes to the demand forecast. Once the monthly...

I have often heard from supply chain teams of various companies that their company has organized an offsite to improve...

This is the time of the year when many companies finalize their ambitions and goals for the coming year...

Many Supply Chain professionals struggle with too many interventions and improvement projects...

Most supply chain teams struggle with too many issues on a day-to-day basis. Many of these are of a firefighting type...

Most supply chain professionals feel their production plan is driven by actual consumer demand. While it may be...

Most companies practice a monthly frequency for their supply chain planning, starting with S&OP or IBP...

I have seen many supply chain teams working on supply chain transformation or cost improvement projects ignoring...

Supply Chain professionals now understand the importance of On-Time-In-Full (OTIF). Improving OTIF is one of the...

ABC classification of the saleable product portfolio is a common practice prevailing across industries. Companies often...

There are two important considerations in setting the targets – the parameters on which targets should be set...

Most supply chain professionals feel their supply chains are getting more complex to manage – both on the demand side due...

Companies often segment their market based on consumer behaviour. Quite a few of them end up segmenting it...

Most supply chain professionals think that transparency of consumer demand across the value chain will...

Supply chain teams generally take care to ensure that any cost cutting attempted by them doesn’t hurt the customers...

This is the time of the year when many Supply Chain teams set their ambitions for the coming year. I have seen the...

I have seen quite a few supply chain teams struggling with reliability improvement. While they have redesigned...

Most companies selling across several customer channels have separate revenue teams to focus on revenue generated...

I have seen many companies having a well-defined finished goods inventory target for their Planning team...

Many companies prefer to design their supply chain processes to improve the value chain reliability...

Moving to an agile and demand driven supply chain requires a redesign of various supply chain processes...

Most companies have their supply chain planning and execution processes designed for a deterministic demand...

New product introductions are tricky for supply chain planning. Even agile supply chains often lose out on product...

Most supply chain professionals prefer to work within their comfort zones, without attempting to fundamentally...

Agility focuses on reducing lead time to fulfil customer requirements, while improving the customer service measures...

The current pandemic is described by many as a Black Swan event, which occurs rarely and is difficult to plan for...

The pandemic has nudged many companies to fast forward their supply chain transformation projects. However,...

Supply chain improvement is not a rocket science. If we stay focused on improving the consumer relevant parameters...

Every supply chain is designed to excel in a specific market construct and a set of consumer needs. As the market...

Many FMCG companies continue to predict primary sales for working out various supply chain actions. They don’t see...

Every supply chain is designed for a specific context… customer segments served by the company, their specific...

This is the time of the year when many supply chain professionals and teams make their fresh new year resolutions...

Every year brings new challenges and helps in improving the supply chain capabilities. As a result, supply chains...

Success in q-commerce requires a good Demand Driven Supply Chain design, coupled with high level of agility...

The answer seems obvious, but its implications are profound. Most analyses ignore it, and I don’t remember...

Many consumer goods companies indulge in recording extra sales at the month-end by pushing stocks...

Supply chain professionals often struggle with delivering on so many seemingly conflicting objectives...

New product introduction is a major initiative for consumer goods companies. While success of new product launches...

New product introduction is a major initiative for consumer goods companies. While success of new product launches...

Network optimization is an important initiative undertaken by supply chain professionals. My experience...

Service providers, such as consultants, aim at maximizing the value created through their projects...

Customers look for solution to their pain areas and they feel that their pain is unique. If we offer...

Supply Chain professionals are adept at applying ABC analysis to various parts of supply chain operations...

Anyone who loves driving would have found his own way of navigating speed breakers en route. A speed breaker...

Most supply chain professionals are aware of their most demanding customer, who keeps tightening the requirements...

Supply chain professionals in most companies have well defined KPIs, which are aligned with their internal...

We have heard from several experts that multitasking is bad, as it brings down the efficiency and effectiveness of our work...

Quick-commerce, promising grocery delivery in 10 minutes, is getting popular in several cities where it has been launched...

The evolution process has wired our brains to think of uncertainty as fear, which possibly explains why so many...

Supply chain transformation involves changing many of the habits hardened into the current processes and ways...

Many supply chain professionals would like to specialize in a particular field. While specialization helps...

Supply chain professionals have endeavored to make their supply chains robust to handle various disruptions...

Supply chain professionals have endeavored to make their supply chains robust to handle various disruptions...

Supply chain professionals often experience a sudden surge in demand for a particular product. If the inventory...

A typical multi-echelon supply chain has material flowing from vendors to consumers through various nodes...

Responsiveness is a key capability required to synchronize supplies with demand on an ongoing basis. While most supply chain...

You should not. A serial production line is defined as a series of machines working sequentially on the input material...

The importance of exception monitoring is gaining ground in managing supply chains. Defining exceptions and monitoring...

It appears to be a simple question, but the answer could lead to profound insights in making your company truly...

Murphy’s Law, which states that if anything can go wrong, it will and precisely at the wrong time, is often quoted...