At our June 2024 user conference Luca Cicchiello, Corporate VP of Supply Chain at Hutchinson, a global company with sales of over €4.5 billion, testified: “In our company, we’ve known for fifteen years how we should operate our supply chain: an end-to-end pull flow anticipated and configured by an S&OP process – but we were … Read more
A supply chain, industrial operations or distribution operations, is above all a flow. We start with raw materials, and a few steps later we have a finished product that meets a market need. That “a few steps later” is sometimes an understatement. I remember a crisis cell when I worked in electronics, because we were … Read more
I recently attended a Supply Chain conference, where it became clear that we, industry professionals, have been terrible predators – criminals. Over the past 4 decades, we have relocated production to distant countries, skillfully built up long and complex supply chains, and multiplied transport volumes and the associated carbon emissions. Forbes recently published an article … Read more
For your production orders or supplier orders, having promised dates in the past means you know how to travel time: “We’ll receive this last week” – remember the De Lorean? Do you have to constantly replan production steps to ensure your production orders are correctly aligned? Let’s take an example: you have a task list … Read more
It’s no secret that AI is all vogue. When you’re in the supply chain software solutions business, if you don’t have AI, you’re a has-been. Don’t worry, we’ve started to infuse a little AI to good effect in Intuiflow… However, it’s hard for industry players to see where AI is relevant. Have you seen any … Read more
Service rate – on time in full – is THE most important performance measure for a supply chain – it measures our ability to deliver on time. OK, but what does “deliver on time” mean? Does this mean: -Deliver on the date requested by the customer? -Deliver within a predefined timeframe? -Deliver on the date … Read more
Warning 1: this article is not (too) much about artificial intelligence, and not at all about generative artificial intelligence, or LLM. If you’re a fan of shiny stuff that contributes to depleting the planet’s resources by wasting as much energy as possible, you’d better move on! Warning 2: if you think that supply chain management … Read more
An airplane is complex. There are tens of thousands of parts in the bill of materials for an airliner. To supply these parts, there’s a whole network of tier 1 suppliers, tier 2 suppliers, and n suppliers. The supplier base is made up of large multinationals, as well as a network of SMEs and mid-sized companies with very specific skills – it’s a … Read more
Factories prioritize value creation – the flow analysis from a factory determines the company’s ability to respond to its markets. When you visit a factory, beyond the state-of-the-art machines, the impressive technologies, and the exemplary 5S (or not), try to understand how these flows are connected to the needs of the company and its customers. A visit is quick – … Read more
A company seeks to satisfy the demand of its market – and therefore to ensure the availability of the goods and services it provides. A company faces capacity constraints – machines, people, skills, materials. To remain sustainable, a company must generate profitability – i.e. cash flow in excess of expenditure. Balancing availability, capacity, and profitability is therefore at the heart of day-to-day operations, and this balance must be assured for the future. All in … Read more
The world of supply chain experts loves a good turf war. When, ten years ago, I began to take an interest in the subject and to promote Demand Driven tactics in France, it was because they echoed in a relevant way my then almost 30 years of industrial experience in several industries. What appealed to … Read more
In our education, delaying work is not good. If you’re in the supply chain business, you’re even more inclined to anticipate – you’re resolutely forward-looking. If you’re in the supply chain business, you like to get things done, and make decisions – you’re resolutely action-oriented. These two qualities combined, plus a little friendly pressure from … Read more
