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Picture 1905 Imperial Russia in Color with “Digital” Photography

paul.faber posted on 2. September 2010, 03:50
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I stumbled across this topic for this week’s blog by accident while browsing the web. Although this is not related to supply chain technology, I thought it was sufficiently high-tech to merit some general interest. I hope you find the topic as interesting as I do.

To begin, let’s review how color photographs are produced by digital cameras. The sensor in a camera cannot directly see color – it can only see intensity of light. When you see a camera advertised as “10 megapixels,” it means there are 10 million light-sensitive photoreceptors on the camera’s “digital film” chip. These photoreceptors record the intensity of the light that falls on them, from zero (black) to high intensity (white). Left to themselves, they produce a black and white image.

But for color, light needs to be broken into primary wavelengths of red, green, and blue (RGB). Combining these three colors in varying intensities creates the full spectrum of color. This is how a digital camera produces a color image. Each photoreceptor in the camera is fitted with an individual red, green, or blue lens that filters the light that falls onto the sensor. 

With this RGB filter in place, the digital information records varying intensities of red, green, and blue light at discrete points in the image. Powerful image-processing algorithms scan this information into the onboard microprocessor’s memory.
 
On high-end digital cameras, you can change the behavior of the algorithm by setting values for hue, intensity, white balance, contrast, and other variables. The electronics in the camera then go to work to produce a color image from individual pixels of red, green, and blue light intensity information. 

The scientific fact that color can be generated from red, green, and blue light has been known since well before the invention of photography. Since the late 1800s, there have been laboratory experiments in color photography. Technological factors, however, limited the practical majority of photographic images to black and white up until the late 1930s (and it was not until the 1960s that color came to the mass market, as immortalized by the Simon and Garfunkel song “Kodachrome”). 

Here’s the really interesting part: On my web search, I found that there was one early photographer who developed an elegant approach to color photography. He was a Russian named Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii. He was familiar with theories that one could create a color image by taking successive black and white images through red, green, and blue filters.
 
The three black and white images would show the same scene, but differ in shading and light intensity according to the filter used. 

Ahead of his time, in the early 1900s, Prokudin-Gorskii built a custom camera to accomplish this task.
He also built a projector that would allow him to show audiences color images projected on a screen. He was successful enough that the Tsar commissioned him to go on a photographic expedition to document the Russian Empire. These trips occurred from 1905–1915. 

The expedition produced thousands of glass plate negatives. These could be printed and displayed as conventional black and white images for publication and exhibition. However, the projection apparatus needed for producing the color images limited the practical extent to which the images could be published in full color.

Then came the Russian Revolution, which was a disaster for Prokudin-Gorskii and all other friends of the Tsar. He fled Russia. His collection of glass plate negatives ultimately wound up in the archives of the US Library of Congress, where they sat in obscurity.

With the advent of digital photography, a curator in the Library of Congress realized that the Prokudin-Gorskii photographs could be displayed in a manner never before possible. In 2004, the Library of Congress commissioned a restoration project. Each set of negatives was scanned into a computer, aligned, and color-adjusted in exactly the same manner as an image is produced within a digital camera.
 
The results were glorious. They are viewable at the Library of Congress website at the following link: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/

These photographs represent a treasure trove of historical documentary images. They also represent the perfect combination of scholarship, luck, and high-tech restoration.

-- Paul
From the Library of Congress website, 

“The photographs of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863-1944) offer a vivid portrait of a lost world--the Russian Empire on the eve of World War I and the coming revolution. His subjects ranged from the medieval churches and monasteries of old Russia, to the railroads and factories of an emerging industrial power, to the daily life and work of Russia's diverse population. 

In the early 1900s Prokudin-Gorskii formulated an ambitious plan for a photographic survey of the Russian Empire that won the support of Tsar Nicholas II. Between 1909-1912, and again in 1915, he completed surveys of eleven regions, traveling in a specially equipped railroad car provided by the Ministry of Transportation.”
 
Photo Credit: Library of Congress

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Category: Technology
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Eliminating Business Culture Issues from Technology Implementation

david.meyers posted on 27. August 2010, 09:06
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I recently read a blog post by Steve Banker on Logistics Viewpoints, published by the ARC Advisory Group, titled: Implementing a Supply Chain Application: The Cultural Issues. Steve’s post focuses on the people involved in systems implementations, how the teams could be organized, and their roles and responsibilities.

He raised some points that I completely agree with and others that I feel warrant some further elaboration:
 
  • His main premise is that “successful projects include people, process, and technology considerations.” This comment is right on (see my recent post on this topic). People, processes, and technology are the three legs of the business platform, but they must be supported by best practices, training, configuration, and integration.
  • Steve also says that the implementation team “is typically a cross-functional team led by IT folks with project management training or experience.” And he suggests that “having an experienced IT project manager is a key success factor.” I couldn’t agree more. This is a step in the right direction along with the whole cross-functional aspect, but I would encourage strong participation – at the project manager (or co-manager) level – from the business process side of the house. No one should implement a technology solution without ensuring that the requirements of the business are met and the solution is grounded in operational best practices. 
  • Another challenge that he mentions is that the company demands customized application for its unique processes. And he notes that the “more implementations a company goes through, the less likely it will seek to add customizations.” Although this is a true statement, the key is to determine which customizations actually have an ROI versus those that are personal preferences, cosmetic, or purely territorial in nature. The only way to be sure is to weigh the value of each proposed modification.
  • The topic of training is near and dear to my heart, which is another issue mentioned in the post. Apart from a solid design and comprehensive testing, it is probably the most critical process of any implementation. Steve’s term “super users” is right on target. I would encourage the project team to consider identifying certain team members as “super users” early on and using them as testers as well as trainers. These are the same folks who will be your “first responders” during go-live and post-implementation support.
  • I would also recommend that the “super users” mentioned above could (and also should) be able to serve as what he refers to as “coaches.” As he says, “These folks, usually frontline managers of a process, are available to users who are not using the application effectively. It is a good idea for coaching to be proactive. In other words, don’t wait for users to come to the coach, but have a process for identifying users who are not using the application effectively.” Great advice!

Keep watching Logistics Viewpoints as well as Supply Chain IT Perspectives for more advice on how to ensure you get what you pay for in your systems implementation. 

-- David

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Category: Technology
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Securing the Pharma Supply Chain – RFID, 2-D Barcodes and ePedigree

tom.singer posted on 6. August 2010, 03:58
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As Paul Faber pointed out in his recent blog post, Walmart will soon begin applying removable RFID tags to individual items to improve inventory control and visibility inside stores. The theory is that tagging individual articles should reduce stock outs, shrinkage, and misplaced inventory while increasing labor productivity and shelf availability. 

This move toward item-level tagging may very well help push RFID to the next level in the supply chain world. I have long seen the retail store floor as being a key factor in the technology’s adoption. But I also believe that product authentication is another key driver in making the case for RFID. The vision for its role is well delineated by GS1 and its affiliate EPCGlobal.  

This vision is based on assigning a serial number at manufacturing or packaging to each item or sellable unit. This serial number must be unique across the global supply chain. It is stored in a data repository that can be updated as the item changes hands throughout the supply chain. Anyone taking custody of the item would be able to query the serial number against the repository to see if the item is registered or if there is anything suspicious about its history. This vision needs a physical data carrier to accompany each item that can store rather lengthy item-level serial numbers and be easily read throughout the supply chain.  RFID tags are a good fit for this role.

This type of authentication should help reduce counterfeiting, theft, and fraud, which are a bane to many industries. But there are few places where combating this pestilence matters more than in the pharmaceutical industry – an industry that definitely could benefit from higher visibility and security. I’ve seen estimates on worldwide annual industry losses due to counterfeit drugs as high as $75B. 

Safety is another key concern, as counterfeiting impacts the content and potency of delivered product. Mass serialization at the sellable unit level has been positioned as a tool for product authentication by legislation, regulations, and industry and standards organizations.

Brazil and Turkey are currently in the process of deploying pharmaceutical product authentication through mass serialization. Various European countries have piloted similar programs utilizing a ‘book-end’ approach with a single commissioning and authentication event. The latter occurs at the hospital or pharmacy. 

In the US, states have been addressing the problem through ePedigree laws and regulations, which focus on tracking the chain of custody. California’s ePedigree requirements – due to go into effect in 2015 – require serialization at the sellable unit level. Given the effort required to be compliant, many pharmaceutical manufacturers are already pursuing solutions to support these requirements.

RFID is not the only data carrier capable of supporting a global standard for serialization at the unit level. High density or 2-D barcodes can also be used for mass serialization. Brazil’s and Turkey’s requirements are based on GS1 DataMatrix bar code symbology. Europe also appears to be embracing the DataMatrix bar code as the foundation for pharmaceutical product authentication. 

And I have a feeling that most US-based manufacturers and distributors are looking toward 2-D bar codes rather than RFID tags as the vehicle to meet serialized ePedigree requirements.

There are certainly RFID success stories in the pharmaceutical industry. But when 2015 finally arrives, I wonder if it will still be more of a niche player in pharma than a mainstream auto-id technology. 

In a high-margin industry, a $.08 to $.10 passive tag on each sellable package shouldn’t matter that much. So I find the limited enthusiasm for RFID in pharma somewhat perplexing, especially since it provides advantages over 2-D bar codes that go beyond regulatory requirements. But I appreciate performance concerns and challenges. 

More importantly, we tend to look at RFID’s cost purely from a tag perspective. Infrastructure must also be taken into account. Image scanners and cameras are much more commonplace in the supply chain than RFID readers and software.

I’m still a believer in RFID. I think the ‘Internet of things’ will have a major impact upon the supply chain. But I’m not sure the RFID adoption rate will be going into overdrive anytime soon. I think that RFID still remains more of an evolutionary proposition than a radical transformation agent within the supply chain world – at least for the time being.

-- Tom

Additional Resources:

Documenting Distribution Operations: FDA Validation Beyond the Laboratory and Manufacturing Facility (White Paper)
http://www.tompkinsinc.com/publications/monograph/white-papers/fda.asp
 
 
Photo Credit: midnightcomm 
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Category: rfid | Technology
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Consumer Electronics Industry is King of Innovation in Supply Chain Information Technology

matt.wilkerson posted on 25. June 2010, 04:05
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In a recent strategy discussion, I was talking with several colleagues about industries that have the greatest level of supply chain adaptability and advancement. Not surprisingly, we kept bringing up companies using innovative supply chain technology in the consumer electronics industry. 

Not only is this industry robust in terms of product innovation, but it is also leading other industries in terms of implementing and utilizing new technology for its supply chain needs.

But why is this? Is it just the nature of the industry to be adaptable since consumer electronics are known to be always changing? (As we all know, nowadays with consumer electronics, there’s not much time for a product to become outdated before the “next big thing” is already hitting the shelves.)

Here are several reasons why I believe that the consumer electronics industry is at the forefront of supply chain information technology utilization:

Highly complex supply chain for components - The growing number of available suppliers, numerous supply constraints, and a changing supplier base are driving the competitive need to be adaptable, especially on the front-end of product introduction or the unpredictable back-end of the product lifecycle. 

Broad set of demand channels - Brick-and-mortar and direct fulfillment are the two primary channels for distribution in the industry. However, hybrid approaches, which dovetail off of these two channels, are being tested and expanded regularly. A few examples of demand channels constantly being expanded include online advertising, coupons, and linkages as well as gift cards being distributed through various means for retail and customer-direct storefronts.

Loads of information available - Information from suppliers, retailers, industry associations and sales channel partners leads to a massive set of potential information available for forecasting demand and supply needs as well as managing performance. Traditional Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) is being supplemented with rich Point of Sale (POS) data and consumer behavior data, which provide a meaningful portfolio with a broad range of possibilities for enhancing the supply chain information flow.

Lean and competitive marketplace being continuously reinvented - Competition for market share and margin in today’s very efficient business world require that the technologies put in place are forward-thinking and cost-effective. Information technology that drives the supply chain for long-term market leaders will allow little margin for error in meeting functionality and performance needs.

Promising outlook for continued growth - Results from a recent study by About.com indicate that 2010 and beyond looks positive for consumer electronics. Among the key findings, at least two-thirds of consumers are planning to spend as much as or more than they did in a somewhat disappointing 2009. In 2010, effectively managing supply and demand through the use of IT will allow companies to stay nimble and build on their position in the marketplace.

Convergence of Product Lifecycle Management, Supplier Relationship Management and Global Trade Management - All of these areas have set the stage for integrating disciplines that are traditionally handled separately. The true leaders in IT for the consumer electronics marketplace are developing solutions that merge capabilities for all of these disciplines in a harmonious way. As the software innovation continues to keep pace with the innovative market, we will see more advanced solutions that will lead the way for other industries.

So, for consumer electronics companies to keep up with others in their highly dynamic, fast-paced industry, it’s almost a necessity for them to keep their supply chain information technology current. 

As always, I look forward to your comments and insight on what you’re experiencing.

- Matt
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Category: supply chain systems | Technology
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GPS Got You Disoriented? An "Old School" Map May Be Just What You Need

matt.wilkerson posted on 26. May 2010, 08:46
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At the end of a long day last week, a colleague and I were discussing a scene on a TV sitcom that we had both seen recently. In the scene, a main character is being ridiculed by his family over his advanced degree in cartography.

This discussion got us thinking about paper maps versus GPS navigation and wondering if physical maps are really becoming irrelevant.

Much of the time I would believe so, but I do get an odd form of mild vertigo sometimes when following verbatim the instruction of the GPS unit - like I've given away control to the technology. And sometimes it’s a comfort and a relief to work from a paper map or even stop and ask for directions.

My colleague felt the same, which led me to examine this further from a business perspective. I began to think about whether or not some companies suffer from a similar affliction when it comes to supply chain IT integration.

If you are having issues deciding on the right direction for your supply chain IT integration, here’s an exercise that may provide some insight:

Begin by drawing a one-page diagram that depicts the flow of the following technologies that are relevant to your organization. Use arrows to show the way that you thinkthey should be connected.

 - ERP

 - Forecasting

 - Supplier integration

 - Customer integration

 - WMS/TMS

 - 3PL integration

 - Import/export management

 - Performance dashboard

Once you have your supply chain IT integration map created, ask the following:

-   Are the technologies connected in the real world the way you think they should be?

-   What information is involved?

-   Where are the weak or missing links?

-   What causes the most disruption or error?

-   Do all significant parties involved in the supply chain understand the map?

-   Would everyone draw the same map?

-   Is the map dictating your activity? Are you in control?

Maybe it's a good time for a short cartography exercise, and involving key folks in your supply chain could yield some interesting insights on the best way to getfrom point A to point B.

- Matt

 

Photo Credit: Jimmy_Joe

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Category: Technology
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Mr. Potato Head Ain’t Got Nothin’ on these Transportation Management Systems

kevin.hume posted on 14. May 2010, 08:17
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As I’ve seen on many recent projects, transportation management systems (TMS) are quickly becoming one of the most sought after supply chain IT systems. It’s also been shown that over the past two lean years, the TMS market has fared better than the WMS market. 

And due to consumer demand, they are coming into their own like a souped up Mr. Potato Head, adding and re-positioning any necessary parts. 

From a business strategy perspective, the perennial factors driving the strong demand for TMS applications are the ability to: (1) reduce transportation spend today and (2) provide more nimble transportation processes as supply chain challenges emerge – whether they manifest themselves in rising fuel costs, resource utilization constraints, global/regional disruptions, and on and on. 

From a technology perspective, there are a number of other factors contributing to the TMS market growth:

Functionality -TMS applications have become robust, offering additional modules that were only supported by niche players several years ago. For example, software for Global Trade Management and Financial Settlement were application markets several years ago, but can now be found in the more robust TMS offerings.

Deployment & Configuration Options – TMS providers have embraced software as a service (SaaS) deployment and service-oriented architecture (SOA) platforms, enabling much more cost-effective and functionally adaptable solutions than predecessor applications.

Upgrade Opportunities – Existing TMS customers faced with functional trade-offs or custom modifications and the resulting costly upgrades now have new options to consider. Many customers are turning traditional upgrade efforts into a competitive bid situation and evaluate the changes in the TMS market.  

Taking these factors for market growth into account, (if you have one) where does your TMS stand? Is it lacking a necessary module, like Mr. Potato Head with a missing nose? 

If you don’t have a TMS, now may be a good time to begin your research. In my next blog post, I’ll talk more about evaluating your TMS strategy. 

You can check back or subscribe to our blog to receive new posts in your inbox or by RSS. In the meantime, let me know if you have any WMS or TMS questions.

-- Kevin
 
 
 
 
Photo Credit: Wyscan 
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Category: Technology
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Lowering Total Cost of Ownership on a Systems Upgrade: Where Do You Pick From When the Low-Hanging Fruit Is Gone?

david.meyers posted on 1. April 2010, 07:25
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A few posts back, I asked, "Where is that last dime?"

Now, as I’m starting a new WMS upgrade / implementation project, the question is even more timely and critical to the success of this particular project.

So here’s the background:

This company has been using one of the more well-known "Best of Breed" (or BoB) SCM software packages (see Tom’s recent post on ERP vs. BoB) since the early 2000s.

The package has been highly modified over the past several years to accommodate incremental improvements in business processes. During this time, the company also added many reports to assist in four wall DC visibility.

Fortunately, since the original implementation, the software supplier has taken great strides in increasing the core functionality of its WMS so that some (hopefully many) of the enhancements and additional reports may be able to be retired.

With that said, why is it such a challenge to continue to find other ways to lower the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)?

Also, did I mention that this company outsources its fulfillment to a logistics service provider?

To begin with, these guys are well known for operating on very slim margins. And, they are already using engineered labor standards and performance incentives, which drive costs down and increase service levels. Not a very target-rich environment – all of the low hanging fruit has already been picked.

Here is the plan:

This is not a "find and replace" type WMS upgrade. There is very heavy integration with other systems (ERP, TMS, LMS) and homegrown reporting tools. So I intend to carefully weigh the integration alternatives, which include:

  • Decoupling external systems – What can be brought into the core application and what additional integration (or re-integration) may be eliminated, along with the staff required to support those external solutions?
  • Automation of reports, queries, and other output files – What business critical reports require human intervention or manipulation and can they be automated?
  • New technology integration – Are there opportunities where the integration of new supply chain information technologies (e.g., voice picking, etc.) can provide a payback with either improved service level, inventory accuracy, or reduction in labor cost?
  • Host order profile – Are there opportunities to work with customers to change order line quantities prior to download to the WMS that could result in more efficient picking (e.g., round up/round down to layer quantities to reduce less efficient case picking)?

Where else can I look? I’d like to know.

-- David Meyers

 

Photo credit: wildxplorer

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Category: implementation | supply chain software | supply chain systems | Technology | voice
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Setting a Course for the Future . . . Emerging Trends in Supply Chain Execution Software Over the Next 3-5 Years

kevin.hume posted on 22. January 2010, 04:27
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By Kevin Hume 

Recently, I had the opportunity to interview a wide range of supply chain professionals engaged in the design, deployment and end use of Supply Chain Execution software (WMS/TMS/LMS).

I spoke with "in the trenches" practitioners who manage day-to-day operational challenges and execute the strategic mandates passed down from executive leadership.

I also spoke with industry analysts, third-party integrators and supply chain software executives. All this was done in an effort to compile a broad perspective of opinions relating to the emerging trends in Supply Chain Execution (SCE) software. My mission was to identify key emerging trends in the SCE software market over the next 3-5 years.

Considering the broad range of feature-function requirements in the SCE market, I received opinions across multiple perspectives (supplier, integrator and end user) and insight within different industries.

Despite the diverse group and backgrounds, a few issues consistently floated to the top of the list, irrespective of perspective or industry.

The most prevalent themes across all the discussions included:

Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings – This was easily the most common refrain from discussions with SCE software end users.

SCE practitioners’ view SaaS offerings as an emerging opportunity to provide the quickest speed to market at the lowest possible price point. Practitioners are clamoring to meet executives demand for cost effective solutions that can be quickly deployed with minimal investment in software applications and supporting hardware stacks.

Considering that a typical Best of Breed (BoB) WMS deployment runs 4-6 months at best from contract signing to go-live, there is an expectation that SaaS offerings will steadily grow feature-function capabilities and become catalysts to meet practitioners’ demands for quicker deployment timelines, flexible hosting options and lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

From the SCE supplier side, a number of emerging SaaS applications have brought some innovative products into the market. As the next few years unfold, expect to see an increasingly robust SaaS feature-function set coming into the market.

Look for more details on the existing and emerging state of SaaS feature-functions in our upcoming blog posts.

Planning & Execution Integration – The rapid changes in the global economic climate over the last 18 months have highlighted the need for end-to-end visibility and the need for adaptability within the supply chain planning and execution processes.

The ability to provide planning capabilities that reach from the point of supply to the point of distribution have been a primary driver in the growing acceptance of SCM-ERP suites over the past few years.

The BoB players have also recognized this need and have been working hard through the integration of acquired products and core feature-function improvements matching the visibility and functionality of the SCM-ERP offerings.

It’s taken the BoB suppliers significant investment-development effort over the last several years to reach this point.

In the next few years, it should be revealed if the investment in end-to-end integration will pay off and which market’s organizational complexities will generate traction within the BoB view of Planning and Execution integration.

Look for further discussions related to the SCM-ERP versus the BoB model in upcoming blog posts. In fact, if you have a particular idea or question related to this topic, drop me a note and let’s discuss it.

Model Driven Functionality – Similar to SaaS offerings, Model Driven Functionality meets the dual requirements of "speed to market" at the lowest possible TCO.

The ability for SCE software to quickly adapt to emerging fulfillment demands within a zero modification environment continues to be a key desire for both current and future customers, as well as a critical path to capture increased market share for both BoB and ERP suppliers alike.

The Model Driven Configuration capabilities of the leading BoB and SCM-ERP offerings vary widely by supplier today.

The offerings that successfully ‘close the gap’ between robust functional configuration options within an intuitive, graphical tool set will become the industry leaders in the near future.

Now, take a step back and look at the three topics we just discussed – what are some of the external factors that really enhance the value of these emerging trends? My own thought process works something like this:

a) Current-emerging economic climate is driving a need for

b) robust, quick-to-market business requirement support; and

c) the limited access to capitol dictates lowest possible investment and TCO needed to support supply chain execution.

In a nutshell, I think these external factors are driving SaaS offerings, Planning-Execution Integration and Model Driven Capability to the top of the 3-5 year wish list.

Are these the topics that resonate with you and within your industry? Drop me a line! What do you think the emerging trends will be over the next 3-5 years within the supply chain execution market?

Kevin Hume

 

Tags:
Category: supply chain management | supply chain planning | supply chain software | supply chain systems | supply chain visibility | Technology
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Where Is That Last Dime? Getting the Most Out of Your Supply Chain Information Technologies – and Ultimately Your Operation

david.meyers posted on 13. January 2010, 09:58
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On my way into the office this morning, I stopped at my local convenience store for a cup of coffee. During the past year, I stopped going to the "premium" coffee shops as a way to save money. Charging more than $2 for coffee should be a crime anyway. And I’m not talking about buying the sissy coffee type either; I’m talking just plain old coffee – black.

I’ve heard people say, "You could save a lot more money by making it yourself at home." It’s probably true, but that is beside the point. Buying it at the store is convenient (hence the term convenience store) and fast, and they actually have pretty darn good coffee.

Anyway, I know how much a 16 oz. cup costs at this place since I buy it there almost every day. So, this morning I grabbed the exact amount – 65 cents – from my change jar on the way out the door. I made the pit stop, went in and poured the coffee, and while I was standing in line, I reached into my pocket – two quarters, one nickel, and no dime – no dime in any pocket. So I put the change back in my pocket and pulled out a buck.

On the drive in, as I sipped my coffee, I thought that my premium coffee "boycott" and needing 10 cents more was very analogous to what has happened in most businesses and distribution operations over the past year or so.

Organizations have been forced to look at their budgets, cut out the premium stuff (as I did with my coffee), reduce waste, and trim costs wherever they can. And even now, they are still trying to find that last "10 cents."

So, how does that relate to Supply Chain Information Technology?

When supply chain systems are not configured or technologies are not used to their full potential, supply chain costs may remain inflated and service levels can be more difficult and costly to achieve.

You need to do an analysis of your organization's supply chain technologies to uncover cost reduction opportunities – both in terms of the overall supply chain performance as well as in technologies’ administrative costs.

Here are some questions you can ask of your own organization:

- How can existing systems’ functionality be better used to streamline operations?

- What performance metrics and tools best support the overall corporate objectives at the appropriate management levels for them to make better decisions?

- Are there practical opportunities to improve trading partner integration for timeliness and accuracy, thereby decreasing costs?

- Do the technologies effectively support corporate objectives for inventory levels?

- Are there opportunities to reduce technology administrative costs and overhead costs?

Today's business environment demands that companies optimize their technology investments and examine every opportunity to improve operating expenses while sustaining customer service.

You need to dig to find the hidden costs often buried in current systems’ configuration and processes.

Where is your dime coming from?

David Meyers

Tags: ,
Category: economy | Technology | supply chain systems
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Let's Party Like IT's 1999

tom.singer posted on 30. December 2009, 07:20
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The ends of decades aren’t quite as good for reflection as millennium milestones.

But they’ll do in a pinch.

Remember the Y2K craze? Computer systems across the planet were going to crash and burn one second past midnight on December 31, 1999, plunging the world into chaos. Power grids would go black. Airplanes would drop out of the sky. Companies would fail as their core IT infrastructure became worthless piles of junk.

Well, it didn’t quite turn out this way.

Y2K made great press. It also gave software vendors a boost in making new sales. But as a disaster, it pretty much turned out to be a major bust.

One could attribute this to the foresight and diligence of countless IT departments and professionals who addressed a known problem in a measured manner with plenty of time to spare. But the normal replacement and upgrade of obsolete systems had something to do with it too.

Y2K’s roots were in an older generation of software and data structures. As the old gave way to the new, the magnitude of the problem diminished.

This doesn’t mean that some folks weren’t working right up to the stroke of midnight on vintage 1970s code. However, Y2K is still a great example of how flexible and adaptable the IT world is at addressing the known.

It’s the unknown that really tests the mettle of businesses and IT.

Roll back the clock to January 1, 2000. Who foresaw what the first decade of the 21st century would bring? We now worry about airplanes dropping out of the sky and companies failing for reasons that weren’t apparent in anyone’s crystal ball back then.

So as I wait to shout Happy New Year, I can’t help but wonder what’s next.

The prospect of the unknown doesn’t mean we are all flying blind. As anyone involved in demand forecasting can attest, the past and present can help predict the future.

We tend to view progress as a linear function, with some justification. What’s next in the supply chain information technology integration world can be discerned from the events of the past decade.

Despite the past worldwide recession, globalization is here to stay. The world will continue to get flatter and smaller from a supply chain perspective. Visibility, global trade management, and trading partner integration will play an increasingly important roll in successful supply chains.

Moore’s law as applied to the computing industry as a whole is still very much alive and well. The Internet, service-oriented architecture, mobile computing, voice recognition, and RFID all have made their mark on supply chain systems in the past decade.

But you ain’t seen nothing yet. The recession of 2008-2009 put quite a crimp in supply chain IT investments.

As the world recovers from the recession, IT as a strategic weapon that drives efficiencies in supply chains will be very much back in vogue.

I realize that I am being a bit light on details. But I don’t think I’ll find too many people disagreeing with these rather vague predictions. Given another 10 years, I’m not sure that any of us will be that shocked on how these trends play out.

But what about other developments? Sustainability for businesses, carbon footprint, and energy costs will matter to supply chains in the coming decade. How will supply chain systems respond?

Recent events drive home the importance of security in our highly interconnected world. What impact will this have on supply chain IT?

What else is lurking out there?

So as we count down the minutes to the New Year, let’s collectively wonder what’s next and party like IT’s 2009.

Happy New Year!

Tom Singer

 

Photo credit: hyperscholar

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Category: Technology | rfid | supply chain visibility
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