The global economy hangs in a tenuous balance. U.S. growth has been slow, but steady, while the global economy has been mixed. The survey data suggests that logistics planners are most concerned with meeting service levels, driven by capacity concerns, rising costs and the need to increase productivity.
This year, we conducted a Transportation and Distribution Survey of decision makers to learn more about their concerns and expectation for 2013. Supply chain professionals from a variety of companies and industries were polled. Here’s what we learned:
- A slow and uncertain economic recovery has begun to put pressure on transportation/distribution planners to plan for multiple scenarios.
- Rising fuel and driver costs remain a key long-term concern.
- Capacity is a significant concern. While trucking capacity has tightened, rail capacity is available.
- Planners are equally concerned with meeting service levels, perhaps, caused by rising costs and capacity constraints.
To read the complete report, including our conclusions, click the link below:
Download the Transportation
and Distribution Survey
To learn more about Profit Point’s Transportation Optimization services and Distribution Planning software, call (866) 347-1130 or contact us here.
Sales and operations planning (S&OP) is an integrated business management process that enables a company to continually balance and manage the supply chain supply and demand to achieve its strategic and tactical business objectives. More and more business leaders are relying on S&OP to align and improve decision making across the disparate parts of their organization. And, many companies are still adopting and improving the techniques and tools that they use to improve S&OP.
So this year, we conducted an S&OP Survey of key decision makers to learn more about their challenges, concerns and expectation for 2012. Business leaders from a variety of companies and industries were polled. Here’s what we learned:
- Many companies lack the metrics needed to capture the benefits from S&OP
- Scenario and sensitivity analysis is the tool of choice for S&OP planners who understand that sales forecasts are imperfect
- More companies are beginning to collaborate with suppliers and customers to improve S&OP
- For many companies, point-of-sale (POS) data may be the key to effective sales and operations planning
To read the complete report, including our conclusions, click the link below:
Download the S&OP Survey
To learn more about Profit Point’s S&OP services and S&OP software, call (866) 347-1130 or contact us here.
With the timing and velocity of an economic recovery uncertain, many companies are looking for new ways to improve profits without risking growth capacity. One key opportunity for gaining competitive cost advantage is transportation spend.
So this year, we conducted a survey transportation decision makers to learn more about their concerns and expectation for 2011. Supply chain professionals from a variety of companies and industries were polled. Here’s what we learned:
- In today’s environment, cost and service still dominate all other considerations
- Despite current economic conditions, 87% of respondents are concerned about rising transportation costs
- 75% of all respondents find it challenging to balance the tradeoff between cutting costs and adding too many carriers
- One in four respondents were not able to measure the impact of their “improvement initiatives”
To read the complete report, including our conclusions, click the link below:
Download the 2011 Transportation Survey
To learn more about Profit Point’s transportation optimization and transportation procurement services, call (866) 347-1130 or contact us here.
Our good friends at DRK Research recently published an excellent white paper entitled The impact of business analytics on supply chain performance.
The paper investigates the relationship between analytical capabilities in the plan, source, make and deliver area of the supply chain and its performance using information system support and business process orientation as moderators. Structural equation modeling employs a sample of 310 companies from different industries from the USA, Europe, Canada, Brazil and China. The findings suggest the existence of a statistically significant relationship between analytical capabilities and performance. The moderation effect of information systems support is considerably stronger than the effect of business process orientation. The results provide a better understanding of the areas where the impact of business analytics may be the strongest.
Read the complete article here.
The new year is upon. But for supply chain professionals like you, many of the challenges from 2009 remain.
To help our clients navigate the uncertain future, we conducted a survey in 2009. The survey included supply chain decision makers from large multi-national organizations to small domestic concerns.
Our goal was to extract the top risks and opportunities for 2010 and beyond. Our final report for the survey has been compiled in summary form and highlights several of the top keys to success. You can download the report by clicking the link below:
I hope you find value in the report. And, as always, if you have questions or concerns about your supply chain, please feel free to call us at (866) 347-1130.
Sincerely,
Alan Kosansky,
President, Profit Point, Inc.
Logitech is a world leader in personal peripherals, driving innovation in PC navigation, Internet communications, digital music, home-entertainment control, gaming and wireless devices. With a history of fast-growing distribution channels and a product line that is frequently being updated, Logitech’s key supply chain challenges are similar to those of many other consumer electronics heavyweights. Its product life cycles are relatively short and consumer demand can be fickle. But when Logitech gained global, mass market status with customers ranging from Walmart and Best Buy to direct online sales, its supply chain challenges were compounded.
With mounting distribution challenges, Logitech engaged Profit Point to bridge the gap between their ERP and their real world need to compete. Click the link below to access the case study:
“Companies that use advanced routing and scheduling optimization
solutions that are designed specifically for the transportation industry
can reduce transportation costs by up to 20%. “
Profit Point’s supply chain consultants have seen decades of economic boom and bust. Learn about the essential steps that you can take today to cut costs in the near term and prepare for future economic scenarios. Click the link below to access our new white paper:
“The structure of your supply chain network
determines 75-80% of your total supply chain costs.”
Profit Point’s supply chain consultants have seen decades of economic boom and bust. Learn about the essential steps that you can take today to cut costs in the near term and prepare for future economic scenarios. Click the link below to access our new white paper:
“The structure of your supply chain network
determines 75-80% of your total supply chain costs.
Therefore, it is the biggest opportunity
to reduce those costs.”
The opportunity to improve your infrastructure and design your supply chain network only comes along once in a while. But, our supply chain consultants are optimizing supply chain networks every day. So, we’ve seen the pitfalls and the opportunities that face decision makers when they make critical infrastructure investments.
What else should you know before your begin designing your network? We’ve compiled a list of the top 10 things that supply chain and manufacturing executives should consider before undertaking any significant infrastructure investments. Complete the the short form below to receive the complete list of things you should know about supply chain planning.
Download a copy of 10 Things to Know About Infrastructure Planning.
