S&OP quite often the wrong horse

01/30/2012 at 9:36 am | Marieke | No Comments

You won’t have missed it: S&OP is a trending topic. There’s no escaping it. If you’re not in, then you’re out! Right? Well, I would be the last person to deny that effective S&OP is essential to successful business. The question,...

The tools for Integrated Business Planning

01/27/2012 at 5:17 pm | Martijn Lofvers | No Comments

Lean supply chains became a reality for some organisations during the economic downturn; not through increased efficiency, but through panic as they drained inventory to cut costs. These same organisations now face the challenge of restoring the...

Acting like Napoleon

01/27/2012 at 5:04 pm | Martijn Lofvers | No Comments

Napoleon Bonaparte is widely regarded as one of the greatest generals in history. Many point to his victories at Austerlitz, Wagram, Ulm and Jena as great case studies of his strategic acumen. But what made Napoleon so successful in his craft? One...

The safety stock formula to cure a sore knee

01/27/2012 at 4:52 pm | Martijn Lofvers | No Comments

Take 2 tablets a day, my aunt Mary told me.  She is a doctor.  Although I did not know that until last month.  In fact, it was not until recently when I damaged my knee that I realised that everyone in my family was actually a trained medical...

Don’t forget your silos

01/25/2012 at 3:17 pm | Marieke | No Comments

Departments frequently seem to operate within their own silos, and this can limit the sharing of information. The implementation of an integrated IT system is often seen as the way to advance the organisation. Unfortunately during the implementation...

Show us your talent!

12/21/2011 at 12:36 pm | Martijn Lofvers | No Comments

The atmosphere is tense.  Tears are flowing.  Heart rates are racing.  Weeks of adrenaline-pumping moments are coming to a head.  This is it.  The excitement of the judges and contestants can barely be contained.  And the winner of the 2011 â€...

S&OP Asian style

11/23/2011 at 5:57 pm | Marieke | No Comments

"It's two minutes to twelve, and we continue navel gazing!" said one of the participants during the S&OP mini-seminar recently held at ArlaFoods in Nijkerk. Just before Lourens Schouwink, CFO Samsung Benelux, had talked about their ambitions and...

Fast food or slow food in your planning?

11/1/2011 at 12:27 pm | Martijn Lofvers | No Comments

Since the growth of the obesity problems, lots of attention has been given to the slow food movement. The substantial growth of fast food has contributed a lot to obesity problems in developed countries. The same fastfood is new doing the same in...

Lean with more stock

10/31/2011 at 4:30 pm | Marieke | No Comments

Recently I was invited by a production company in the south of The Netherlands. The reason was chronic lack of grip on the production process. This was far from a new problem. However, increasing pressure on cost and reliability, forced the plant...

Natural risk behaviour

10/21/2011 at 11:31 am | Martijn Lofvers | No Comments

What is the company behaviour to risk and danger? Natural disasters in last years have made companies more and more aware of supply chain risks. The earthquake and the following tsunami in Japan made clear where risks of supply of components...