One supplier or several?
Many supply chain executives have been able to prove their worth since the early 2020s, during disruptions including factory shutdowns in China, the obstruction of the Suez Canal, the shift to online shopping (and back …
Blogs
The growing battle for space in logistics
The Dutch province of North Brabant recently decided to temporarily suspend the construction of new large-scale distribution centres in most of its locations, and dozens of counties have imposed similar moratoriums in the USA. In …
River of demand
We’re not living in an era of change, but in a change of era. This has been the firmly held belief of Jan Rotmans, Professor of Transition Studies and Sustainability at Erasmus University Rotterdam, for …
Silicon-sur-Seine
Does investing in tech start-ups have a future right now? Alarm bells are ringing in the US financial media following a 25% drop in investment in Silicon Valley to US$7.2 billion in the last quarter …
The key to success lies in operations
In the space of one week, Amazon and Microsoft announced layoffs affecting 20,000 people. This sent shockwaves in Seattle, a city that has been living in a tech bubble for the past decade or so. …
Goat trail
How can we recruit and retain supply chain talent? This question resonates with many supply chain managers, especially as the number of job openings in supply chain positions remains unchanged. In the past three years, …
Supply chain influencers
In 2022, influencers dominated consumer product marketing on social media. Emerging seemingly out of nowhere, they promoted products on Instagram and other social media channels and turned them into unexpected successes. Nowadays, established brands make …
Request For Problems (RFP)
As a company involved in supply chain, how do you find the right software vendor to support your necessary digitalization? That’s a question that comes up again and again during the many conversations I have …
Hairpin bend
The path to supply chain maturity is a steep climb along an unpaved road that is littered with potholes and has sudden, hazardous bends. The coronavirus pandemic and the associated lockdowns created shortages of parts …
Supply chain ecosystems
The world is being plagued by exceptional droughts and heavy, very localized, flooding. According to the European Drought Observatory, Europe is drier than it has ever been in the past 500 years. The climate is …
