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Editor's Note: The following is a guest post written by Rod Daugherty, Vice President of Product Strategy for Blue Ridge.iota.org Not all supply chains are created equally — in fact, many are created to serve very different purposes.havi.com When investigating which supply chain solution is the best fit for the unique needs for your business, it can be challenging given the number of options available today. Forecasting and planning plays an important role across a variety of industries. Banking, risk-management, manufacturing, retail and distribution are just a few. While each one of these industries has unique challenges and goals, the forecasting and planning function serves widely (and often wildly) different purposes for each. There is no way to over-estimate the importance of domain focus.


It is crucial to select a solution developed specifically for your industry, and not one adapted from a solution originally intended for a different industry. Retail and distribution vs. Retailers’ and distributors’ businesses by and large revolve around forecasting customers and replenishing finished goods into locations for sale to other businesses or consumers. This is vastly different than a manufacturer whose objective is making or assembling goods with optimal labor and machine efficiency, along with sourcing raw materials for production. Manufacturers are by nature further removed from consumer demand, which creates difficulties for them in understanding demand at any level of detail. As a result, forecasting for manufacturers becomes a labor-intensive process to make sense of raw statistics. There has been an assumption in the market that using multiple, or "best fit" statistical forecasting models must be better or somehow more sophisticated.


This approach can be valid for manufacturers because of the significant difficulty predicting consumer behavior at a granular level. The influences that drive consumer demand are simply not available in the data manufacturers receive. Therefore, they must resign themselves to "post-casting," or hoping that the data from the past will somehow reflect the future. However, the critical question is not how many, or which statistical forecast models are superior, but rather, is a statistical forecast even the solution for the business problem you need to solve? Due to distributors’ and retailers’ connections to the consumer transaction, it’s possible for them to understand demand at a deeper level of detail. Rather than raw statistics, a forecasting and planning system geared towards a retail and distribution environment captures customer purchasing activity that exposes influences, events and causal factors that predict customer demand more precisely.


This level of precision is key to economically assuring product availability and eliminating stock-outs in the supply chain. One of the big differences between wholesale and retail compared to manufacturers is how and why demand forecasts are developed. Manufacturers have to generate demand forecasts to drive their requirements planning and material sourcing. There are many differences in why and how a manufacturer generates demand forecasts versus the wholesale and retail community. Time series demand stream: Most manufacturers do not inherently ‘own’ the demand stream from which they generate their forecasts. Rather, they get disparate types of demand, sometimes even once or twice removed from them, that they have to accumulate into a workable format to perform a forecasting operation.


This introduces a dangerous level of subjectivity, but it must be confronted nonetheless. That means their process has to accommodate scenarios wholesalers and retailers would not encounter. The forecast analyst: Manufacturers’ forecasting processes are predicated on the idea of having dedicated forecast analysts who strictly work with demand streams and forecast models. This is the nature of their business. They are working with relatively small lists or catalogs of items compared to the smallest of wholesale customers who are working with thousands of items. Forecasts have different downstream implications: The manufacturing business model requires longer-range demand forecasts. The forecast that starts out as statistically derived, is pretty much the only thing to go by. This is because their lack of immediate access to consumer/SKU/location-level data forces them to make assumptions that are not required of a wholesaler or retailer. Then, they add in their own demand-shaping techniques like promotions and collaborative tribal knowledge (speculation).


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Operating a distribution center or warehouse requires that you pay close attention to every aspect of your supply chain - not just the part you control. As a DC or warehouse, you are an important part of the supply chain, bringing vital goods to outlying locations. How do you manage this effectively? Failure to do so results in downtime, lost productivity and loss profitability. A breakdown within your system leads to problems on all fronts - with incoming products, storing and organization within the warehouse and outgoing shipments to other locations. In fact, managing your supply chain correctly begins with your choice of pallet services provider.


The pallet provider you use is of vital importance. Choosing a budget-grade provider can seem to offer minor savings, but results in many problems in the end. These providers frequently offer substandard pallets, which can vary in quality and adherence to spec considerably. This size difference results in an inefficient racking system, or may not even work with your existing racking system. In addition, most of these providers force you to store your pallets onsite. On the surface, this seems a workable solution; however, the reality is much different. Consider the amount of usable space you must sacrifice to store these pallets onsite. With the loss of usable space, your cost for those pallets skyrockets, each square foot of warehouse space sacrificed increases the costs incurred. If you choose to store your pallets in an outdoor location, you encounter other problems.


Theft is only one of those issues. Damage to pallets, and the fees this incurs, is another consideration. Of course, you can choose to store your pallets outside the warehouse in a rented trailer, but this also increases your costs considerably. What, then, is the best solution for managing your supply chain correctly? The best option is to choose a pallet services provider who offers you "just in time" delivery of pallets. This ensures that you have the pallets on hand when you need them, but does not force you to sacrifice valuable warehouse space, nor does it incur the additional costs of rented storage space. Managing your supply chain also entails finding a pallet provider who will manage your inventory for you. This reduces your workload even further, eliminating the need to monitor the quantity of pallets you have on hand.


A quality provider will work with you, tailoring a solution to your needs. Working together, you will set a specific number of pallets to be used on a regular basis and the provider will take care of the rest. You can streamline your production line to a considerable degree when you find the right partner with which to work. Finally, managing your supply chain means finding a provider who offers the right pallets. Not all pallets are the same - you'll find that block pallets are large and bulky, while stringer pallets offer reduced size, without sacrificing durability or strength. In addition, wooden stringer pallets are the greenest solution available, helping you manage your supply chain while simultaneously reducing your carbon footprint.


This research evaluates how AI is revamping the operational process and facilitating cost-effective supply chain solutions. It provides analysis of leading companies and solutions that are leveraging AI in their supply chains and those they manage on behalf of others, with evaluation of key strengths and weaknesses of these solutions. The report also provides a view into the future of AI in supply chain management. Modern supply chains represent complex systems of organizations, people, activities, information, and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. Supply Chain Management (SCM) solutions are typically manifest in software architecture and systems that facilitate the flow of information among different functions within and between enterprise organizations. Leading SCM solutions catalyze information sharing across organizational units and geographical locations, enabling decision-makers to have an enterprise-wide view of the information needed in a timely, reliable and consistent fashion. Various forms of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are being integrated into SCM solution to improve everything from process automation to providing greater visibility into static and real-time data as well as related management information systems. In addition to fully automated decision making, AI systems are also leveraging various forms of cognitive computing to optimize the combined efforts of artificial and human intelligence.


When goods are delivered direct to the end consumer from the factory without any middle man it is called cross docking. The opposite of crossing docking is when a factory hires or outsources the delivery of their goods to the market through various delivery services. However in cross docking system, only one delivery service like New Jersey delivery service is involved. What are the advantages of cross docking? If a manufacturer happens to let the middle men deliver his goods to the market, then the prices of the good will go high. The middle man has to pay for his expenses and get a profit in the end.


The extra cost will only be passed to the consumer. What if the company has a competitor who supply his goods through the cross docking system? Definitely the competitor goods will be cheap in the market hence there will be more sale. The problem with not using cross docking system is that, your goods end up being expensive yet the quality is the same as that of the competitor. Another advantage is that the extra expense likes storage or handling fee is avoided, hence keeping the cost of supplying goods low which will be reflected on the retail prices.smc3.com The more the delivery services involve, the higher the cost of storage and handling. Sometime the manufacturer has no option but to hire several delivery services.


For example if his goods are destined to areas that have no direct transport to those place, hence they are forced to connect through other delivery service provider. The more you reduce the cost of the supply chain, the more competitive will the goods be in term of prices. Majority of the consumer are always looking for the best in term prices. If your goods happen to cost more than your competitors, then your sales will definitely be low, unless you have improve the quality of your goods and it uniqueness as compared to your competitor. If not, then you need to start using cross docking system and hire companies like New Jersey delivery service to help cut cost in your supply chain hence make your goods competitive in the market. Everette is a consultant for new jersey delivery service and new jersey logistics services companies as well as national same day courier businesses.


What does supply chain management mean? In the international logistics world, supply chain management refers to the managing of flow of goods and services, storage and movement of raw materials and finished goods from one point to the final user. International courier companies have to ensure that they have a good supply chain management system that effectively supports their worldwide parcel services. However, it is easier said than done. Supply chain professionals face a lot of challenges on a day-to-day basis in the parcel delivery service sector. It is important to understand the ways to solve these difficulties for better international shipping standards. Typically, international logistics markets face a lot of odds in their business.


Supply chain management brings its own share of challenges to their worldwide delivery services system. Let’s look at a few challenges that keep supply chain professionals up at night. • Customer service difficulties: International courier companies have a simple but huge responsibility of providing the right product in the correct quantity to the customers. It is important for international shipping businesses to make sure that their operating costs don’t increase exponentially. With rising fuel and freight charges and labour rates, the deed becomes a lot harder. International logistics market is subject to periodic changes in its functioning. Hence, international courier companies must plan assessments and reconstructions to keep the business going.


This is especially important when international courier companies want to effectively control and mitigate. It is key for both the suppliers and the partners to have a ground of commonality in their international shipping business minds. For success in worldwide parcel services, mutual agreement on the desired standards, current performance and improvising future approaches is a huge challenge. It has become increasingly hard to find supply chain leaders in an international shipping company. In any business, to have qualified individuals that can lead the management and have a strong understanding of their duties and allocation of others’ duties is important. And more so in the worldwide parcel services industry. A supply chain leader of an international shipping company must understand how to make sure the goods reach the customers the right way. As you can see above, supply chain management is extremely pivotal.


International courier companies tirelessly ensure that the chain of their international shipping and worldwide parcel services faces minimal interruptions. Author's Bio: Aman Adhya is MBA Graduate specialization in Business services. Provides information on latest business trends and startups and business related queries. He has contributed several articles on international shipping company, international shipping, worldwide parcel services, international courier companies, International Logistics and many more. Please Register or Login to post new comment. A Simple Homeowner Checklist for Hiring a Qualified, Professional Plumber! A Simple Homeowner Checklist for Hiring a Qualified, Professional Plumber! A Simple Homeowner Checklist for Hiring a Qualified, Professional Plumber! A Simple Homeowner Checklist for Hiring a Qualified, Professional Plumber! A Simple Homeowner Checklist for Hiring a Qualified, Professional Plumber! A Simple Homeowner Checklist for Hiring a Qualified, Professional Plumber! A Simple Homeowner Checklist for Hiring a Qualified, Professional Plumber! A Simple Homeowner Checklist for Hiring a Qualified, Professional Plumber!indeed.com A Simple Homeowner Checklist for Hiring a Qualified, Professional Plumber! Money, What Is Your Story? It's Time to Shine!


Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, we’ve become more efficient at turning raw materials into products to sell around the world. Combining improvements in manufacturing with growing trade from globalization has lead to an increasingly more complex global supply chain to emerge. Managing the various supply chains is a big business. The supply chain management industry is massive and experiencing double-digit growth year year after year. While globalization has some downsides, the reality is it enables a plethora of products being delivered around the world at a lower cost, which has led to a massive increase in the quality of life of the average citizen. However, it turns out it’s really hard to manage an increasingly complex global supply chain. 1. Current SCM technology is archaic.


The technologies used to manage supply chains are falling behind the growing interconnectedness and complexities of our global world. This presents an opportunity for innovators to create value in the SCM industry. 2. Stakeholders cannot maintain an adequate overview of their supply chain networks. Within a given supply chain, data is fragmented into various "data silos" where very little data interoperability exists. In other words, there is high "information asymmetry" and stakeholders have no incentive to share data. This makes it harder to ensure integrity of products as they flow through the supply chain. Challenges include: fighting contamination, reducing counterfeiting, and maintaining an efficient supply chain.


This disproportionately hurts the consumer, the environment, and companies who actually participate in honest and sustainable production methods. 3. End consumers are demanding ever-higher levels of transparency. Consumers want to know the origins of their products, how environmentally conscious they are, and if the company used "fair trade" practices. This puts added pressure on the supply chain stakeholders. The biggest problems with the supply chain management industry can be addressed by improving access to data for all stakeholders in a trust-minimized way. Until now, it has been difficult to gather accurate data about the state and integrity of materials and products along the whole supply chain.


Even where data is available, it is challenging to collect it, aggregate it, disseminate it and, above all, ensure its accuracy and integrity. Technology to the Rescue? A combination of blockchain technology, smart contract applications, and integrated Internet of Things (IoT) sensors allow us to reimagine the core systems we use to manage our global supply chains. This Reddit post does a great job explaining how a blockchain solution such as WTC improves supplychain management. It’s great that blockchains can store immutable data in a censorship-resistant, tamper-evident way. This makes blockchains useful at securing and transporting digitally native tokens. However, it’s unsure if or how we’ll be able to digitally represent physical assets in a trust-minimized way.


How do you verify the authenticity of the data that’s being input to the blockchain? There’s still a lot of work to be done. That being said, I have no doubt we’ll see distributed ledger technology (of some sort) lead to dramatic improvements in the SCM space. It’s not a competition (yet). All of these projects seek to fix the general pain points in the supply chain industry: information asymmetry between stakeholders, lack of transparency, and no data sharing standards or protocols. The differences lie in their geographic location and their unique approach to solving the same problem. While some projects have their own blockchain, others are blockchain agnostic data transport protocols. In some cases, these projects can actually compliment each other. As it matures, we might see increased competition that leads to consolidation.


However, for now it’s in everyone’s best interest for "competitors" to share information and work towards interoperability of data standards. Let’s take a look at 5 blockchain projects focused on the supply chain industry. Projects are listed in order of market cap (highest to lowest) at the time of writing.mckinsey.com You can’t talk about the blockchain-powered supply chain industry without mentioning VeChain. VeChain was started in 2015 and has gone through multiple rebranding efforts. If you’re new to VeChain, start with this introduction to VeChain. VeChain makes it easy and safe for manufacturers to share product data with vendors and consumers.


This "360-degree view" of the supply chain both informs the parties responsible for bringing the product to market and guarantees consumers are receiving what they paid for. According to the team, they recently announced they have over 180 different potential use cases for their technology and growing. VeChain runs on "Proof of Authority" which has been criticized recently for poor economic incentive models and a tendency to centralize. VeChain is a full enterprise platform that enables community members to launch dapps on the network. They’ve secured many tier 1 partnerships such as PwC and DNV GL. Lastly, VET has a massive following online which is helpful for bootstrapping decentralized communities. VeChain is connected to the largest infrastructure project in human history, China’s One Belt One Road initiative.


VeChain is in the process of swapping tokens over to the mainnet. The team just announced they partnered with DNV GL to solve china’s drug and vaccine traceability problems. They also updated their mobile wallet. Founded in November 2016, Waltonchain is a Chinese-Korean project that combines both hardware (RFID chips) and software (blockchain) to create a general purpose technology they’re calling the Value Internet of Things (VIoT). Blockchain is being used here to enable different parties to collaborate in the supply chain without trusting the counterparty. The RFID chips that Waltonchain manufacturers are designed to store information about the physical assets they’re attached to. The team also developed a scanner that reads data off the RFID chips and uploads data directly onto the blockchain.


Both the RFID chips and scanners are patented technology. Waltonchain has a massive team that draws industry experience from both the hardware and software businesses. They’ve proven their expertise by producing an RFID-capable chip that’s smaller than 1mm and costs around 5 cents per unit. The VIoT technology they’re producing is really powerful and goes way beyond just supply chain related endeavors. Chinese government, WaltonChain appears to be a very defensible business.apus.edu 1 trillion infrastructure project, One Belt One Road. Based on my research, WTC is best long-term investment in the supply chain sector. The RFID chips are ready for production. Mainnet went live on March 31, 2018. You can download their wallet for PC, Android, or iOS.


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