Read the latest industry happenings and supply chain management articles.

Collaborative Demand Planning Technology
May 8, 2013

The work of achieving collaboration between retailers and their suppliers has gone on for a decade. Multi-tier value-chain collaboration software is not just for the giant power players.

Caribou Coffee's Supply Chain Story
January 22, 2013

Chainlink details how Caribou Coffee improved and systematized its buying process, driving better replenishment while reducing in-store stock outs of consumables, ingredients and sellable end items.

Aberdeen Demand Segmentation Report
January 17, 2013

Based on a survey of 142 supply chain professionals across various industries, this Aberdeen report looks into where and why demand segmentation is typically utilized, and quantifies some of the benefits gained by companies that use it.

S&OP: A Critical Process for Superior Performance
December 19, 2012

As the speed of decision-making increases, so does the value of having an S&OP plan to monitor against in order to keep the organization informed and on track. While each company has its own set of circumstances, all should consider the gaps identified in this Aberdeen Group survey between S&OP leaders and laggards.

Inventory Optimization: Impact of a Multi-Echelon Approach
March 6, 2012

This Aberdeen research report finds that companies utilizing multi-echelon inventory optimization (MEIO) have a more comprehensive understanding of their inventory and are twice as capable as others of balancing cost and service levels across their network.

Technology Evaluation Centers: How to Plan and Manage in Uncertainty and Volatility? Based on Reality and Facts, Duh! – Part 2
November 1, 2011

Supply Chain Shaman: Let's Put Working Capital to Work
August 1, 2011

Aberdeen Group: Demand Management - Bridging External Market Inputs with Internal Statistical Forecasting
June 1, 2011

Supply Chain Shaman: Pearls of Wisdom
May 1, 2011

Inventory Optimization Technology Strategies for the Chief Supply Chain Officer
February 21, 2011

According to Aberdeen Group's, "Inventory Optimization Strategies for the Chief Supply Chain Officer", the key to managing the growing complexity of today's supply chains, reducing costs and improving customer service levels is the use of best-of-breed inventory optimization software. Nari Viswanathan, vice president and principal analyst, Aberdeen Group, found that best-in-class companies were five times more likely to use a best-of-breed solution for their multi-echelon inventory optimization

Technology Evaluation Centers: Discussing the S&OP State of Affairs with Logility’s Karin Bursa
December 1, 2010

AberdeenGroup: More Consolidation in SCM: Logility Acquires Optiant
April 6, 2010

Does the merger between Logility and Optiant have the potential [to create] a larger player? Companies want to hear a unified message about Inventory Optimization’s role in their company – whether it is applicable, when should it be deployed, what are the ramifications if a more basic inventory planning solution is implemented. If you are evaluating Logility ask for demos of the Optiant solution as well as for an integrated roadmap.

Technology Evaluation Centers: Optiant Going to a Much Better Place (part 3 of 3)
April 3, 2010

Technology Evaluation Centers: Optiant Going to a Much Better Place (part 2 of 3)
April 2, 2010

Technology Evaluation Centers: Optiant Going to a Much Better Place(part 1 of 3)
April 1, 2010

Logility buying Optiant shows that Inventory Optimization has become an important component of a modern supply chain planning (SCP) or enterprise resource planning (ERP) suite. Adding Inventory Optimization isn’t just about building a few screens based on textbook formulas.

Logility Acquires Optiant
March 1, 2010

We think that the recent acquisition of Optiant by Logility is great not only for the financials of Logility, but also for their customers. It adds investment in the Optiant product and adds strong new functional capabilities and supply chain cost savings to the Logility customer base. Optiant's capability integrated into the Voyager suite enriches one of the best optimization solutions, with stellar Demand planning. A great one/two punch.

Sales and Operations Planning: Integrate with Finance and Improve Revenue

Economic volatility over the past several years has been illustrated by the highly unstable customer demand, raw material, fuel, and commodity prices. Most recently, it has intensified because of the global economic recession that began unfolding a few months ago. Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) is the key integrated process that the supply chain organization (specifically the VP of Supply Chain) can leverage to achieve visibility and transformation across the entire organization and the value chain. The following study highlights the result of over 220 companies participating in a survey on S&OP related initiatives. The goal of this study is to compare and contrast the view points of supply chain and finance organizations relating to S&OP processes.

Sales and Operations Planning: A Journey That's Worth The Effort

CGT partners with Logility, Inc. in order to take a look at S&OP in the CG industry.

Demand Management in Discrete Industries

Seventy percent (70%) of a total of 260 respondents to Aberdeen's survey on demand management practices in the discrete manufacturing space indicate that they have had a focused demand management program in place. In fact, 31% of companies indicate that they have had a program in place for more than four years. Aberdeen research finds that these companies need to refocus their attention towards order-to-delivery excellence as a driver for demand management rather than just concentrating on demand planning (statistical forecasting). Aspects that companies should focus on include external collaboration, customer level forecasting, and integration with order management.

The Responsive Supply Chain: Managing Market Events in the Consumer Goods Industry

The focus of this benchmark report is on the market events that impact demand. There are six key market event categories: rapid changes in customer affinity, sudden natural disasters, unforeseen contamination and disease, new product innovation, changing economic forces, and expanding international markets. These events cannot be controlled but can be effectively managed if the right processes and technologies are in place.

Demand-Driven Inventory Management Strategies: Challenges and Opportunities for Distribution-Intensive Companies

Companies across a broad spectrum of manufacturing, distribution, and retail segments are striving to be more demand driven. The demand-driven strategy of allowing actual demand to pull inventory through the company and its supply chain seems simple. However for those using traditional supply chain management practices, other corporate strategies – along with some outside forces –make it a challenge to create a truly demand-driven supply and distribution network.

Logility Inventory Management Solutions: A Fact Based Analysis

Logility Voyager Solutions is a software suite that provides demand planning, inventory planning and supply planning capabilities needed to manage inventory especially for distribution-centric businesses. A Logility customer base survey conducted by Aberdeen indicates a high degree of technology adoption and above average inventory performance benefits.

Best Practices in S&OP: A Benchmark Report

Enterprises in the post millennium era have been severely challenged by a set of irreversible marketplace factors — including shrinking profit lifecycles, demand for personalized solutions, and the rise of the distributed network enterprise — that have transformed the global competitive environment into one with fundamentally more uncertainty and risk, but also one with great opportunity. These pressures have compelled companies to redefine winning business models, processes, and technologies and have catapulted the sales and operations planning process into the single most important tactical process to manage risk and profitability.

The Demand Management Benchmark Report: Profitably Dominating Your Target Market

More than 85% of all companies that have implemented a program to improve demand management have generated significant improvements in key customer facing performance. This report from the AberdeenGroup recommends that companies take certain actions to ensure they extract maximum value from their demand management initiatives.

Supply Chain Digest Research Report: Supply Chain Execution Technology: Supply Chain Execution Technology, Making the Right Decision Between ERP and Best-of-Breed

In the past two years, the market for supply chain execution software applications such as warehouse management and transportation management has been roiled by the increasingly agressive efforts of ERP providers . . .

Supply Chain Digest Research Report: Supply Chain Planning Technology, Making the Right Decision Between ERP and Best-of-Breed

In the past two years, the market for supply chain planning software applications such as demand planning, inventory planning and production scheduling has been roiled by the increasingly aggressive efforets of ERP providers . . .