Blog Entries: Risk management

Barriers to supply chain collaboration: Actionable information needed—fast!

Andrew Atkinson, Director, Product Marketing, E2open - Thursday, April 12, 2012 - 0 Comments

What gets in the way of effective collaboration with supply chain partners? The latest research from SCM World’s Kevin O’Marah, Collaborative Execution: Speed, Innovation and Profitability, surveyed 374 supply chain professionals, to identify the top barriers to achieving “truly collaborative” relationships across the extended trading network. More »
National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security underscores importance of collaboration

Rich Becks, General Manager, High Technology, E2open - Monday, March 19, 2012 - 0 Comments

The release of the National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security (The Strategy) at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, has put a strong spotlight on the increasingly pivotal role of the global supply chain in the nation’s economic development. In a letter introducing the strategy, President Obama noted that the global supply chain “is essential to the United States’ economy and security and is a critical global asset.” We absolutely agree. More »
Re-thinking supply chain risk and resiliency

Rich Becks, General Manager, High Technology, E2open - Friday, March 02, 2012 - 0 Comments

In the last decade, supply chain visionaries have promoted outsourced manufacturing, vendor managed inventory (VMI), and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) to handle everything from procurement and materials handling to manufacturing, transportation, and warehousing. And while the projected cost savings were compelling, many businesses worried that sacrificing control of these critical operations would introduce a number of business risks—specifically, would outsourced vendors act in their own self interest, as opposed to supporting the needs of the end consumers? More »
Five things your procurement officer isn’t telling you

Sean Rollings, Vice President, Product Marketing, E2open - Friday, February 24, 2012 - 0 Comments

Managing an end-to-end supply chain requires a collaborative effort across a wide spectrum of departments and job functions. Employees in the procurement field have an important part to play in ensuring that the supply chain profitably meets the needs of its customers. Here are five things your procurement officer knows (or should know) -- but isn't necessarily telling you. More »
Supply chain is now a top 10 priority for CIOs. It’s about time.

Dave Hale, Chief Information Officer, E2open - Friday, February 17, 2012 - 0 Comments

The Japanese tsunami and the flooding in Thailand last year were wake-up calls for many companies, forcing them to see the need for serious investments in better collaborative execution tools. More »
Multi-tier cost management: Defying the uncertainty principle?

Sean Rollings, Vice President, Product Marketing, E2open - Wednesday, February 01, 2012 - 0 Comments

I had coffee a while back with a customer from a high-tech manufacturing company. He told me how incredibly challenging it is to try to keep up with all the moving parts in his trading network. He rattled off an impressive number of SKUs, assemblies per finished item, components in the assemblies, and so on. As my eyes glazed over trying to do the math, he said to me... More »
What’s really the cheapest shore? Why nearshore, and how do you decide?

Andrew Atkinson, Director, Product Marketing, E2open - Friday, January 27, 2012 - 0 Comments

In a recent report, Gartner projected that by 2014, "20 percent of Asia-produced and U.S.-consumed goods will be nearshored in the Americas." This nearshoring shift will be part of a more general move from low-cost country sourcing strategies to optimized-cost country strategies. What does this really mean? More »
Bridging the gap between profitability and social responsibility

Rich Becks, General Manager, High Technology, E2open - Thursday, January 19, 2012 - 0 Comments

Apple controls one of the world’s top supply chains, which has been shrouded in secrecy for years—until now. The beloved consumer electronics company recently revealed the name of 156 companies that represent 97 percent of its supply chain. This is an unusual move for an industry that relies heavily on foreign component suppliers to drive margins, especially for Apple, a notoriously secretive company. More »
Adapt or die: Our supply chains are learning the hard way

Phil Kaminsky, Department Chair, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, University of California, Berkeley - Tuesday, January 10, 2012 - 0 Comments

If 2011 taught us anything, it’s that our supply chains need to be better prepared to deal with global disruptions. From my perspective, being better prepared means being more flexible—and that means having the systems and processes in place to sense and adapt quickly as environmental and market conditions shift. More »
A short history of floods, quakes, and volcanic eruptions: Have we learned anything?

Edward Toung, Vice President, Asia Pacific, E2open - Thursday, December 08, 2011 - 0 Comments

2011 was hard-hit by natural disasters—but can we really afford to expect anything less for 2012 and beyond? A quick look at the recent past suggests that disruptions in the macro-environment are pretty much par for the course. And with today’s trading networks sprawling from China to India to Brazil and everywhere in between, it’s about time our supply chain organizations started thinking seriously about what it takes to drive resiliency into the equation. More »