I’m in the middle of writing a story on inventory optimization software for the August issue of Modern Materials Handling. Talk to the companies providing these solutions, or to some of the end users that have implemented them, and the results are impressive. Five to 15% reductions in inventory across all the nodes in the supply chain with no reduction in service levels are common; some companies have reduced inventory by 50%.

This spring, I came across a great example of inventory optimization in action when I interviewed the Defense Logistics Agency to learn how it is remaking its supply chain for ...Read More

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One of the hottest supply chain technologies in 2007 was supply chain inventory optimization, an application that grew by 32% while the overall supply chain management space grew about 7%. And, yes, I did say 2007. No one really wants to talk about 2008 or 2009 these days, but you’ll be able to read about it in our annual Top 20 supply chain software list in July.

Just what is supply chain inventory optimization? These applications are designed to plan inventory policy across multiple dependent echelons of a supply chain, in multiple planning periods, according to ...Read More

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The supply chain software business is changing, and that’s potentially good news for end users.

I recently worked on our annual look at the top suppliers of supply chain software for the July issue. One constant theme I heard was that software suppliers are investigating new business models. An MES provider, for instance, is looking at a twist on the hosted, by-the-drink model that was touted back during the Internet boom. Instead of hosting a program at a central location that is accessed by many users, the MES provider will install the application in a server at the user’s site. But the MES will own, ...Read More

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I think it started during the Internet boom. About 8 AM, Gary Forger, who was then my editor at Modern Materials Handling, and I would get on the phone and chat about the interviews we’d just done or the news stories we’d just read that really made us think. Truth be told, what were usually thinking was: What are they thinking?

The first conversation like that I recall was after Gary interviewed a company that was setting up a web site to sell stuff cheap – this was long before eBay and Amazon were multi-billion dollar companies.

Gary’s question to the executive: How are you going to handle returns?

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I want to start today’s blog with a four-letter word. It’s risk.

What I’m talking about? The other day, I was watching Eric Cantor, a Republican legislator from Virginia and one of the GOP’s rising stars, on CNBC.

Cantor began his appearance with a complaint that the Obama administration had played hardball with GM bondholders, forcing them to take pennies on the dollar for their investments. When the hosts asked him if he wa...Read More

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Okay. The headline stopped me. It was something about LoJack and the supply chain.

Why, I wondered, is a company best known for products that let you keep track of your car, truck or motorcycle doing in the supply chain business.

The answer from LoJack will have to wait for another day. But, I did get some insight into the company’s product and thinking from Alex Brisbourne, the president and CEO of Kore Telematics, the company providing the wireless data network for the LoJack Supply Chain Integrity solution. 

Here’s the idea. Real-time asset management has ...Read More

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Over the years, Modern has traveled far and wide for stories, making trips across the US and Europe to report on developments in the materials handling industry. Yesterday, I found a story in my own back yard.

My backyard is in Keene, New Hampshire. As the headquarters for Markem Corporation before it became part of Markem-Imaje, Keene has a proud heritage in the print and apply industry. If you’re not familiar with the technology, print and apply refers to automated systems to print and apply bar code labels and RFID tags to items, packages, cartons and pallets in industrial settings.

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I had planned on writing a piece about LoJack’s entry into the supply chain business, but a dinner I had Friday night with some local business people changed my mind. Sometimes, I think it helps to look beyond our corporate windows into what’s happening down on Main Street.

Pick up the Wall Street Journal or turn on CNBC, and one question dominates the news: Is the economy ready to rebound or are all these green shoots everyone is talking about little more than a head fake.

It’s also the topic of most personal and professional conversations I have these days. Everyone from my friend at a supply chain software company to my brother the dentist in Ohio to the local business leader...Read More

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If you’re like me, you’re tired of talking about how bad business is. That’s why it was great to talk the other day with Harlan Mason, vice president of shared operations for PSS World Medical, a distributor of medical products and pharmaceuticals to medical offices with about $2 billion a year in revenue.

Mason was preparing to deliver a presentation on how to do an ROI-based WMS selection process at RedShift, RedPrairie’s annual user conference held this year in ...Read More

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If you’re interested in what’s happening in the market for on-demand enterprise software, also known as cloud computing or Software as a Service, you have to watch NetSuite. As far as I know, they were the first full-blown ERP system designed to be deployed over the Web. What’s more, they have continually added to their functionality for the supply chain.

Most recently, they teamed up with RootStock Software, a provider of software for manufacturing systems, to develop a full-fledged MRP solution in an on-demand model, Rootstock MRP for NetSuite...Read More

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We blog so you don’t have to go!

What was most on the minds of attendees at JDA Software’s user conference in Washington, D.C. last week? According to David Johnston, senior vice president of supply chain, “it’s all about trying to navigate the business during economic volatility. It’s all about cash.”

How does that translate to the supply chain, especially the retail supply chain, where JDA has a strong presence? “In good times, retailers use worki...Read More

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