Category: Supply Chain Career
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Supply Chain Pitfalls that are Holding Your Business Back
I haven’t been in supply chain management as long as some, but I’ve been around long enough to have some observations on common errors supply chain practitioners make. Some are things many professionals can do better (such as continually learning) and some are very supply chain specific (such as managing by category). Here are my… Read more
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Breaking the Silos: Why Warehouses Belong in the Supply Chain
Once the procurement team orders goods and the inbound logistics team ensures they arrive, the warehouse team ensures they are delivered safely and accurately to their final destination. So why is the warehouse so often part of operations instead of the supply chain? Today’s article talks about the pros, cons, and considerations for where the… Read more
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From Des Moines to Dubai: Highlights and Insights from Passwall Solutions in 2024
Allow me a moment of self-indulgence, as I review this past year. This post may also be a bit more personal than most and is a chance for reflection. 2024 was a good year for Passwall Solutions, and I’m proud of the work I have done. I am still a solopreneur, not yet having hired… Read more
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The Ten People You Meet in Supply Chain
In my time in supply chain, I’ve found there’s a few personalities that keep popping up. Some of them show up in every supply chain team I’ve ever been a part of. Some only show up in the larger teams, and some of these people definitely show up in non-supply chain teams as well. I… Read more
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Express Gratitude Instead of Apologizing
In this season of gratitude here in the U.S., I’m reminded of one of the best pieces of professional advice I ever received: Don’t say “I’m sorry,” say, “Thank you.” The anecdotal wisdom is that women apologize more than men, but research shows it’s a little more complicated than that. Instead, women generally have a… Read more
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Contract Negotiation Deep Dive: Introductory Clauses
Disclaimer: I am not an attorney and cannot give legal advice. This series is from a supply chain practitioner’s perspective on negotiating contracts and is simply offering my perspective on common contract clauses. Seek professional legal advice for your own contracts. Today’s article kicks off a series on supplier contract negotiation, which is where I… Read more
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The Do’s and Don’ts of Attending Internal Customer Staff Meetings
As a supply chain professional, it’s incredibly easy to fall into the “they vs. we” trap. “They” are the internal customer, the engineer, the end user, the operations team. “We” are the procurement, supply chain, or logistics team. While there are many ways to start shifting this mentality and start healing the rift between supply… Read more
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From Tactical to Strategic: Why Procurement Needs to Chase Value, Not Just Savings
The inimitable Mathew Schulz posted on LinkedIn last week about how the best procurement pros chase value instead of savings. This got me thinking about savings vs. value, and the differences between a procurement team who thinks tactically vs. one who thinks strategically. One reason I left a previous employer was that a change in… Read more
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Dirty Negotiation Tactics and How to Counter Them
Anyone who has been in multiple negotiations has dealt with dirty, hardball tactics. Maybe you’ve even used them yourself in an attempt to gain the upper hand. While related to negotiations focused on changing the rules, hardball tactics are in a little different category. Most importantly, hardball tactics are all about short-term gain with no… Read more
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How to Become a Corporate Vice President
All my career I wanted to be a Vice President. Everything I did professionally drove toward that goal, including: While all of these are good and align with the advice I was given by more senior leaders, I think they got me into people leader/management positions. They did not get me the last step from… Read more