Tag: communications
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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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Why Every Business Needs a Supplier Manual (And How to Create One)
Does your business have a supplier manual? If not, do you feel like you struggle to communicate with your suppliers and hold them accountable? A Supplier Manual is one of those things every company should have, but many don’t. One of my first ever tasks for a client was to build them a supplier manual,… 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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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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The Hidden Costs of Change Orders—and How Supply Chain Can Mitigate Them
Ah, change orders. While it is often necessary to change a project (and therefore change pricing) while that project is ongoing, change orders are frustrating for everyone involved. Large change orders can cause a blame game where everyone in a company blames everyone else for cost overruns. So how can a supply chain professional help… Read more
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Contract Negotiation Deep Dive: Forecasting and Delivery Requirements
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. In our continuing series on contract clauses from a supply chain perspective, last week… 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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Supply Chain Disruption: Predicting Supplier Bad Days
The hot topic in supply chain for the last few years has been supply chain disruption. Supply Chain Brain’s annual supplier partnership publication is themed around disruption, everyone working anywhere in supply chain in 2021 remembers what working through disruption looks like, and continuing global conflicts impact everything from grain to nickel. Executive leadership teams… 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