In The Friday Round Up, we take a curated look back at the biggest insights and buzz about supply chain from the last week that are dominating the conversation in both national current events and global news coverage. Enjoy!

Predictions for 2015: A Tipping Point for Supply Chain Sentience

Manufacturers and their partners will accelerate the implementation of initiatives that can integrate the Internet of Things. This may be a challenge, but for many companies it will be a year of great opportunity leading to significant competitive advantage.

The New Era of the Agile Supply Chain

The key promise of visibility can be described by one word: agility. Visibility makes supply chains more nimble and responsive to demand, disruptions and network variability, allowing companies to move from static to dynamic product flow decisions.

How Lean is Too Lean?

If you want to see a lean supply chain perfected, study the NASCAR pit. In a matter of seconds, the pit crew has changed tires, wiped down the windshield, filled up fuel, and given the driver a drink of water. Everything is in the right place at the right time. If only every distribution center could run that smoothly…

 
What’s Procurement Like in Your Part of the World?

Procurious boasts membership from 100+ countries. They chatted with supply chain professionals who are specialized in procurement and strategic sourcing to learn more about how best practices, skills, and trends in procurement vary by nation, economy, labor markets, and industry. Check it out.

What if You Could Take the Guesswork Out of Forecast Planning?

To avoid the financial risks associated with planning errors, supply chain leaders and manufacturers should consider building an “insight-based” demand planning process, which brings together analytical tools and data with key human inputs across various functions.