BE CONNECTED – Be in the know if you are in Supply Chain.

We’ve often posted about how Supply Chain only really breaks through into the wider news whenever there’s a Supply Chain failure. Despite the fact that you won’t often see stories about Supply Chain in the Globe and Mail or New York Times, there are lots of great publications that serve this vital growing business function. Whether it’s talking about new technology or organizational trends, business expansions, or opinions from industry leaders, these websites cover a wide variety of Supply Chain topics and help us and our network stay abreast of what’s happening in the Supply Chain space.

So here are some of our favourite Supply Chain websites. Keep in mind that this list is by no means exhaustive. There are a large amount of insightful Supply Chain publications, and we’re always stumbling on new ones. If you have any to add to the list please feel free to in the comments!

1. Supply Chain Matters:

Supply Chain Matters is an excellent blog run by Bob Ferrari, a former executive in Supply Chain who has embraced the role of industry thought leader in recent years as head of the Ferrari Consulting and Research Group. Typically, each post will assess a company and its recent Supply Chain decision-making. Mr. Ferrari does an excellent job of situating Supply Chain news in the wider context of the industries he covers, which includes high tech and aviation. Supply Chain Matters also publishes an annual report that provides Global Supply Chain predictions for the coming year.

2. Supply Management:

Supply Management is a UK-based magazine published by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS). It also runs a great website with lots of fresh, daily content. While it offers lots of news content that’s especially relevant to UK Supply Chain professionals (often dealing with Public Sector developments overseas), Supply Management also offers tons of informative advice with a Procurement bent. This often takes the form of interviews and guest posts written by senior Procurement thought leaders. Common topics include Supply Chain sustainability, outsourcing, and technology.

3. Supply Chain Management Review:

Supply Chain Management Review (SCMR) features high-level articles about Supply Chain from renowned experts including Business School Professors, Supply Chain Practitioners and industry analysts.  SCMR places lots of special focus on global Supply Chain trends and manufacturing news, as well as industry case studies from high-profile companies. SCMR also manages sister publications Logistics Review and Materials Handling Review.

4. Kinaxis

Kinaxis is a Supply Chain and Sales and Operations solution provider that also operate the Supply Chain Expert Community, which is a collaborative forum for subject matter experts to write about various Supply Chain subjects. Some of the most interesting, forward-looking posts come from Dustin Mattison, a prominent Supply Chain blogger who’s posted numerous engaging interviews with leaders in the field. For example, check out his most recent interview about the unique advantages millennials stand to bring to Supply Chains.

5. Purchasing Certification Blog:

This blog is run by the Next Level Purchasing Association, a U.S.-based Supply Chain training organization for Procurement professionals. Topics tend to focus on Procurement career and skills development.

6. PurchasingB2B

PurchasingB2B is a Canadian Procurement magazine that also publishes features on its website digitally. It offers Procurement news, (with a special focus on “green Procurement”) branding tips and career advice. It also offers content tailored to Public-sector Procurement under its PurchasingB2G section. While its breadth of digital content isn’t as large as some of the other websites on this list, PurchasingB2B is a great Canadian source of high-quality Supply Chain news.

7. Supply Chain Brain

Supply Chain Brain is one of the largest Supply Chain websites around. It’s an online publication that focuses on market intelligence and news for Senior-level and Executives in Supply Chain, with a special focus on logistics and transportation. In addition to news and blog posts, Supply Chain Brain also hosts podcasts, video interviews with SCM executives, a Supplier directory and a transportation/logistics-oriented job board.

8. Spend Matters

Spend Matters publishes Procurement news and delves deep into analysis of new Tech and solutions in the Procurement space. Based in the U.S. with affiliated websites in the UK, Europe and China, Spend Matters also publishes Procurement-focused research. Not affiliated with the above-mentioned Supply Chain Matters.

9. Procurious:

Procurious is a new venture out of Australia that aims to connect Procurement professionals around the world. Unlike other sites on this list, Procurious is less an editorial website (though they do have a daily blog) than a specialized social network for today’s more modern, global Procurement Professionals – with LinkedIn integration.

10. Procurement Insights

This Procurement-focused blog is written by Jon Hansen, a one-man dynamo who has hundreds of posts to his name and also hosts a Procurement-focused show on Blog Talk Radio. Mr. Hansen gets into the nuts-and-bolts of contemporary issues facing Procurement professionals.

As we said above, this list is just a primer for some of the variety of good stuff that’s out there online in the world of Supply Chain—some of these are Procurement focused, some of them are Logistics and Transportation-focused, some of them are more generally Supply Chain-oriented. Some are Canadian, some American, and some of them are for an international audience. If you have any more to add, please feel free to let us know in the comments!

Oh, and let’s not forget – www.argentus.com – we write a very well received Supply Chain industry blog with a focus on Talent and Recruitment. Be sure to follow us. There some great stuff in there from market intelligence to salary surveys and trends in hiring.

Over and out

Bronwen