keting with Manhattan Associates, explains the
difference between total landed cost and “total
cost to serve.”
Using Demand Sensing to Boost
Forecast Accuracy
Robert Byrne, CEO, Terra Technology; November 2011
Robert Byrne, chief executive officer of Terra
Technology, reveals the results of the com-
pany’s latest study on benchmarking forecast
performance.
An Introduction to the Sustainable
Supply Chain Foundation
Richard Bank, Director, Sustainable Supply Chain
Foundation; November 2011
Richard Bank, director of the Sustainable Sup-
ply Chain Foundation, discusses the organiza-
tion’s mission, and how companies can benefit
from it.
A New Study on Supply Chain Risk
Bill McBeath, Managing Director, ImpactFactor;
November 2011
Bill McBeath, managing director of ImpactFactor,
reveals the findings of a new research study on
supply-chain risk. He also explains the impact of
supply-chain disruptions on shareholder value.
Supply Chain Collaboration: A 21st
Century Revival
Ann Grackin, CEO, ChainLink Research; Novem-
ber 2011
Ann Grackin, chief executive officer of ChainLink
Research, talks about the relationship between
supply-chain collaboration and modern-day social
networks.
The State of U.S. Logistics
John White III, President, Fortna; November 2011
Fortna President John White discusses how the
recent economic downturn has forced companies
to reassess their supply chains and reports on
research Fortna has done to identify the tipping
point in decision making, the point at which “yes”
should become “no”, and vice versa.
Essentials of Benchmarking
Ron Webb, Executive Director, Membership, APQC;
November 2011
Many supply-chain managers fail to take advan-
tage of benchmarking because they fear it is too
difficult or complex, says Ron Webb of APQC.
Webb takes the mystique out of benchmarking
and explains why and how it can benefit com-
panies of all types and sizes.
Embedding Sustainability in a Supply
Chain Organization
Cynthia Wilkinson, Director, Supply Chain Sustain-
ability, Staples, Inc.; November 2011
Sustainable business is about driving better
business value at same time as that you’re driv-
ing improvements for the planet, says Cynthia
Wilkinson, director, supply chain sustainability,
Staples Inc. That means energy efficiency and
reduced packaging, among other things. But
none of that will happen unless the culture of
your business is aligned with the “green” vision.
Does Lean Make a Good Company Great?
Kenneth McGuire, President, MEAC; November 2011
Simply stated, Lean alone won’t make a company successful, but even a successful company could improve immensely if it adopted a
number of Lean practices, says Kenneth
McGuire, president of Management Excellence
Action Coalition.
Successful SCM for Mid-Sized Shippers
Todd Colin, Senior Partner, Rockfarm Logistics;
November 2011
The top couple of tiers of Fortune companies have
departments tasked with ensuring they have best-
in-class business processes, says Todd Colin, senior
partner at Rockfarm Logistics. That isn’t the case
with mid-sized firms, so they need to partner care-
fully with providers that offer the services and
processes needed to differentiate them from the
competition.
Jacobson Companies and Fonterra North
America: A Working Relationship
John Kelly, VP Business Development, Jacobson
Companies and Thomas Friend, VP Supply Chain,
Fonterra; November 2011
When you turn to an outside provider to reorganize
your supply chain, it helps to have a partner that is
not only knowledgeable about your business but
flexible enough to keep changing the model until it
gets it right, says Thomas Friend, vice president of
supply chain for Fonterra North America, and John
Kelly, vice president of business development at
Jacobson Companies.
Guidelines for Supply Chain Collaboration
Thomas Speh, Professor Emeritus & Sr. Director
MBA Programs, Miami University; November 2011
Trust is the single most important component of
collaboration, says Thomas Speh, professor emeritus and senior director of MBA programs at Miami
(Ohio) University. If you don’t have that, you won’t
share information, which will undermine any
efforts to achieve the meaningful relationship
needed to improve your supply chain.
The Impact of Packaging on the Supply Chain
Tom Blanck, Principal and Practice Leader,
CHAINalytics; December 2011
Once a function of sales and marketing, prod-
uct packaging today is increasingly seen as a
strategic issue, with involvement by the execu-
tive team, says Tom Blanck, principal and prac-
tice leader at CHAINanalytics. Blanck explains
why companies are changing their view and
how the entire supply chain benefits from pack-
age optimization.
Strategic Planning for Tough Times
Lisa Hershman, Co-Author, Faster, Cheaper, Better;
December 2011
To succeed in tough times leaders need to make
sure their companies are aligned around strategic,
long-term goals that balance the voice of the cus-
tomer and the voice of the business, says Lisa Her-
shman, co-author of Faster, Cheaper, Better.
Hershman offers suggestions on how to achieve
such alignment, including the use of metrics that
“cut out the noise and focus on end results.”
Measuring the Supply Chain Carbon Footprint
Robert W. Kuhn, President, Kuhn Associates Man-
agement Advisors; December 2011
A new Corporate Value Chain standard from the
Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative aims to help
companies look strategically at greenhouse gas
emissions across their entire value chain, showing
them where to focus limited resources to have the
biggest impacts. Robert H. Kuhn discusses the stan-
dard and how companies can use it to improve
their carbon footprint.
The Role of S&OP in Integrated Business
Management
John F. Proud, Senior Principal, Oliver Wight;
December 2011
John F. Proud discusses an Integrated Business
Management model that he likens to a diamond
with eight facets, each representing a critical
part of business planning. Proud discusses the
importance and the difficulty of aligning and
synchronizing all eight areas.
Enhancing Competitiveness with S&OP
Donald H. Sheldon, President, DH Sheldon and
Associates; December 2011
Competing successfully is all about providing
the highest possible customer service with the
least amount of resources, says Donald Shel-
don. Sales and Operations Planning helps
achieve that goal by bringing the best minds in
a company to consensus on these two issues,
he says. Sheldon also explains how S&OP helps
companies manage risk.
MRP: Is it Still Relevant?
Chad Smith, Partner, Demand Driven Institute;
December 2011
Material Requirements Planning is more rele-
vant today than at any time in its decades-long
history, says Chad Smith of the Demand Driven
Institute. However, Smith says, the rules gov-
erning many MRP programs are out of date and
need to be changed to more closely reflect actu-
aldemand. Technology tools also need to
improve, he says.
Lean Concepts and Corporate Sustainability
Marco Ugarte, Research Associate, The Sustainabil-
ity Consortium; December 2011
Lean management is focused on reducing waste
and sustainability is focused on lowering the use of
resources, so the two concepts have a natural align-
ment, says Margo Ugarte of The Sustainability Con-
sortium. Ugarte discusses how lean and
sustainability initiatives support one another and
explains some of the trade-offs that each require
companies to make.
People-centric Supply Chains
Ron Crabtree, President, MetaOps; December 2011
The most important competitive determinant
between competing supply chains is people, says
Ron Crabtree, president of MetaOps. Competitors
can buy the same equipment and the same technology, but people and the relationships they build
with supply-chain partners are the “ultimate differentiator,” he says. Crabtree discusses how to
develop a people-centric supply chain.
