Just over 100 years ago, when the world was going through its previous pandemic (the 1919 Spanish flu), the organizational structure of divisions and departments we accept as normal were only just being defined, by people like Alfred Sloan and Frederick Taylor. Businesses came up with methods, based on paper, to monitor performance, and memos to communicate. A lot has changed since then but [...]
In today’s global village, the demand for distribution services is escalating rapidly due to the increasing complexity of supply chain operations, the expanding e-commerce, and retail sectors, and a pressing need to deliver swiftly and enhance the customer experience. The customer remains king for now. (more…)
Procurement is often overlooked and undervalued, yet it impacts every facet of a business. Procurement and supplier relationships have an important role to play when it comes to ensuring manufacturers and distributors meet their strategic goals. Fortunately, strategic sourcing policies for procurement can provide the ultimate competitive advantage. It’s time to streamline the procurement process, harnessing technology to iron-out the kinks. (more…)
Amazingly, the ERP industry is now over 40 years old. In 40 years, most veterans of ERP will have noted that the ERP industry has transformed from an ‘ERP solution sold on the golf course’ to a solution that is discovery led and drives business benefit. With more online ERP content being published by providers, promising you increased business success, with a higher ROI than [...]
It’s 2017. Another year, wipe the slate clean and start again – what’s new? Well the world just changed. In the West, the East and in Africa. A popular US president leaves a manila envelope in the desk drawer for the heir-apparent who’s about to move in. No, it’s not a wad of currency, a Kenyan passport or the utility bill. This is the [...]
When the subject of corporate data security comes up, the conversation usually turns to outside influencers such as hackers, malware, internal espionage and high-profile breaches. Those are issues that every company should protect against, but they are not the topic of my blog today. What I’d like to address are basic security measures that will protect your data (and your ERP investment) from the [...]
There are a lot of ERP software providers that claim they ‘specialize in food and beverage’, a claim which must warm the heart of any food manufacturing company shopping for a new ERP System. (more…)
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) works a lot like barcodes letting you scan products, or anything else you put a barcode on, and instantly get serial and product information on that object. The big difference is that barcode scanners physically need line-of-sight to the barcode while RFID can automatically read a tag if it is within range. Check out my post on RFID vs Barcodes for [...]
Optimizing supply chain processes is essential for managing a business in the midst of a changing industry. A dynamic industry dictates that companies must re-evaluate their processes with a focus on operational efficiencies and strategic use of technology. This is where it is imperative for enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to step in. The packing industry in particular is characterized by constantly changing market conditions, technological advancements, relentless competitive [...]
I have a friend who works at a large home improvement retailer. He often tells me stories about customers who buy expensive and sophisticated tools, yet have no DIY experience or knowledge on how best to use them. (more…)
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