Opinion

  • Inventory Optimization Goes Mainstream
    August 13, 2009

    According to a recent report by IDC’s Manufacturing Insights, inventory optimization is “especially valuable in an economic downturn, when the cost of making poor inventory decisions is especially high.”

    Why is Inventory Optimization (IO) technology going mainstream? In today’s hard economic times, traditional planning applications aren’t granular enough, while IO solutions can perform comprehensive inventory analysis and stocking decisions across multiple tiers of a supply chain. Only IO technology can answer questions like:

  • Inventory’s Unusual Role in this Economic Cycle
    August 08, 2009

    An article in MarketWatch titled “Economy in Free Fall,” states: “Usually, really bad recessions are worsened by the need for companies to get rid of all the stuff they made but nobody bought. Once the inventories are sold off, the economy can grow quickly again because idled workers are called back.”

  • Network Design and MEIO: the Next Buddy Movie?
    August 07, 2009

    Ruggedly independent, yes, but they know they can rely on each other, too

    Butch Cassidy was all brains and vision, while Sundance had good looks and the fast draw. Luke was innocent and highly intuitive, while Han was rakish and resourceful. The classic buddy movie is based on a perfect synergy of two very distinct characters, and when Hollywood decides to cast that big supply chain pic (any day now), they should go with Network Design and Inventory Optimization as their Hope and Crosby.

  • Planning to be Lean
    August 07, 2009

    Is there a collaboration point between lean deployments and supply chain planning systems?