Supply chain news

Collaboration is key in critical outsourcing relationships In the early part of my supply chain career, I spent several years managing key accounts on behalf of a third-party logistics and supply chain service provider.  Working with large multinational clients, we had an opportunity to learn and observe different supplier management styles.     From the demanding […]

Earth Day 2022 is upon us, and our thoughts can’t help but turn to the impact of supply chains on the environment, and on climate change.  Sustainability and circular economy have rightly become a strategic focus for organisations, but the tactical approaches can differ.  The by now historic ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ mantra comes to mind […]

There was a time when you could go to the darkest corner of most warehouses and find a bone pile of wrapped pallets of returns.    Returns were the inconvenient afterthought of supply chains and the chore that was left until the pile could no longer be ignored.  Along with the task of sorting through […]

  For most, the benefits of outsourcing are far-reaching, from leveraging specialised knowledge, to expanding your markets, channels, and service offerings.  Some find the reality challenging, and it can take longer than expected to become accustomed to working as outsource partners.   For others, challenges experienced have begun to frustrate, and there is a need to […]

The imposition of new sanctions, following the invasion of Ukraine, will need to be enforced and managed by organisations in Ireland and around the world.  These sanctions have been imposed by the EU, as well as the UK, US, Canada, Japan, and others. We have talked about trade compliance and managing sanctions previously, but with […]

Healthcare Supply Chains are adapting to a different World Every two years, in conjunction with Jamie Kowalski Consulting LLC, PerformanSC seeks inputs from supply chain leaders within health systems, on the evolution of their healthcare supply chain practices.  The research has charted the evolution of health system supply chains since 2012, and in particular the […]

Using supplier scorecards to align performance As we noted in our recent post on KPIs and metrics, a strong metrics framework is needed to manage supply chain processes on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.  Here we look at best practices in outsource supply chain governance, with some thoughts around supplier scorecards. Supplier scorecards are […]

Tackling inflation in our supply chains For the first time in over 30 years, inflation is a concern faced by many western economies.  Academics will debate how we got here – concerns over fuel supply, expansionary economic policies, recovery post-pandemic, geo-political instability, logistics congestion, additional non-trade barriers – but supply chain professionals have been feeling […]

Aftermarket certification for your ICT equipment For a long time, the fate of ICT equipment, no longer needed, has been the least of an organisation’s concerns.  Indeed, most seemed content to let someone take aftermarket equipment away for the smallest fee on offer.  Other companies, typically those dealing with higher volumes of more recent used […]

  Selling your B2B outsource solution – the online sales meeting The arrival of Covid-19 has turned the B2B sales world somewhat upside down.   Maintaining contact with your clients and providers has moved online, international visits haven’t gone ahead, and at times it feels like the B2B channel is now almost entirely virtual. 3PLs, 4PLs, […]