Before going into the list of biggest risks, here is a “preamble to risks”. You need to be familiar with emergency procedures. This means the entire Chain (purchasing, etc.). The Control Tower idea, when done correctly and in conjunction with other fixes can be very successful. Visibility is a prerequisite to supply chain agility, responsiveness and almost everything in the supply chain. Companies need to find the right people, provide continuous training and allow them to learn and develop by rotating their roles in the supply chain. Read more...

If you happen to be a customer of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), be prepared to receive one less bill in the mail. That means starting at the end the second quarter of 2015, customers will be sent electronic statements for their electricity and power bills. Read more...

Our recent article on Opportunities in Your Supply Chain listed “Developing Supply Chain Talent” as a major opportunity. An article by Laura Cecere included a very interesting research study on “Ease or Difficulty of Filling Supply Chain Positions”. Outside of the managerial ranks (always hardest anyway), the most difficult are: Demand Planner; Network Planning Analyst; Supply Planner. Yes, it represents “traditional SCM” (EDI and Control Towers are not in the study). Read more...

The people who staff various supply chain positions are very different from people in other departments like finance, sales, and even IT because they have different talents specific to their jobs. Really? I don't think that's even close to being the case. And your HR folks would probably be horrified by the notion that you're hiring based on those notions. Read more...