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Cindy McGowan

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C-Suite Leadership News - August 27, 2015

Posted by Cindy McGowan on Sep 3, 2015 10:53:00 AM

Manufacturing C-Suite Leadership News
 

Volume I, Issue 3
August 27, 2015
Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.
Albert Einstein

 

Industrial Manufacturing M&A Activity on a Steady Climb in Q2 2015 According to PwC US
Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the industrial manufacturing industry maintained a strong pace in the second quarter of 2015, with a robust pipeline of deals coming to market in the second half, according to Assembling Value, a quarterly analysis of global deal activity in the industrial manufacturing industry by PwC US. The number of transactions recorded in the second quarter (worth more than $50 million), increased to 66, compared to 59 deals in the previous quarter and 62 deals in the second quarter of 2014. With $28.2 billion in announced deals, second quarter totals exceeded the $20.5 billion raised in the first quarter this year but were well below the near-record $60.4 billion set in the same quarter last year. In addition, the second quarter easily exceeded the five-year median of $19.9 billion.
 
U.S. acquirers remain interested in M&A as an opportunity to source new technologies, investing in advances in automation, efficiency, machine communication, and next generation robotics or acquiring niche capabilities in these areas. According to PwC, strategic activity in the second quarter, accounting for 64 percent of deal activity, covered a diverse range of end markets including filtration, industrial air and gas, electrical components, and auto parts and equipment. Industrial manufacturers remain focused on portfolio enhancement and strategic alignment, keeping an eye on economies of scale and operating efficiencies in core businesses. The need for 100% supply chain visibility is greater due to M&A activity. Manufacturers need to know what is received from suppliers. They must be able to track such shipments through the entire set of processes, from billing through customer shipment, including order location, the status of a customer's order, acceptance, and plan for ultimate shipment. This level of total visibility requires access to real-time replenishment data across a manufacturer's entire supply chain. Learn more:  bit.ly/1DVqBoT.  
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Topics: Ultriva Sponsored News, C Suite Leadership

Supply Chain Professional News - August 24, 2015

Posted by Cindy McGowan on Aug 24, 2015 1:35:00 PM

Supply Chain Professional News
 

Volume I, Issue 3
August 24, 2015 
Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.
Albert Einstein
GS1 Industry Leaders Bring Greater Transparency
GS1 US, a member of GS1, is an information standards organization that brings industry communities together to solve supply-chain problems through the adoption and implementation of GS1 Standards. More than 300,000 businesses in 25 industries rely on GS1 US for trading-partner collaboration and for maximizing the cost effectiveness, speed, visibility, security, and sustainability of their business processes. They achieve these benefits through solutions based on GS1 global unique numbering and identification systems, barcodes, Electronic Product Code (EPC)-based Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), data synchronization, and electronic information exchange.
 
GS1 US is collaborating with the Federal Reserve and cash handling industry leaders to bring greater transparency and efficiency to cash logistics using GS1 Standards. GS1 US has developed the GS1 US Cash Visibility Discussion Group, in conjunction with the Federal Reserve, financial organizations, retailers, and armored carriers, to create a standardized framework for identifying, tracking, and electronically exchanging information about cash as it moves through the supply chain. Through shared and automated cash visibility standards, partners can easily communicate their deposits or cash transit status throughout the cycle, saving significant time and labor.
  
"In proof-of-concept testing with major armored carriers, cash visibility based on GS1 Standards reduced dock time by one-half to two-thirds," said Bernie Hogan, senior vice president of emerging capabilities and industries, GS1 US. "Intensive cash users and businesses have the potential for significant business process improvements, resulting in bottom-line benefits." Learn how to start building a demand responsive supply chain network. Learn more:bit.ly/1hdINk2
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Topics: supply chain, Ultriva Sponsored News

Purchasing and Procurement - August 10, 2015

Posted by Cindy McGowan on Aug 10, 2015 10:00:00 AM

Purchasing and Procurement Professional News
 

Volume I, Issue 2
August 10, 2015
Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.
Albert Einstein

Challenges Voiced by Procurement Professionals

James Doyle, founder of JAMSO, began last month requesting procurement professionals what they faced at their companies as the biggest lack of understanding by leadership. Here is a sampling of the responses:

Gerald (Jerry) Rasmussen:  Many internal management and non-management people think there is a giant warehouse out there with every part for every application just sitting there and all we need to do is pick up the phone and order the part. And this is in an environment with fairly complex finished products.

Robert Eddington: The expectation of others that the job is very quick and simplistic. In some cases I have to agree with them, but that can't be counted on in every case and all the time. They generally have no idea into all the background work or the problem solving that goes into the process. Reading the comments above it seems we all have the same problems. I don't think other will ever grasp the amount we do, usually because we make it happen so regularly that they just expect it that way all the time.

Christine Langford, CPSM:  There is a stereotype that Procurement are penny pincher whose favorite line is "sharpen your pencil." There's so much more value we drive other than purchase price. Understanding the costs in the marketplace and knowing your suppliers costs is so much more effective than just telling someone to generally cost reduce.   I've found the most effective way to "sell" procurements capabilities is to have cross-functional needs and wants meeting before a negotiation. After, have a recap and let them team know what you've achieved. You can even assign costs to these items to show how much value Procurement achieves.

Mark McKitrick: Communicating to the client what their true needs are versus what they think they want, and arriving at a solution that can be culture changing.

Tyron Pirrie: Getting your colleagues to understand what procurement is and the benefit of the department to a company. Learn more.

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Topics: Ultriva Sponsored News, Procurement, Purchasing

C-Suite Leadership News - August 3, 2015

Posted by Cindy McGowan on Aug 3, 2015 10:00:00 AM

Manufacturing C-Suite Leadership News
 

Volume I, Issue 2
August 3, 2015
Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.
Albert Einstein

CAPA at the C-Level  

Michael Rapaport insists that  CAPA is (still) a very time-consuming process. He is correct that not too long ago CAPA - and all quality management processes for that matter - were wholly based upon manual, paper-driven processes. The fact that CAPA touches so many different aspects, from engineering to production and beyond can have a profound impact on the deliverables that are typically associated with its successful implementation, such as engineering change orders, control plans and rework orders, and often in ways that are far from apparent and only reveal themselves upon implementation and validation testing.

CAPA, consisting of two separate but very related processes, are not one dimensional, flat quality processes. Rappaport puts it succinctly, plant-level CAPA can have a very different scope and context than enterprise-level CAPA, which may not necessarily share the same point of view. Consider the example of an in-line production process deviating from specification. On the shop floor, this issue would need immediate attention, which a C-suite executives would not know about one minor issue at one particular plant on one particular day.

C-level executives see one of the main challenges with CAPA as defining scope and context within a large company. For a global manufacturer, one plant site may literally speak a different language than another plant site, but this comparison is also applicable internally, too. One department may use a different vernacular than another department, which can introduce unnecessary complexity into CAPA. Likewise, it is not uncommon to find different software tools in place within the same company to manage the same quality process, which only makes it more difficult to achieve consistent CAPA internally when scope and context remain amorphous and undefined.

Some CAPA software are simply modules for enterprise resource planning systems or product life cycle management (PLM) solutions; some are stand-alone solutions that require their own IT resources. In the absence of a concerted strategy to streamline CAPA, it is easy to choose a software that may not be the best solution based on your needs. Often, CAPA software is used as an extension of PLM because many manufacturers have invested very heavily in these systems, so it makes sense to manage CAPA in this manner. However, it is not necessarily need to manage CAPA through PLM; there are many, many other possible deployments.  Rapaport correctly identifies that the accurate and timely flow of information is the key - and with the integration abilities of specialized software systems today, there are many choices.

Certainly, the challenges with CAPA are numerous, but these are the most common pain points. The key lesson you can take away is that CAPA does not have to be a lengthy, manual quality process if you define scope, context and deploy the right software. Learn more.  

 

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Topics: Ultriva Sponsored News, C Suite Leadership

Supply Chain Professional News - July 27, 2015

Posted by Cindy McGowan on Jul 27, 2015 10:00:00 AM

Supply Chain Professional News
 

Volume I, Issue 2
July 27, 2015 
Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.
Albert Einstein

Supply Chain Professionals Balance Same Day Delivery with Correct Inventory Levels 

Supply Chain Brain noted that same-day and next-day delivery are not services normally associated with furniture stores, but City Furniture is changing that in South Florida. City's fast delivery program, which began 12 years ago, has become a key competitive advantage and is changing customer expectations for the industry.  

City Furniture, which has a chain of retail stores in South Florida, was ahead of the curve on same-day delivery - especially for an industry known for long customer wait times. City began offering same-day and next-day delivery across its network a dozen years ago and has aggressively advertised the service, building it into a key competitive advantage, says Andrew Koenig, vice president of operations. Customers who place an order at any of City's 26 showrooms by 2:00 p.m. on weekdays or 3:00 p.m. on weekends can opt for same-day delivery within a 120-mile radius at no additional charge, Koenig explains. From 40 percent to 50 percent of customers choose the same-day option, he says. 

Each day when the cut-off time is reached, same-day delivery orders are batched and sent to the routing system, Koenig says. After routing is optimized, orders move on to the warehouse management system. "In the warehouse, we will have anywhere from 20 to 30 guys, who have about an hour to pull and stage up to 200 orders." These orders are then loaded onto company-owned trucks. Drivers leave the dock by 4:15 on weekdays and 4:45 on weekends and continue working until all orders are delivered, which can be as late as midnight. "Sometimes our trucks beat the customer home," says Koenig. The biggest challenge with this service has been on the customer side, he adds. "Things change in people's lives and sometimes they can't get home to accept delivery. It's frustrating to have to haul it back and do it all over again."   

Providing this service means carrying a lot of inventory, says Koenig. "We have a great purchasing team and we work really hard to maintain a high in-stock percentage. "The company operates a million-square-foot DC. With more big-box retailers getting into furniture sales and new online competitors gaining traction, the trend for very fast delivery will continue to grow.

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Topics: supply chain, Ultriva Sponsored News

Purchasing and Procurement - July 13, 2015

Posted by Cindy McGowan on Jul 15, 2015 11:12:00 AM

Purchasing and Procurement Professional News
 

Volume I, Issue 1
July 13, 2015
Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.
Albert Einstein
Same-Day Service Impacting Inventory and Procurement Professionals

SupplyChainBrain recently reported that same-day and next-day delivery are not services normally associated with furniture stores, but City Furniture is changing that in South Florida. City's fast delivery program, which began 12 years ago, has become a key competitive advantage and is changing customer expectations for the industry. City began offering same-day and next-day delivery across its network a dozen years ago and has aggressively advertised the service, building it into a key competitive advantage, shared Andrew Koenig, vice president of operations. Customers who place an order at any of City's 26 showrooms by 2:00 p.m. on weekdays or 3:00 p.m. on weekends can opt for same-day delivery within a 120-mile radius at no additional charge. From 40 percent to 50 percent of customers choose the same-day option, Koenig explained.

Each day when the cut-off time is reached, same-day delivery orders are batched and sent to the routing system. After routing is optimized, orders move on to the warehouse management system. Koenig noted, "In the warehouse, we will have anywhere from 20 to 30 guys, who have about an hour to pull and stage up to 200 orders." These orders are then loaded onto company-owned trucks. Drivers leave the dock by 4:15 am on weekdays and 4:45 am on weekends and continue working until all orders are delivered, which can be as late as midnight.

Providing this service means carrying a lot of inventory. "We have a great purchasing team and we work really hard to maintain a high in-stock percentage. I am so thankful we chose to go down this path 12 years ago because it is no longer a big deal for us. The whole world is shifting to this mindset and we already are there. I feel good about that," commented Koenig. The company operates a million-square-foot DC.  With more big-box retailers getting into furniture sales and new online competitors gaining traction, the trend for very fast delivery will continue to grow.

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Topics: Ultriva Sponsored News, Procurement, Purchasing

Manufacturing C-Suite Leadership News - July 6, 2015

Posted by Cindy McGowan on Jul 15, 2015 10:57:00 AM

Manufacturing C-Suite Leadership News
 

Volume I, Issue 1
July 6, 2015
Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.
Albert Einstein

Manufacturing and Distribution CEOs Find Hidden Opportunities in Supply Chain  

Greg Brady authored a feature for Texas CEO. According to Brady, traditionally, when a CEO paid attention to their supply chain, it meant something had gone wrong. Strategically, compared to other areas of the business, the supply chain was a relative backwater. The conventional wisdom held that so long as businesses kept pace with its industry's averages, the company was doing fine. Although companies were only too eager to participate in arms races with competitors that saw sky-high R&D, marketing, and legal spends, when it came to the supply chain, CEOs were content to march lock-stop with the most bitter rivals.This is no longer the case. If the supply chain was once about the status quo, now it is about disruption. The continued march of globalization, as well as diverse technology trends such as automation, Big Data, and cloud computing have all brought the supply chain to the CEO's attention. Responding to the end-consumer seems obvious to a retailer, but manufacturers and logistics providers are realizing to succeed in the coming years they need to respond more quickly to actual end-consumer demands. This means the whole chain, from the retailer to the raw material supplier, all are working together to give the end-consumer what they want. Companies taking this approach are experiencing dramatic increases in consumer sell-through revenue. 

 

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Topics: Ultriva Sponsored News, C Suite Leadership

Supply Chain Professional News - June 28, 2015

Posted by Cindy McGowan on Jul 15, 2015 10:28:00 AM

Supply Chain Professional News
 

Volume I, Issue 1
June 28, 2015 
Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.
Albert Einstein

Manufacturing Supply Chain Professionals Managing with Demand-Driven Data

The supply chain manufacturing managers recognize the need to respond to customers' needs by becoming more demand-driven. From plant floor managers to operation managers the interface with suppliers is helping supply chain manufacturing leaders discover how demand-driven principles help organizations profit through more effective methods. The notion of demand-driven is not new; it is undergoing great expansion by helping manufacturers become more competitive and better equipped to meet customer needs, create synchronized systems that solve common manufacturing challenges, and achieve critical business goals. The visibility gained through demand-driven and synchronized factories enable manufacturers to quickly adapt to change and come out more profitable for it whether the change is based on competing market conditions, evolving needs of customers, increasing consistantency, or achieving quality with less error and waste.

Supply chain professionals must aggregate information from both machine-level and disparate enterprise systems, providing real-time visual information systems that empower everyone - from the top floor to the shop floor - with actionable information. More than any other role in manufacturing and distribution, supply chain execution requires managing constraints, improving flow, driving on-time delivery, and maintaining a competitive edge.   

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Topics: supply chain, Ultriva Sponsored News

Very simply, Forecasting doesn’t work. Ultriva helps manufacturers move away from forecasts to a demand-driven manufacturing and Supply Chain environment.   

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