Being based in Cupertino, California, it is not uncommon to run into people who speak two, sometimes three different languages. My children are well-versed in explaining American idioms to classmates who might take “barking up a wrong tree” literally. Silicon Valley is its own little global microcosm.

Every business application needs to manage different roles. Each role has a defined set of actions to be performed to make the application successful within an organization.   Take a simple example of a procurement organization – it includes several roles like – planner, buyer, supplier, material handler, receiving dock person, purchasing manager, supply chain manager, inspector, and materials manager. Each of these human resources has defined roles and responsibilities. That is what role-based architecture brings to the business application.   

Albert Einstein said intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them. Built-in engineering rules allow customers to define rules on any event or action that occurs in the supply chain. 

Inventory health can be deeply impacted as day-to-day manufacturing operations involve thousands of transactions being processed. When system updates from enterprise resource planning (ERP) system do not happen on a real time basis the results often lead to inventory discrepancies. Even daily reconciliation of all transactions may allow for merely adequate results. 

Ultriva is pleased to announce an update to the company’s supply chain execution software. Ultriva is now offering version 7.7, which includes many enhancements and some new features. I am happy to report that most of the new features were driven by our customer requests.  Ultriva has its roots in promoting lean manufacturing, and is a pioneer of End-to-End Pull (E2E) throughout a supply chain.  This new release adds features and enhancements that keep improving manufacturing productivity and profitability.  

ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems provide built-in work flows to control different tasks within an organization. For years that was sufficient as many manufacturers operated a single plant within four walls with a finite number of suppliers. Confined to the factory floor is a constraint that renders many technology solutions impotent in a global supply chain.

Recently there has been a wave of newcomers to technology solutions providers claiming to know and understand demand driven supply chain solutions.  Some are renamed companies, as if putting a fresh coat of paint on the old technology addressed real issues.  Many of these new (or newly disguised) solutions have significant limitations, functioning predominantly within the four walls of a manufacturing plant or with scheduling as the primary foundation of their technology.

Chad Smith is the co-author of the third edition of Orlicky’s Material Requirements Planning 3/E (Ptak and Smith, McGraw-Hill, 2011) and the co-author of Demand Driven Performance – Using Smart Metrics (Smith and Smith, McGraw-Hill, 2013). He is a co-founder and Partner at the Demand Driven Institute, an organization dedicated to proliferating demand driven methods globally.  Smith serves as the Program Director of the International Supply Chain Education Alliance’s Certified Demand Driven Planner (CDDP) Program.  Clients, past and present, include Unilever, LeTourneau Technologies, Boeing, Intel, Erickson Air-Crane, Siemens, IBM, The Charles Machine Works (Ditch Witch) and Oregon Freeze Dry.  Chad is also a certified expert in all disciplines of the Theory of Constraints studying directly under the tutelage of the late Dr. Eli Goldratt. 

Supply Chain Brief, an aggregate website for supply chain content officially launched today, Thursday, August 14. The website is a combined effort with The Logistics and Supply Chain Management Society and The Logistics of Logistics blog. The creators have started a supply chain community to encourage sharing of best practices as well as provide a forum for thought leadership.

Last Tuesday, August 5, 2014 Chad Smith, a Supply Chain expert and co-founder of the Demand Driven Institute presented a webinar about consumption-based replenishment.

Smith argued that forecast error is on the rise and that supply chain complexity and volatility are increasing; he also noted that legacy planning tactics and tools are breaking down.  Co-hosted with Narayan Laksham, founder of Ultriva, Smith noted during the webinar, “Worldwide there are more complex planning and supply scenarios than ever – the past is NOT a predictor for the future.”