Archive for December, 2009
B2B E-Commerce in 2010 – Poised for Growth, Challenged for Resources
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
A few months ago we asked AMR Research to conduct a survey with IT and Line of Business Executives at 120 manufacturing companies in North America. One of the questions we asked the survey audience was to comment about how their B2B programs had been impacted by the macro-economic recession. Not surprisingly, most of the companies had experienced budget cuts (70%) and many had been forced to reduce IT staff (40%). Even those companies which had not cut budget or staff acknowledged that they had reprioritized B2B projects (64%) or put them on hold for a future date (61%). As...
B2B E-Commerce – A Look Back at the Past 10 Years
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
Each of the past few years, GXS has published a list of predictions for the coming year. But with less than 20 days remaining until the start of a new decade I thought that we should take a different approach this year. I asked a group of eight GXS Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to write their perspective on how B2B e-Commerce technologies have evolved over the past 10 years. The topics covered include standards such as EDI, XML, AS2 and RFID; vendor models such as VANs, SWIFT and e-Marketplaces and process re-engineering efforts such as data sync, CPFR and e-invoicing....
What Google Could Do for the Supply Chain
Monday, December 14th, 2009
Last week I finally was able to get my 1 year old daughter vaccinated against the H1N1 flu virus. There have been widespread availability issues with the vaccine throughout the US. When a batch of supply is delivered there is a mad frenzy of parents who line up outside the medical facility as if they were waiting to buy concert tickets. I recall showing up to the pediatrician’s office at 7AM on Halloween Saturday this year only to discover that I was the tenth person in line. Although, I did get my daughter vaccinated that day I found out that...
Why Amazon.com has the Best Demand Forecasting Data
Friday, December 11th, 2009
In my last post I discussed one of the key disadvantages of demand forecasting techniques used in today’s supply chain. The demand signals being analyzed by many companies are Point-Of-Sale transactions from yesterday’s or last week’s consumer purchases. Using POS data is an improvement of their demand forecasting techniques of the 1980s and 1990s which were relatively uncorrelated with consumer activity. However, POS-based analysis has a fundamental flaw, in that, it is historical in nature. To truly master demand forecasting, companies need to gather demand signals about future consumer behaviors. In my last post, I discussed how pre-order models developed...
Beyond POS – Looking Forward, Not Backwards for Demand Forecasting
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
In my last post, the Most Important Day of the Year for B2B e-Commerce, I discussed how the first full week of December is the time that publishers of movies, music and video games typically reserve for the launches of their best new titles. And suppliers of these products are critically dependent upon obtaining Point-Of-Sale (POS) data to assess sales performance, update demand forecasts and determine replenishment quantities to prevent out-of-stocks. Movies, music and video games are some of the most popular categories of items purchased online, both in digital and physical format. Pre-Orders – How to Get Customers to...
The Most Important Day of the Year for B2B e-Commerce
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
Yesterday, December 8th was the most important day of the year for B2B e-Commerce. I say this, not because of the “game changing” GXS-Inovis merger, but because of the concentration of pre-holiday product launches that occurred. The Tuesday in the first full week of December is the time that publishers of movies, music and video games typically reserve for the launches of their best new titles. Of course, the fact that there are 2 ½ weeks left before Christmas means that every day in early December is important for all types of retailers and product suppliers. Take a look at...
Dr. Hau Lee’s Triple-A Supply Chain
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
One of the best strategy concepts that I have encountered in recent years is Dr. Hau Lee of Stanford University’s Triple-A Supply Chain. Dr. Lee originally published his research findings in a Harvard Business Review article back in October 2004. Even though the concept is five years old, I consider it to be extremely relevant in today’s environment. Dr. Lee contends that many companies become overly focused on cost savings and efficiency in their supply chain planning. But efficiency is not the key to success in today’s turbulent markets. More important than efficiency are the concepts of Agility, Adaptability and...