Posts by Terry

I was speaking in Fabulous Las Vegas at a SAP/Supply Chain conference this year and now I find myself out of a job. WTF? Sure, there are a host of reasons why my position was abolished – big cutbacks across the board, a new Department in India and a new boss – I don’t know for sure.  After all expenses paid speaking gigs at SAP and Supply Chain conferences in Orlando and Las Vegas the last two years, I now have a taste to do something...

Here are a few sobering statistics on how IT automation has eliminated non value adding tasks – from Quartz magazine. Between 2000 and 2010, the jobs of 1.1 million secretaries were eliminated In the same period, the number of telephone operators dropped by 64%, travel agents by 46% and bookkeepers by 26%. “Two-thirds of the 7.6 million middle-class jobs that vanished in Europe were the victims of technology”. Let’s talk about...

In your position as Supply Chain leader, the quality of the relationship among your team members is perhaps one of your biggest areas of focus. A unified, communicative team produces the best results, but it’s not always easy to develop. People simply have different beliefs, backgrounds and social skills, all of which can prove challenging in your quest for an effective work flow. Try these effective strategies to bolster good...

I once mapped out multiple severe bottlenecks and mind-boggling money wasting processes throughout the entire procurement organization in a pharmaceutical company.  The Procurement manager became so upset over our discoveries, he shut done the whole project out of embarrassment and fright of losing his job. That is just one example. The issue at heart is that you don’t need fancy consultants or individuals that believe they have all...

Without a doubt Kaizen. Kaizen When I was at Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Canada more than 14 years ago, our VP of Operations brought in Japanese Kaizen experts that had worked at Toyota in Japan. With the multiple and continuous improvements that this method brought, we gained enormous efficiencies in the supply chain and in some cases reduced engine lead times from 24 to 4 months. That VP, Louis Chenevert went on to become Chairman...