Study shows most companies are still formulating and gaining support for a digital strategy, and fear of change is the biggest roadblock By George Fowler, Group Vice President, Spinnaker Has your company initiated a digital transformation initiative? What’s driving you, or holding you back? If you’ve not yet embarked on your digitization journey, you seem to be in good company. ToolsGroup and Spinnaker recently partnered up on a digital transformation study, and we found that

Network Optimization Next Steps So, you just finished a network project and the final presentation showcased some very large saving opportunities. The question now is how do you make them a reality? If you’re like most organizations the implementation of network design recommendations is managed by a separate team from the team involved with network optimization modeling work. At Spinnaker, because we both help clients complete supply chain network optimization studies and im

Challenges in the Supply Chain Ocean. Like the ocean, supply chains are never static. Even in the calmest seas underlying strong currents can quickly steer the most seaworthy vessels off course. Supply Chains are no different. The need to remain competitive forces many of today’s leading companies to navigate uncharted waters to stay ahead of market forces. Whether it’s the need to pilot your way through new business acquisitions, take on the cargo of significant data prolife

Does your company have a Supply Chain Design Center of Excellence (CoE) or are you planning on building one? How Supply Chain Design CoE’s are Different The practice of building a CoE is common in many business functions. In most applications, a CoE is taking an on-going business process and making it more robust by improving the design of the process, technology capabilities, organizational skills and capabilities, and methodologies. Using CoEs to drive continuous improvemen

You’ve successfully launched a best-in-class planning solution — how will you make sure it stays seaworthy? You invested millions in license and implementation costs to construct that industry-leading solution with promises to deliver a huge ROI. But those benefits require you to continue to care for it — who’s on the hook to ensure that it remains in operational order? That dedicated team of managers, analysts, developers, and SMEs who successfully deployed your solution has

You’re Making Important Choices. How Do You Consistently Account for the Important Factors? The whole point of S&OP (Sales & Operations Planning) is to keep business stakeholders on the same page as business conditions change. The process is meant to consider possibilities and risks in the marketplace, in the supply chain, and in product development, resulting in decisions each cycle that reflect consensus on the best path forward. Information is often uncertain, and moreover

Taking Planners to The Next Level: What Actually Works? Adult Learning Theory suggests that people acquire 70% of their knowledge through experience, 20% through informal training, and only 10% through traditional structured training settings. Supporting studies and data support this premise pretty clearly. This has tremendous implications for people that must learn and use specialized methods and interact with sophisticated tools such as supply chain planning systems. Is Tha

When you are trying to evaluate supply chain capability and health, make sure you look in the right places. When your supply is performance falls short of your goals and expectations, it’s an absolutely valid response to investigate “why?” Like most, you have probably made significant investments in technology, training, and other performance levers in the pursuit of supply chain agility and cost reduction. Also like many others, though, you may still see elevated levels of i