Perhaps no disaster in recent history has done more to show the need for strong business continuity and disaster recovery planning than the Japan earthquake and tsunami of 2011. This massive 9.0 Richter scale earthquake, which occurred off the Pacific coast of Japan, caused tsunami waves that reached more than six miles inland in spots. More than one million buildings were damaged or destroyed, and nearly 20,000 people died or went missing. Tsunami damage was estimated at more than $300 billion.
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Topics:
Internal Audit,
Supply Chain,
Disaster Recovery,
Business Continuity Management
Inventory planners and managers today find themselves engaged in a delicate balancing act. On one hand, they strive at all costs to stay competitive in a marketplace that continues to demand more customized products and faster delivery services. On the other hand, they are still obliged to keep the actual cost of maintaining such complex inventory down to a minimum. Despite the dilemma, however, companies that apply best practices know firsthand how an efficient inventory management system can transform a business. Some have even reported improvements of up to 90 percent in throughput times and defect levels.
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Topics:
Supply Chain,
Vendor Management,
Accounting/Finance,
Performance Management/Measurement,
Inventory & Materials Management,
Accounts Payable & Purchasing
One of our leading practices to consider for your accounts payable process is to develop strategic business alliances with suppliers and involve them in developing better ways to process accounts payable.
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Topics:
Supply Chain,
Vendor Management,
Accounting/Finance,
Financial Reporting,
Cash & Treasury,
Performance Management/Measurement,
Accounts Payable & Purchasing
There are two main goals that companies with leading practices strive to achieve in the warehousing process: to provide value-added services such as product customization and to move those products through the warehouse into the hands of the consumers as quickly as possible. Companies that achieve these goals follow the leading practices discussed below.
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Topics:
Supply Chain,
Change Management,
Performance Management/Measurement,
Inventory & Materials Management,
Sales Process & Marketing
Total quality management requires commitment and persistence. Quality will always have a cost, but many companies are demonstrating that investments in quality always provide returns. Cost-of-quality reporting essentially views costs of quality as "good" costs and "poor" costs. The "good" costs are those incurred by the company in delivering customer satisfaction. The "poor" costs arise from:
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Topics:
Supply Chain,
Vendor Management,
Performance Management/Measurement,
Inventory & Materials Management
Outsourcing has become a keystone of major business operations to the point that it’s almost a given that large companies will move certain expensive business processes and labor-intensive activities to a third-party. Is this always the best option?
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Topics:
Internal Audit,
Supply Chain,
Vendor Management,
Performance Management/Measurement,
Outsourcing/Co-sourcing/Shared Services,
Accounts Payable & Purchasing
