Popular history tells us that Napoleon said “an army marches on its stomach“. However, he was not the first military leader to understand that combat is only one part of a successful military campaign. Alexander the Great’s ‘greatness’ was not owing to his ability to dream up bold moves and cut a dashing figure in […]
Alexander the Great needed great supply chains Read More »
Supply chain disruptions have continued to grow significantly in recent years, even before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic struck and caused a major impact on the availability of components, goods and services as well as logistics, shipping and sourcing. Research by the Institute for Supply Management shows that (1) common disruptors have direct business impact across
The sources of future supply chain restlessness Read More »
By Gordon Reid with input from Mieka Cleghorn, SA Managing Director, Transparent As a semi-retired business executive, and after spending the past twenty plus years working for some of South Africa’s leading companies, the COVID-19 lockdown has afforded me valuable time for some serious thinking. Many businesses will need to change the way they operate
COVID-19 pandemic: a rocky road to a new business norm Read More »
SmartProcurement has joined forces with SAPICS to offer Africa’s largest-ever online event for supply chain and procurement professionals. Africa Supply Chain in Action takes place on 19 and 20 August 2020. It is expected to bring together more than 1 000 supply chain and procurement professionals.
By Dr Marcell Vollmer, Chief Innovation Officer, Celonis Across all industries, procurement leaders are seeking significant and measurable productivity gains. New technology, based on machine learning and artificial intelligence, is driving the digital transformation of the procurement function to deliver value, driving supplier innovations, performing risk management, securing a sustainable supply chain and, of course,
Procurement empowered by cognitive and intelligent applications Read More »
By Hemant Porwal, Executive Vice President: Supply Chain and Operations, WESCO Distribution Over time, the concept of measuring savings has evolved to creating a baseline by comparing items under the form, fit and function framework. Top-quartile procurement teams have taken this further by adopting total cost of ownership (TCO) into their request for proposal (RFP)
The traditional mindset of cost savings is dead Read More »
By Ndabeni Bagosi, Head: Cost and Agility Programme, Total South Africa Leading and forward-thinking organisations rely on the agility of their supply chains for sustainability. Traditionally, the focus of supply chain has been on compliance and cost cutting. However, increasing competition, changing customer needs and a changing economic environment are challenging organisations to think beyond
Agility and sustainable sourcing are SCM’s new focus areas Read More »
By Tanya Waksman Does coronavirus (COVID-19) have any effect on the rights and/or obligations of parties in contractual relationships under South African law? Tanya Waksman, of legal advisory firm, Eversheds Sutherland, considers this question in this month’s SmartProcurement.
Is COVID-19 a force majeure event? Read More »
By Michael Healy, Supply Chain Partner The outbreak of COVID-19 has forced companies to get creative about how they connect and meet with customers and teams. Working with cloud applications allows us to workshop, design and configure systems remotely. With apps like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, working remotely can be easy and cost effective. But
16 tried-and-tested tips on running productive meetings remotely Read More »
By James B. Rice, Deputy Director, MIT Centre for Transportation and Logistics Developing a clear supply chain response to the coronavirus outbreak is extremely challenging, given the scale of the crisis and the rate at which it is evolving. The best response, of course, is to be ready before such a crisis hits, since options
Prepare and adjust your supply chain for coronavirus Read More »
