The Quantitative Supply Chain

Inventory optimization matters for small and medium companies (SMBs). The choice ranges between investing in costly enterprise software to taking on the challenge of doing it manually in-house. For this episode of LokadTV, we explore this dilemma and try to understand what SMBs can do to get the best out of their, sometimes limited, resources.

As humans, trust is a complex emotion that can often take years to build. It's also a highly important factor in business, which can impact on everything from speed of innovation to the perceived wealth of a nation. For this episode of LokadTV, we discuss this topic with Sheri Hinish the 'Supply Chain Queen'.

Tail risks are sudden, unexpected events and they often kill companies. Brexit, the Covid-19 outbreak and Iceland's volcanic eruption are a few recent examples. Classic supply chain practices leave companies wholly unprepared for those events. This does not have to be the case.

From demand to supply, and almost everything in between, there is a huge amount of uncertainty within supply chains. Traditionally, this can be managed using buffer stock, but there are often events that occur which can trip up even the most experienced of practitioners. For this episode of LokadTV, we're joined by Stefan de Kok to discuss why this uncertainty is not necessarily a hindrance but something that should be embraced.

Compared to other industries, most fashion brands have been lagging behind in technology, resulting in overstocks and large discounts. Jan Wilmking, ex-Zalando and ex-McKinsey, sheds light on the fashion industry, and how tech investments do improve the supply chain performance.

Excellency in Supply Chain Management is a journey. Digital technologies have redefined the meaning of 'excellency'. While excellency used to be dominantly about discipline and rigor, excellency increasingly depends on the capacity to challenge the status quo and redefine what is considered as state-of-art.

Drones can be used in supply chains for deliveries but also for monitoring facilities, and providing assistance for tasks like inventorying. Interview with Emmanual de Maistre, pioneer of the drone industry.

Forecasting demand and optimizing stocks are both usually done in Excel, even in large companies. Many CIOs have tried to move away from spreadsheets to no avail.

The bionic supply chain outlines an approach where the human supply chain expertise is supplemented by machine compute power rather than being replaced by it.

Demand Sensing is yet another buzzword in supply chain that does not live up to the community's expectations.