Operations Rules News - Aggregated operations and supply chain news site

Consumers want to know the origin of the things they buy, like the name of the farm that supplied their milk or the source of the feathers in a down jacket. But when it comes to a diamond — quite likely one of the most expensive and emotional purchases a jewelry buyer will ever make — most know next to nothing about the source of the stone. Tiffany & Company, is hoping to change that. Beginning Wednesday, it will start a program that will identify for customers the country where their diamond was mined, and, eventually, information on where it was cut, polished and set.

Kroger has remodeled two stores to test out new features to bring the ease of online shopping to brick-and-mortar grocery stores. These include “digital shelves” that can show ads and change prices on the fly along with a network of sensors that keep track of products and help speed shoppers through the aisles. Kroger could eventually roll out the cloud-based system it developed with Microsoft in all of its 2,780 supermarkets.

Two major developments in technology hardware production dynamics—adoption of advanced innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) and growing adherence to design thinking—are giving executives in the technology industry opportunities to experiment, optimize and boost agility, particularly as product design grows in importance within the production process.

Best practice at JD.com for selecting the inventory assortment to distribute at each node in their fulfillment and warehousing network. How to use product embedding through neural networks to solve this problem which involves prediction and optimization.

Told that the cozy shirting fabric could no longer be made in America, one man began a yearlong quest. “We wanted to start an American-made business and build it to scale,The consistent narrative was, ‘You can’t do that, it’s all gone overseas.’ We heard that with the fleece, with premium tees. Set the business part of it aside, The thing I continue to be so struck by in the supply chain is this latent undercurrent of, ‘Give us a shot.’ It’s worth it for that alone — to prove the ability to do it.”

A new wave of KPIs is emerging — such as time-to-recovery — to help executives benchmark their operational resiliency.

what3words splits the world into 3×3 meter squares, and provide a three-word address for each one of them, helping people navigate better and more accurately. Through the association with what3words, DB Schenker’s customers can now optimize their supply chains by specifying accurate pick-up and drop-off points using three-word addresses.

What if you could store and deliver goods as easily as data? Amazon, Walmart and others are using AI and robotics to transform everything from appliance shopping to grocery delivery. Welcome to the physical cloud.

Despite the bad publicity related to the Walmart mandate, RFID has been making inroads in the supply chain.

Campbell Soup Co. is struggling to keep things fresh. Campbell has been plagued by supply chain issues since buying Bolthouse Farms six years ago to boost its fresh foods unit and is now looking to sell off the entire fresh division. Fresh foods like carrots and refrigerated juices require supply chain capabilities that differ drastically from what Campbell built for its long-lasting canned soups and cookies businesses, and weak carrot harvests and juice recalls didn’t help Bolthouse’s sales and its relationships with retailers. Campbell’s experience highlights the critical differences in seemingly similar supply chains, where the discipline of managing processed foods doesn’t match the need for speed in fresh food.

The company is currently using analytics software to mitigate supply shortages, predict spikes in demand and bottlenecks with about 100 products related to fertility drugs. This has improved service to customer. It plans to expand the pilot program to its 5,000 products by the end of next year. Artificial intelligence is a way to augment the jobs of the company’s supply chain planners, and reduce often tedious and repetitive work.

Workshop 18 is designated by Chinese industry officials as a model demonstration facility for Beijing’s plan to upgrade its corporate champions so they can better compete in the world, a policy known as “Made in China 2025.” Engineers at the plant run by Sany Group Co. figure out how to make better products by analyzing information fed in real-time from machines operating around the world to a data center nearby. The company tracks 380,000 of its internet-connected concrete mixers, excavators and cranes, and it has collected more than 100 billion items of engineering data. Sany, one of China’s three big heavy machinery makers, said the integration of technology has increased capacity, shortened order-delivery times and slashed operational costs, all by at least 20%. The company is also betting that the technology will enable it to build a reputation for innovation and quality, rather than for lower prices for copycat products that made Sany a big player domestically.

Walmart has begun telling online shoppers that some products in its warehouses are “out of stock” after the retailer changed its e-commerce systems to avoid orders deemed too expensive to ship. The new system, introduced earlier this month, has led to a decline in sales at some companies that sell their products on walmart.com forcing suppliers to stock their products at more Walmart warehouses around the country to keep sales steady.

TradeLens is a neutral industry platform that uses blockchain technology to promote a more predictable and secure exchange of information between major industry players. That capability can break information silos, streamline business processes, and maximize asset utilization. Parties that stand to benefit from the approach include shippers, shipping lines, freight forwarders, port and terminal operators, and inland transportation and customs authorities. Those organizations can use the secure platform to exchange real-time information such as shipping data and shipping documents, including internet of things (IoT) and sensor data ranging from temperature control to container weight.

With 58% of shippers committed to their enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendors, the key players are casting an even bigger shadow on the supply chain management space.

Apple’s retail stores collect cash from customers quickly, it is ruthless on keeping inventory low, and it takes forever to pay suppliers. In the process, Apple’s operations are extremely effective cash generators. This is no coincidence. It is the result of the canny supply chain that Tim Cook built. In effect, Apple has largely been financed on the backs of its suppliers, who are willing to hold their inventory and wait more than 100 days to get paid, just for the pleasure of doing business with Apple.