Information and training for the top supply chain companies.  See how Amazon, Toyota, Apple, Tesla and Walmart do supply chain.  Find supply chain training information starting with the basics and drilling down to the latest trends.  Discover great resources on continuous improvement including lean manufacturing, kaizen, six sigma and more.

What is your definition of supply chain?  There are numerous definitions out there and below is just one example of a way people describe supply chain.

“Supply Chain – the supply chain starts from the origin of the raw material and ends once the product has been discarded or recycled.”  ~SupplyChainToday.com

Supply Chain Training by Key Function

The first thing to do is to start with the basics.  If you don’t already have it, get a good foundation of supply chain knowledge.  This following link is a good place to start. Need Supply Chain Training? Try these resources.  If you are relatively new to supply chain definitely watch the first video that pops up.  It gives a good basic understanding of supply chain management.  If you want to dive into the different parts of supply chain there is plenty of information to research below.

End to End Supply Chain Process

Explore SCM Processes. What is…

“The supply chain stuff is really trick.” ~Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla.

Resources on the Tesla Supply Chain

“All businesses need to be young forever.  If your customer base ages with you, you’re Woolworth’s.” ~Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO Amazon.  Good quote to understand why Amazon is always improving and pushing innovations at all levels of the company.

Resources on the Amazon Supply Chain

“The Toyota style is not to create results by working hard.  It is a system that says there is no limit to people’s creativity.  People don’t go to Toyota to ‘work’ they go there to ‘think’.” ~Taiichi Ohno, father of the Toyota Production System

Resources on the Toyota Supply Chain

“We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain… What we will not do – and never have done – is stand still or turn a blind eye to problems in our supply chain.  On this you have my word.” ~Tim Cook.  Tim Cook is the current CEO of Apple.  Highly encourage people to research Tim Cook and what he did to make the Apple supply chain one of the best in the world.

Resources on the Apple Supply Chain

Simple beats complex.  Steve Jobs has a great quote that goes well with what Warren Buffett is saying below.  “Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” ~Steve Jobs

“The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best but legendary.” ~Sam Walton, founder of Walmart.  Sam Walton did amazing things with the Walmart supply chain.  The goal was legendary service and much of that was done because of SCM innovations.

Resources on the Walmart Supply Chain

“Celebrate your successes. Find some humor in your failures. Don’t take yourself so seriously. Loosen up, and everybody around you will loosen up. Have fun. Show enthusiasm – always.”   ~Sam Walton.

“Strategic sourcing in the simplest terms – leveraging all resources to get the best value for the company.” ~EverythingSupplyChain.com.  The procurement organization can save a company millions of dollars.

Resources on Supplier Management and Procurement

Resources on Distribution, Fulfillment and Warehousing

Resources on Last Mile Logistics

Resources on Continuous Improvement (Kaizen, lean, Six Sigma…)

SCM Disruption and Risk

“Don’t let the digital supply chain scare you.  Big data, IoT, cloud, AI, drones and deep learning are just ways to improve the supply chain.” ~SupplyChainToday.com

Resources on Digital Supply Chain and Industry 4.0.

There will always be new buzzwords to get people hooked on the latest technology.  Consultants seem to thrive on buzzwords.  Just remember these terms are just new ways to improve the supply chain.  If you have been in supply chain for awhile you can think back and remember when B2B was a major buzzword.  Think way back when TQM was a major buzzword.  Break things down to the basics and it makes everything easier to understand.

• Artificial Intelligence Training.
• Big Data Training.
• Blockchain Training.
• Blogs about Big Data, Blockchain, IoT, Drones, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning and Augmented Reality.
• Digital SCM Basics – IoT, Big Data, Machine Learning
• Guide to Artificial Intelligence for Executives
• How I Automated a Supply Chain with Machine Learning, AWS, and Python
• Industry 4.0 Explained Simply
• Internet of Things (IoT) Training.
• SCM Technology Trends.
• What Is Industry 4.0 and How Did We Get Here?

Supply Chain Quotes with Explanations

“If supply chain had an arch enemy it would be called ‘bad communication’.” ~EverythingSupplyChain.com.  When an issue in supply chain arises the cause of it is often bad communication.  Think about the last three problems you experienced in supply chain and was bad communication the culprit?  Many people may be thinking “I communicated effectively, the person just didn’t listen.”  Well, how could communication change so the person would listen correctly?

“1. Increase Visibility 2. Reduce variability.  These two activities encompass all layers of supply chain management.” ~SupplyChainToday.com.  Increasing visibility and reducing variability are constant factors in supply chain.  This helps to improve communication across the supply chain.

“Having high performing suppliers is key to a well run supply chain.” ~EverythingSupplyChain.com.  An organization can have the best people in the world working for them but if you don’t have high performing suppliers your supply chain will suffer.  If you did have the best people working for you, wouldn’t they be sure the suppliers were high performing?

“No matter what education you have always keep learning.” ~EverythingSupplyChain.com.  This quote can be used by anyone.  You could have an 8th grade education or a phd in SCM, it doesn’t matter.  ALWAYS KEEP LEARNING.  There is always something to learn and you can learn from anyone.  Sometimes the worst boss is the best teacher because you learn what not to do.

“Supply Chain is like nature, it is all around us.” ~Dave Waters.  If you don’t think you have supply chain experience you do.  If you ever bought a house, a car, something from Craigslist etc, you have procurement experience.  There is an example below regarding SCM experience and cooking a meal.  This may help people understand why it is easy to say supply chain is all around us.

“Supply Chain Experience: Plan a meal for 10 people. Everyone must get the food they want and you can’t run out.  you have a $100 budget. Now plan and execute.” ~EverythingSupplyChain.com.  If you have ever cooked a meal for more than yourself you have some type of supply chain experience.  You went to the store and sourced your ingredients “raw material/supplies.”  You went home and cooked the meal (manufacturing).  You then served it to the guests (delivered).

“Focus on something the customer wants, and then deliver it.” ~Sam Walton, founder of Walmart.  Sam Walton knew the customer wanted low prices.  The lower the prices the better.  The Walmart Supply Chain is how Sam Walton provide the everyday low prices.

“Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): All costs associated with procurement and using the item.” ~EverythingSupplyChain.com.  An example of Total Cost of ownership would be buying an economy car that is $2,000 cheaper than its nearest competitor.  But what you soon find out is that you are constantly in the garage having it fixed.  Even if the vehicle is under warranty it is still taking up valuable time to take it in and then have to rent a car or borrow one.  Then once the warranty is up the $2,000 dollars you saved in price is eaten up by repairs.

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” ~Albert Einstein.  Break things down into simple terms.  Some people trying to make everything complex, be the person who tries to make things simple.  The Warren Buffett quote goes well with this.  Many of the quotes and terms on this page break things down into simple phrases.  From there, you can add all the complexities you wish.

“The business schools reward complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective.” ~Warren Buffett

“Train your procurement organization well.  This investment can save millions of dollars.” ~EverythingSupplyChain.com.  If your procurement organization isn’t what it needs to be what are you doing to improve it?  Not saying you need to spend millions of dollars in training, just saying you need to be sure the organization is trained.  The list of SCM terms on this page is another place to start.

“When you surround an army, leave an outlet free.  Do not press a desperate foe too hard.” ~Sun Tzu.  Always thought the Art of War was an interesting book to apply to business.  This quote applies well when dealing with suppliers.  Don’t squeeze suppliers too much.  They will either go out of business or refuse to do business with your company.

“Reduce maverick spending: maverick spending is said to be around 10%-20% higher than purchasing from companies with negotiated contracts.” ~SupplyChainToday.com.  Maverick spending can cost companies millions of dollars.  Besides a higher purchasing cost, the overall total costs increases because these are suppliers you most likely don’t do much business with.

“Great companies know supply chain is a key differentiator to separate them from the competition.”  If you look at some of the top SCM companies in on this page you will see they are also some of the top companies in the world.  Walmart has been knows for years as the top retailer because of its supply chain.  Amazon was able to come along and beat Walmart in ecommerce because of its supply chain.  T0yota has always been known for its quality even when the company first entered the American market.  People didn’t want a foreign car but the quality was too good to pass up.

Supply Chain Quotes

• “Every breakthrough business idea begins with solving a common problem. The bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity. I discovered a big one when I took apart an IBM PC. I made two interesting discoveries: The components were all manufactured by other companies, and the system that retailed for $3,000 cost about $600 in parts.”  ~ Michael Dell
• “Why not make the work easier and more interesting so that people do not have to sweat?  The Toyota style is not to create results by working hard. It is a system that says there is no limit to people’s creativity.  People don’t go to Toyota to ‘work’ they go there to ‘think’”   ~Taiichi Ohno
• “What we need to do is always lean into the future; when the world changes around you and when it changes against you – what used to be a tailwind is now a head wind – you have to lean into that and figure out what to do because complaining isn’t a strategy.” ~ Jeff Bezos
• “Help young people. Help small guys. Because small guys will be big. Young people will have the seeds you bury in their minds, and when they grow up, they will change the world.” ~ Jack Ma
• “Gentlemen, the officer who doesn’t know his communications and supply as well as his tactics is totally useless.”  ~ General George S. Patton
• “Leaders win through logistics. Vision, sure. Strategy, yes. But when you go to war, you need to have both toilet paper and bullets at the right place at the right time. In other words, you must win through superior logistics.”  ~ Tom Peters
• “For much of Toyota’s history, we have ensured the quality and reliability of our vehicles by placing a device called an andon cord on every production line – and empowering any team member to halt production if there’s an assembly problem. Only when the problem is resolved does the line begin to move again.”  ~ Akio Toyoda, CEO Toyota Motor Company
• “At Wal-Mart, it goes back to Sam Walton and the foundation and business model that we simply operate for less, or everyday low cost. We’re known for operating in a very efficient way and then giving those savings to customers.”  ~ Mike Duke, former CEO Walmart
• “All we are doing is looking at the time line, from the moment the customer gives us an order to the point when we collect the cash. And we are reducing the time line by reducing the non-value adding wastes.”  ~ Taiichi Ohno, father of the Toyota Production System
• “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” ~ Steve Jobs

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• Source: https://www.supplychaintoday.com/supply-chain/