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The Latest News and Thoughts from the RSI Team
Lessons The Pandemic Taught The Supply Chain
As a planner, you know you need to learn from the past. This is so you can improve future planning and supply chains. One of the most useful things to learn from is customer demand data from previous COVID-19 waves. Does your inventory planning system allow you to use this demand data to run what-if scenarios? If not, you may want to consider another system.
The COVID-19 demand data collected from the initial waves of the virus gives us an opportunity to learn about key drivers of demand for specific product categories in specific location. We can learn where forecasts went wrong and use this information to improve future planning for the next waves of COVID-19 (e.g. Delta Variant). Any learnings can be used in future waves of COVID-19.
What does Elon Musk think about Supply Chain?
“The supply chain stuff is really tricky.” ~Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX
A concept that might be tricky, is something called the bullwhip effect.
Bullwhips are tools that are used to make animals move. They are used to create a small sonic boom and can be dangerous to the animal or anything in the way. A bullwhip has a large handle, with a tapered lash, that varies in length. Then at the very end of the whip is a popper. The handle is moved, and the physical waves move progressively faster when the whip is flicked until they end at the popper, which provides a loud popping sound, moves incredibly fast, and is quite dangerous.
Reorder Points, Minimum Order Quantities, and Toilet Paper?
One of the challenges in supply chain is often-times we use the same terms to describe different things. “Safety Stock” to one person or company might be a “Reorder Point” to another. Other people might describe a “Minimum Quantity” when what they are really describing is a “Safety Stock”. That is why it’s critically important at Right Sized Inventory (RSI), when we first meet with clients, to clearly define terms and vocabulary.
RSI Announces Newest Team Member Ryker Frandsen, Operations Manager
Ryker Frandsen is our new Operations Manager. He has worked in the biotech, automotive, and building product industries. He has significant experience in buying, planning, master scheduling, and inventory management. Notably, he planned the chemistry for COVID-19 PCR testing on automated workstations when the COVID-19 Pandemic started while at Beckman Coulter. He won the 2020 Sales Choice Award from the sales team based on his communication and delivery performance of this crucial product. He also spent significant time as the inventory management team lead as well as planning hardware and service product lines for the Centrifugation and Particle Characterization products.
Signs Predictive Analytics Aren’t Used to Determine Buffer Inventory
Forgive us for asking this set-up question with an obvious answer – Does your current buffer-inventory calculation include all these factors? No, of course it doesn’t.
We assure you, we appreciate and never underestimate the value of experience and intuition in a supply-chain professional. We have accumulated quite a bit over the decades, and it continues to serve us well. Why are we telling you this?
Is a higher service level ALWAYS the best option for inventory optimization?
A common Key Performance Indicator (KPI) when it comes to inventory optimization is some measure of “availability” of an item when it is needed by the customer. In simple words, service availability means “What percentage of the time was an item available when a customer needed it?”
Right Sized Inventory 2020 Reflection
As 2020 draws to an end, we are reflecting on what an unprecedented year it’s been. Our hearts go out to everyone impacted by COVID-19 and wish to express our sincere thanks to all the front line workers around the world for their tireless efforts fighting this pandemic.
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Find out if Right Sized Inventory is right for your business and inventory needs. Set up a call with one of our team and we’ll walk you through a demo, identify trouble spots in your business, and see how implementing RSI can transform your business through data-driven inventory optimization.