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  • Supply chain management in Australia - Part 3

    As if data quality and stockouts weren’t enough of a day-today worry for CIOs, added pressure to serve demanding online customers and keep up with changing legislation are creating new challenges. With several retail giants lumbering online and the looming introduction of the government’s new carbon tax, CIOs need to be working with procurement, financial and other business leaders to ensure supply-chain systems are up to today’s new challenges.

    Written by David Braue • 21 Sept. 11 07:00

  • Supply chain management in Australia - Part 2

    If supply chain experts can spend so much time and effort improving efficiency and still have more work to do, how are smaller companies meant to get their supply chains right? It’s not as if they have been standing still: CIOs at FMCG organisations and other companies of all sizes have long focused on using high-end supply chain management solutions to trim fat from their company supply chains. Many embarked upon massive enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations a decade ago as they stared down the end-of-life of existing systems and the spectre of the Y2K bug. Yet while their intentions were good, the same can’t be said for the methods of resolution.

    Written by David Braue • 20 Sept. 11 06:00
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    Supply chain management in Australia - Part 1

    It all started, as these things sometimes do, with a chicken.

    Written by David Braue • 19 Sept. 11 10:59
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    5 open source ERP projects to watch

    Whatever the incarnation, Enterprise Resource Planning is at the heart of every business with the world’s largest software companies are all clamouring for a piece of the action. The big vendors may scoff at the idea of an open source ERP suite, but given the success rate of traditional ERP projects, CIOs could do worse than take a look at free options. In this edition of 5 open source things to watch, we take a look at ERP suites where the barrier to entry – for testing, at least – is on the small side.

    Written by Rodney Gedda • 06 Dec. 10 12:27

  • RFID tags arrive on store floor as retailers go after ROI

    For the retailing industry, the adoption of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology this decade has been one long, strange journey: Periods of irrational exuberance followed by times of great frustration and confusion; expensive pilot projects riddled with technical, standards-based and cost complexities; and a widespread belief among those retailers or CPG manufacturers that were forced into the RFID universe that it is a technology solution in search of a problem.

    Written by Thomas Wailgum • 29 July 10 05:11

  • An IT department's crucial role in a new product launch

    In late 2008, Monsanto licensed a seed coating that helps corn, soybean and other seeds fight insects and disease during the tricky germination stage. By early 2009, company scientists had finished work on that cocktail of fungicides and insecticides, dubbed Acceleron, and the company wanted to get the coating to market in time for the 2010 planting season. "We were going after that opportunity very aggressively. If we don't hit season, that opportunity is another 12 months away," says CIO Shirley Cunningham.

    Written by Kim S. Nash • 22 July 10 07:01

  • 5 things CIOs should consider before purchasing a retail system

    Anyone in the retail industry will tell you that times are tough. Margins are tight and competition is fierce. Low consumer confidence, the absence of economic stimulus, and consecutive rises in interest rates did not help Christmas sales figures, resulting in shoppers spending less than the year before. In 2010, the main thing CIOs need to ensure is that their IT systems don’t impede their ability to handle the difficult economic environment. The systems must work reliably, must be cost effective, and must support the business in its efforts to move ahead. The essential importance of these factors are often overlooked.

    Written by Andrew Gorecki • 08 April 10 10:05

  • Supply Chain Data: Real-Time Speed Is Seductive, Dangerous

    Let's call it the Wall Street Effect: Many companies now face tremendous pressure to ensure that all corporate data is "up to the second," just like those traders on The Street who bask in sub-second financial data and those consumer "day traders" who now demand equal speed.

    Written by Thomas Wailgum • 22 March 10 07:47

  • Supply Chains Are Bigger Today, But Are They Better?

    As a core competency for businesses, "supply chain automation" seems like a management directive from the bygone eras of "knowledge management" and "reengineering." It harkens to the days of sending and receiving handwritten orders via fax, to lacking a thorough understanding of the true identities of the suppliers that exist in companies' downstream chains.

    Written by Thomas Wailgum • 19 Jan. 10 09:15

  • How to tell when you should dump a CRM system

    I've written endlessly in this column that your CRM data is far more valuable (and expensive to maintain) than the system in which it runs. The Hippocratic Oath for all CRM decision makers must be "above all, do no harm to the data." Even so, CRM systems must be maintained, extended, and integrated to meet competitive realities and business needs that evolve over time. And with each improvement to the CRM system comes implementation cost, changes in maintenance/operational costs, and risks to the data, so you have to consider the alternative of CRM system replacement.

    Written by David Taber • 01 Sept. 09 02:32

  • Could the recession be good for enterprise software?

    The recession has companies worldwide scrambling to rein in technology costs with desperate vendors responding in turn, offering deep license discounts, providing low-cost financing and proclaiming ever more shrilly that their products in fact save customers money.

    Written by Chris Kanaracus • 20 Feb. 09 09:12

  • Starbucks' Next-Generation CIO: Young, Fast and In Control

    Sharp-eyed and highly caffeinated regulars might have noticed the brand-new employee at the Mercer Island Drive Thru Starbucks in November. The newbie, wearing the standard-issue green apron, was receiving a crash course in just about every function at the 1,800-square-foot store. He took a turn as a barista, manned the drive-thru, handed out samples to customers, took out the trash, and assisted a patron who was trying to connect to the Wi-Fi network. He tinkered with the store's point-of-sale (POS) system. He even did some scheduling.

    Written by Thomas Wailgum • 08 Jan. 09 08:27

  • Big Supply Chain Troubles in China

    A worldwide economic recession, volatile energy prices and mistrust of Chinese products are conspiring to end China's reign as the low-cost supplier to the world.

    Written by Thomas Wailgum • 15 Dec. 08 11:37

  • Wal-Mart Aims To Go Green With Global Supply Chain Makeover

    Wal-Mart has demanded that its Chinese suppliers adhere to green, environmentally friendly and product safety standards. But experts say that ensuring compliance in the complicated, vast network of Asian suppliers will be nearly impossible.

    Written by Thomas Wailgum • 28 Oct. 08 14:18

  • CIOs to Map the Supply Chain of the Future

    Data loads will shape the truck loads of the tomorrow.

    Written by Mark Chillingworth • 20 Oct. 08 11:44

  • A view into Starbucks enterprise security

    When he describes the security function's goals at Starbucks Coffee, Francis D'Addario shares a 13-syllable mantra: Protect people. Secure assets. Enable mission.

    Written by Michael Golderg • 26 April 07 13:43

  • What You Should Do About Tainted Goods from China and Other Global Supply Chain Risks

    The US government warnings about tainted imports from China are ominous and ongoing. In July 2007 poisonous chemicals were found in toothpaste. This was just a month after imports of farm-raised Chinese seafood and lead paint in Thomas the Tank Engine toy trains were detained. And May had seen contaminated pet foods sicken and kill thousand of US cats and dogs. Now its humans, when earlier this month every parents' nightmare became a reality: Melamine contaminated infant formula poisoned more than 50,000 Chinese infants and resulted in at least four deaths.

    Written by Katherine Walsh • 25 Sept. 08 09:50

  • Is Supply Chain Leadership Your Next Move?

    CIOs can make compelling candidates for chief supply chain officer. Four CIOs explain how they made the move

    Written by Martha Heller • 11 June 08 13:00

  • Total Recall

    At lunchtime one day last January, Jill Hein, an Iowa mother of eight, took a jar of Peter Pan peanut butter out of her pantry. She opened the lid. Everything seemed fine. No funny odour. No odd colour

    Written by Kim S. Nash • 04 Feb. 08 12:58

  • Kimberly-Clark's Secrets to RFID Success

    As one of Wal-Mart's top suppliers, Kimberly-Clark got onboard the RFID revolution early and has been one of the technology's most ardent supporters. Mark Jamison, vice president of customer supply chain management, talked with CIO about the company's overall supply chain strategy, how RFID fits into the mix and how to make RFID work for the business

    Written by Thomas Wailgum • 29 Oct. 07 13:24
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