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How Reverse Logistics Slows 2022 Supply Chains
Media coverage of supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic has made the “average Jane or Joe” more aware of what supply chains are than ever before. Port congestion has been an almost-nightly topic on the news. But reverse logistics, or returns, is much less talked about. I recently…
How to Transform Procurement
We’ve made it through 2021, and 2022 is already 8 percent complete. Crazy? That is, I think we may all be a bit crazy after the insane year we just finished. To keep supply chains and organizations moving while facing longer lead times, slower transit times, and demand outpacing supply, procurement…
Supply Chain AI Moves From Theory To Reality
New and emerging technologies are changing the way supply chains operate. The impact of technology is compounded by all the recent disruptions affecting supply chains, like the pandemic, supply shortages, and security threats. Among the technologies impacting supply chain is artificial intelligence…
Artificial Intelligence Leading to New Skills for Supply Chain
Many organizations believe that AI drives value through its impact on the number of employees needed for the supply chain. Of the organizations surveyed by APQC, 46 percent consider a reduction in headcount to be a top driver for deploying AI. A slightly smaller percentage, 44 percent, consider…
Lasting Sustainability Needs These 4 Components
In 2021, the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report identified climate action failure as second greatest threat to global prosperity in both likelihood and potential impact—following infectious disease. Many of the factors in the high impact and high likelihood quadrant were other…
Small Suppliers Face Pain from Changing Requirements
“This will kill small companies.” “This” refers to the increasing complexity in sales and contracting processes. Dramatic sentiment? Yes, and this statement reflects the frustration I’m hearing from small service providers dealing with large, global buyers that have adopted a “one size…
What is the Order-to-Cash Process?
Order-to-Cash (O2C) is a critical end-to-end process that, when optimized, creates a seamless value chain from customers to the business. But for many organizations, O2C has been a particularly gnarly set of processes to optimize. Its domain stretches across functions and organizational boundaries…
How Do You Benchmark Procurement?
With the ongoing disruption facing supply chains and suppliers, there has been a renewed interest from procurement professionals in figuring out how well their organization is performing and how it compares to others. Benchmarking is the competitive edge that allows organizations to adapt,…
Open Innovation Strategy Builds Resilience
Disruption may be the new normal, but how we react to it is up to us and our organizations. Over the past year and a half, as priorities and consumer needs shifted, office work moved online, and supply chains were disrupted, many organizations opened up for collaboration and innovation on a massive…
5 Biggest Benchmark Problems and How To Fix Them
As you may have heard from us a few times, benchmarking is a top tool used by leadership teams to support decision making. So, to dig into that topic, APQC surveyed over 200 professionals—across functional boundaries—to understand their benchmarking challenges. Benchmarking plays a vital…