“As the [blockchain] technology pushes the globe towards new economic models, we will only demand more from smart contracts,” Forbes, July 2018. From the American Bar Association this September: “In the future, litigation attorneys may no longer be litigating the ‘four-corners’ of the contract,…

During APQC’s recent study on sales and operations planning (S&OP), we found that certain technologies are driving more capable and efficient S&OP processes. Specific industries are adopting technology such as AI and data analytics to address planning challenges, which indicates a critical…

I recently spoke with several individuals from Esker Inc. to get advice and lessons learned from their experience with automating the sales order process. If an organization is considering implementing sales order automation, what things do they need to ensure it will be successful? Change…

I recently interviewed Andrew Bruce to learn how blockchain can cut costs, reduce complexity, and improve controls in oil and gas supply chains and across industries. Andrew Bruce is the CEO of Data Gumbo, a blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) provider offering smart contract capabilities to oil and gas…

I recently spoke with Brian Mauriello from Stiles Associates about the benefits of bringing Lean process tools from the shop floor into the front- and back-office as well as the innovation arena. In the first part of our conversation, we discussed his three recommendations for Lean. Here is…

I recently spoke with Brian Mauriello from Stiles Associates about the benefits of bringing Lean process tools from the shop floor into the front- and back-office as well as the innovation arena. Here is part one of our two-part conversation. Why do you think this is an important topic…

Here at APQC we often get requests for new research on emerging, developing, or trending topics. As we get these requests in supply chain management, we work them into our planned research. Sometimes, the problem is, that it takes months (or more) before we can take a request, conduct the research…

Last September I posted a blog: “What is Blockchain?” At that time, only 6 percent of people who took our poll on blockchain rated themselves as extremely familiar with it. Since then, the global conversation about this distributed ledger technology has evolved, and many organizations have begun…

In my last blog post, I wrote about the ripple effect of Toys R Us’ bankruptcy filing and subsequent liquidation plans, reported last month. For consumers, including many of my parent friends, the question that is top of mind is which stores have the best discounts during the closeout. For the…

As consumers of the toys and games carried at Toys R Us, many people I know are eager to take advantage of closeout sales as the largest independent toy seller in the United States prepares for liquidation. However, while it can be good news in the short-term for some consumers’ wallets and perhaps…