This week, I gave my students their final exam for Intro to Supply Chain. One of my colleagues, Daniel Wong, taught me to create multiple tests, so I developed three different exams. As I composed questions that covered all areas of the supply chain, I wondered just how many of […]

On this SupplyChainBrain podcast episode Jay speaks with host Bob Bowman, Managing Editor, about implementing the Cash-to-Cash Cycle. The Bottom Line: Managing Your Cash-to-Cash Cycle “The cash-to-cash cycle is a key metric for measuring the efficiency of a supply chain. But many companies seem unable to deploy it with success. […]

Keep Cars Moving, Maintain Quality, Promote Efficiency A little context to the story Two weeks ago I was wrapping up my Intro to Supply Chain course at Portland State University. The subject of the Toyota Production System (TPS) came up, so I went back to the many presentations I’d collected […]

Before you read any further, this is not your typical Jay post about working capital and saving cash. I write a lot about People, Process, Tools, and this one is all about People and the cultures we work in. It reflects on what I’ve experienced over my career, and I […]

I began mentoring small businesses again this week at Portland State University, and was pondering this question: How does a small business go about its supply chain planning? In talking with an old friend, Mr. Anne Bruggink, about this conundrum, we agreed that most have neither the human resources nor […]

Business interruptions can take many forms. Recent examples in the news have included natural disasters such as the earthquake and ensuing tsunami at Fukushima, Japan; port congestion due to a labor dispute on the U.S. West Coast; a health crisis requiring segments of a population to be quarantined, and social […]