Big Data? Master Managing your own Data First

As noted, Big Data and Predictive Analytics is a hot topic today. Many large companies, especially, retailers and consumer goods companies have viable programs to take advantage of the ever increasing amounts of data streaming real time and accumulating in data bases. Combining this internal, transactional, data with outsides data feeds, or streams as they are sometimes called, provides incredible, mind boggling, amounts of data the could be used to make better decisions to optimize performance. These decisions could range from optimizing product offerings and assortments to particular customer segments to ensuring that materials and service are bought at the best prices. With the ever increasing amounts and types of data streams available, the possible applications seems endless.

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Oracle Big Data at Work Seminar

Big Data Analysis or Large Data Analytics is a topic and emerging discipline that has a significant amount of buzz around it. The basic principle and goal is simple. With most businesses operating on stable ERP systems, such as Oracle, they have amassed a wealth, an incredible amount of data. Beyond basic functional reporting, the goal of Big Data Analysis is to see how this data can be used to to gain deeper insights into almost any aspect of the business to drive increases in revenues and productivity. The goal is to turn the massive amounts of data into information that can help drive the the business faster and in new directions. Note that we are not talking about a mountain of data but more like a mountain range of data.

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Small Company Supply Chain Challenges

Smaller companies face the same issues as bigger companies. This applies probably as much or more to the supply chain as any otter function. They have to process orders, ensure quality, solve problems, expedite inbounds and outbounds, and this must all be done at the least possible cost. We have written about the multi-criteria optimization problem that is the Supply Chain. The complexity and trade-offs apply to both $50 billion multi-national corporations and $5 million companies with one office, plant, and warehouse location.

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ERP Renewal - Part I

I  received a call this week from an old friend and fellow consultant.  He lives and works in Mexico.  He called to catch-up a but also to ask a specific question.  He had a client who was had installed an ERP system.  They were concerned they were not getting the full value out of this system and wondered what to do.

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The 2013 Supply Chain Challenge

We would like to wish our clients and friends a most happy, healthy, and prosperous 2013! The US and World economies continue to creep forward. No one is satisfied with the pace of recovery. The Great Recession began four years ago and no one can claim we have recovered to the pre-recession glory days of "irrational exuberance." We are, as we at CR Supply Chain have emphasized from the beginning, in a New Normal. We have been in it long enough that it is just the plain old normal now.

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