by John Sucich | Jul 2, 2020 | Manufacturing & Supply Chain
As states and countries re-open in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the hope is that everything will get back to normal. There are certainly aspects of life that will never quite get back to what they were like before the pandemic. The supply chain could very well end up being one aspect that is forever changed.
In a recent survey by BSI, about half of the respondents said that they will be making changes to their supply chain going forward. Just what those changes might look like for these organizations and many others is hard to imagine at this point. Here are a couple of possible approaches businesses could take, and how the supply chain of the future might shape up.
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by John Sucich | May 28, 2020 | General BI, Manufacturing & Supply Chain
Whether or not they are in a part of the country that is slowly opening back up and resuming day-to-day activities, everyone is grappling with the adoption of a “new normal” post COVID-19. That applies to most industries as well.
Though supermarket shelves are better stocked and it appears the supply chain is recovering, it is possible the global supply chain will never look the same. Here are some changes that have already been put in place, as well as more changes that are on the way. (more…)
by John Sucich | May 14, 2020 | Manufacturing & Supply Chain
There are certain products that have seen an increase in demand in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Canned goods, for example, have been flying off store shelves, meaning that the companies that produce the cans for those goods have been ramping up production.
Just as important as the places producing the cans are the trucks getting them from the plants to the food companies, and then from there to the grocery stores to be sold. Here’s a look at some of the adjustments the transportation industry has had to make in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. (more…)
by John Sucich | May 7, 2020 | Manufacturing & Supply Chain
With some states lifting stay-at-home orders and allowing certain businesses to reopen, focus has shifted to the supply chain. What will be available and what will be missing because of disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic?
The meat processing industry has been one of the industries most affected by the coronavirus. In a late-April full-page ad in the New York Times, the chairman of Tyson Foods Inc. warned that the United States “food supply is breaking” due to plant closures. That same week, President Trump declared meat processing plants “critical infrastructure.” But it will take more than that government order for the industry to stay ahead of demand. (more…)
by John Sucich | Apr 23, 2020 | Manufacturing & Supply Chain
FREJA’s story might sound familiar to any number of organizations in any number of industries: for a long time, the company had a business intelligence solution in place, but it wasn’t using it to its full potential. When FREJA took steps to develop a clearer business intelligence strategy, the benefits of Dimensional Insight Platform with Measure Factory became increasingly clear to many of its employees.
FREJA is a privately-owned transportation company specializing in road transport, but offering sea and air freight as well. The company owns 2,600 trailers and handles two million shipments a year with the trailers driving 270 direct routes every day or every other day. Here’s a look at how it’s using analytics and the power of Measure Factory in its business. (more…)
by John Sucich | Apr 9, 2020 | Manufacturing & Supply Chain
In the best of times, a disruption to the supply chain can cost an organization valuable time and money. In the current climate, the repercussions are not only clear to the organization, but also to people who may have never heard the term “supply chain” before.
The sight of empty shelves where common items like toilet paper are usually stocked, or news video showing a shortage of medical supplies makes everyone aware of what is and what is not available because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some companies took steps after previous supply chain disruptions to prepare themselves for a situation like this. Others were not so prescient. Here’s a look at both sides of that coin, and how everyone can prepare themselves for the next major disruption.
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by Rachel Donais | Jan 13, 2020 | General BI, Manufacturing & Supply Chain, Wine & Spirits
Everyone has his or her unique way of analyzing data to find the right answers. This is why self-service in a business intelligence tool is so important. It’s also why drag-and-drop dashboards are so appealing. I am not stuck with what someone else decided is a good way to look at the data. I can focus on what is important to me. Still, in the end, I need to share my findings with other people in a way they like if I want to get my point across.
Dimensional Insight’s “Stamps” are pre-designed charts that can be updated with different data and filters with a few clicks. Users can build dashboards in minutes. Let’s examine a hypothetical scenario to see how you can use these Stamps to optimize your analytics experience. (more…)
by Rachel Donais | Jul 18, 2019 | Manufacturing & Supply Chain, Wine & Spirits
There’s no shortage of data and information. It’s everywhere. But how can you make data useful in order to make better decisions? That’s the hard part.
There are several key metrics that distributors should track in order to improve their businesses. Following are three of these metrics, with examples of reports that Dimensional Insight has developed for our wine and spirits distributors so that they can be easily accessed and analyzed. (more…)
by Teddy Craven | Mar 14, 2019 | General BI, Manufacturing & Supply Chain
B2B payment structures have been thrown into flux by recent developments in transaction technology. Most notably, blockchain algorithms offer a safe and efficient way of trading goods and their recent rise in popularity speaks to their viability in this space going forward.
Blockchain algorithms supplant the role of a central bank or government backing to support the virtual coins that they create. This technology has been a rapidly expanding field for major corporations, especially B2B distributors. A 2018 study found 82 of the Fortune 100 companies have begun researching or investing money into blockchain technology. Mastercard, Visa, and J.P. Morgan have launched blockchain networks to ease B2B transactions, especially cross-border payments. With the technology becoming more available, let’s dive into the benefits of blockchain technology for B2B distributors.
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by Rose Weinberger, MBA | Feb 14, 2019 | Manufacturing & Supply Chain
The typical salesperson spends 80% of his or her time out of the office. There are trade shows, customer visits, and of course, transit times to consider. I know a salesperson who spends fully 20% of his time either on a plane or waiting for a plane in an airport. And that’s why the mobile revolution has taken hold in our society. More and more workers need mobile, flexible solutions for how to get their jobs done. And, they need our support working this way.
We’ve largely done a good job of connecting on-the-go workers to each other — providing access to phone and email via mobile devices. But that’s not enough. Mobile workers also need to be connected to their data, with the ability to access the right information and the right person at the right time on the right device. Companies send salespeople out on the road and those salespeople must be able to do their job —right at the time they are selling. To better support this mobile sales force, let’s examine the basis for the resources they’ll need. (more…)
