System dynamics
In view of the current global chaos in supply chains, what knobs are still left for companies to ‘twiddle’ right now? In the United Kingdom, there are reports of empty retail shelves and long queues …
Blogs
Green inertia
With numerous wildfires raging around the world while other areas are hit by extreme flooding, few people can now doubt that sustainability is a top priority. A recent survey by the renowned MIT Center for …
No, AI has not killed Supply Chain Management
Almost three years ago, Harvard Business Review published a provocative article entitled ‘The Death of Supply Chain Management’. It became as viral as an article on Supply Chain Management can be, circulating widely on Twitter and LinkedIn. The …
The supply chain director in 2040
How will the supply chain director’s job profile change over the next 25 years? That’s what Omera Khan from the University of London asked me in a recent interview for a white paper. My reply: …
T-shaped towers
As far as forward-thinking companies are concerned, control towers are passé in 2021. There has been considerable confusion about the term ‘control tower’ in recent years. Does it refer to the global central procurement of …
Master and talent
Now that most employees are working from home because of COVID-19, it is more important than ever to keep an eye on their engagement and the risk of a burnout. Apparently, North American supply chain …
Wolves and ships
Are logistics matching platforms a wolf in sheep’s clothing for freight forwarders? That’s the question posed by Rob Zuidwijk, Professor of Global Supply Chains & Ports at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, in a recently published …
COVID-19 has accelerated the digitalization of value chains
For me, the year 2020 will always be a turning point in history due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 caused a seismic shift that put supply chain management in the spotlight worldwide. The …
Digital twin
A digital twin – who wouldn’t want one of their own? A virtual copy of yourself that effortlessly takes care of the tax returns and other boring administrative activities. Then you could spend more time …
Bol.com versus Amazon
In terms of their business models, Dutch web shop Bol.com and Amazon are very similar. But the strategy of Bol.com, the Netherlands’ e-commerce market leader, is fundamentally different from that of Amazon. This became clearer …
