Comments for DaveTurbide.com http://daveturbide.com Marketing & Consulting Services Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:53:05 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 Comment on Case Studies by DaveTurbide.com » Blog Archive » Leverage Your Customers’ Success http://daveturbide.com/marketing-services/case-studies/comment-page-1/#comment-363 DaveTurbide.com » Blog Archive » Leverage Your Customers’ Success Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:53:05 +0000 http://daveturbide.com/?page_id=15#comment-363 [...] still be in business if you didn’t) so why not tell the world? Customer success stories (case studies) give you the opportunity to showcase customer success, proving your product’s value, [...] [...] still be in business if you didn’t) so why not tell the world? Customer success stories (case studies) give you the opportunity to showcase customer success, proving your product’s value, [...]

]]> Comment on White Papers by DaveTurbide.com » Blog Archive » White Papers for Credibility and Awareness http://daveturbide.com/marketing-services/white-papers/comment-page-1/#comment-362 DaveTurbide.com » Blog Archive » White Papers for Credibility and Awareness Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:47:56 +0000 http://daveturbide.com/?page_id=24#comment-362 [...] what is a White Paper? Originally a government-issued statement of position or policy, the term White Paper has come to [...] [...] what is a White Paper? Originally a government-issued statement of position or policy, the term White Paper has come to [...]

]]> Comment on Contact Dave Turbide by DaveTurbide.com » Blog Archive » Lean IS Green http://daveturbide.com/contact-us/comment-page-1/#comment-361 DaveTurbide.com » Blog Archive » Lean IS Green Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:19:04 +0000 http://daveturbide.com/?page_id=7#comment-361 [...] Contact Dave [...] [...] Contact Dave [...]

]]> Comment on Hits and Clicks by Ann Grackin http://daveturbide.com/hits-and-clicks/comment-page-1/#comment-359 Ann Grackin Wed, 23 Jun 2010 19:12:32 +0000 http://daveturbide.com/?p=760#comment-359 Great insite, as usual, Dave. How about delivering value instead of a 'click"? The real key to a relationship is that--relationship. Mutual rewarding insights, ideas, inspiration and seeing, maybe, some things we never saw before. Great insite, as usual, Dave. How about delivering value instead of a ‘click”? The real key to a relationship is that–relationship. Mutual rewarding insights, ideas, inspiration and seeing, maybe, some things we never saw before.

]]> Comment on Selected Past Clients by DaveTurbide.com » Blog Archive » The Other ROI http://daveturbide.com/consulting-services/past-clients/comment-page-1/#comment-357 DaveTurbide.com » Blog Archive » The Other ROI Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:46:30 +0000 http://daveturbide.com/past-clients/#comment-357 [...] is helping an equipment manufacturer, an automotive aftermarket producer, a valve manufacturer and many more to get better return from their system investments.  We can help you find out how a small [...] [...] is helping an equipment manufacturer, an automotive aftermarket producer, a valve manufacturer and many more to get better return from their system investments.  We can help you find out how a small [...]

]]> Comment on No Longer a Need to Forecast? by Bill Konopacz http://daveturbide.com/no-longer-a-need-to-forecast/comment-page-1/#comment-351 Bill Konopacz Tue, 25 May 2010 06:25:20 +0000 http://daveturbide.com/?p=697#comment-351 I agree with the above statements and the fact that forecasts are definitely needed. What was not stated was that forecasts are not a static tool. As demand changes for a variety of reasons (customer demand, new products introduction, political, environmental, etc.) forecasts have to be revised. Suppliers have to be made aware and have to be able to react. Preceding this action is supplier selection. Ones that actually partner with your company and you with them. Ones committed to reducing setup time and running smaller lots, reducing obsolescence at the component level. Agreements between the purchasing body and the supplier have to be negotiated up front as to how far into the future the supplier can build off the given forecast. The timeframe will vary from SKU to SKU depending on volume, risk and potentially seasonality. All parties concerned realize that meeting the end customer demand can increase market share for the purchasing body and increased profits for all. I agree with the above statements and the fact that forecasts are definitely needed. What was not stated was that forecasts are not a static tool. As demand changes for a variety of reasons (customer demand, new products introduction, political, environmental, etc.) forecasts have to be revised. Suppliers have to be made aware and have to be able to react.
Preceding this action is supplier selection. Ones that actually partner with your company and you with them. Ones committed to reducing setup time and running smaller lots, reducing obsolescence at the component level. Agreements between the purchasing body and the supplier have to be negotiated up front as to how far into the future the supplier can build off the given forecast. The timeframe will vary from SKU to SKU depending on volume, risk and potentially seasonality.
All parties concerned realize that meeting the end customer demand can increase market share for the purchasing body and increased profits for all.

]]> Comment on No Longer a Need to Forecast? by Gary Gossard http://daveturbide.com/no-longer-a-need-to-forecast/comment-page-1/#comment-347 Gary Gossard Fri, 14 May 2010 02:11:05 +0000 http://daveturbide.com/?p=697#comment-347 I agree that with the emphasis on pull systems, cycle time reductions, vendor managed inventories, lot size of one, and lean initiatives that forecasts were deemed less important and fell in to disuse or less use by many companies. Many of them later realized that forecasts and planning are needed regardless of the manufacturing environment. The replenishment triggers may have changed but forecasting and materials planning are still needed to balance our resources and provide information to suppliers. In my view, last few years have seen a renewed use of forecasts and the development of better forecasts. I believe this is due to primarily to the adoption of formal S&OP. Other factors include schedule-sharing with suppliers, the longer-lead-times associated with global sourcing, and cross-functional-teams participating in the process. The bigger problem as I see it is not the quality of the forecast, it is what we do or don’t do with the forecast. Many companies use the forecast along with firm customer orders to drive MRP and their Master Production Schedule. Others may us the forecast directly to order raw materials or purchased parts. Most companies, however, do not use current forecast data to determine ABC inventory classes, order quantities, lot sizes, or safety stock levels. These key replenishment rules are most often set or revised based on past usage, if they are revised at all. Those companies that do revise replenishment triggers and order quantities tend to do it based on past usage data rather than future requirements. I suggest that these companies are missing a great opportunity to manage their inventories based on what they will need, rather than what they did need. To my mind, being “demand driven” doesn’t mean lot size of one. Rather, it means making better use of our forecasts and taking a forward-looking approach to managing our inventories and working capital. There are tools available that can help. I agree that with the emphasis on pull systems, cycle time reductions, vendor managed inventories, lot size of one, and lean initiatives that forecasts were deemed less important and fell in to disuse or less use by many companies. Many of them later realized that forecasts and planning are needed regardless of the manufacturing environment. The replenishment triggers may have changed but forecasting and materials planning are still needed to balance our resources and provide information to suppliers.

In my view, last few years have seen a renewed use of forecasts and the development of better forecasts. I believe this is due to primarily to the adoption of formal S&OP. Other factors include schedule-sharing with suppliers, the longer-lead-times associated with global sourcing, and cross-functional-teams participating in the process.

The bigger problem as I see it is not the quality of the forecast, it is what we do or don’t do with the forecast. Many companies use the forecast along with firm customer orders to drive MRP and their Master Production Schedule. Others may us the forecast directly to order raw materials or purchased parts.

Most companies, however, do not use current forecast data to determine ABC inventory classes, order quantities, lot sizes, or safety stock levels. These key replenishment rules are most often set or revised based on past usage, if they are revised at all. Those companies that do revise replenishment triggers and order quantities tend to do it based on past usage data rather than future requirements.

I suggest that these companies are missing a great opportunity to manage their inventories based on what they will need, rather than what they did need.

To my mind, being “demand driven” doesn’t mean lot size of one. Rather, it means making better use of our forecasts and taking a forward-looking approach to managing our inventories and working capital. There are tools available that can help.

]]> Comment on No Longer a Need to Forecast? by Ann Grackin http://daveturbide.com/no-longer-a-need-to-forecast/comment-page-1/#comment-345 Ann Grackin Wed, 12 May 2010 11:22:29 +0000 http://daveturbide.com/?p=697#comment-345 Actually, we are seeing a positive trend in Demand Management. Not only the technology has gotten substantially better, but senior exec’s do know the value and we sometimes even see it in their 10k’s and other communications to shareholders how demand management techniques contributed to better performance. New customer relationship/segmentation models; new relationships between trading partners all managed through demand management activities. In particular, all this rationalization of supply chains due to globalizations and the economic downturn has been done in a ‘smart way’ by using the Demand/Supply Chain systems companies have. Our research on 2010 priorities shows Demand Planning the number one priority for this year. We just got done doing a series of research on this and have been publish extensively on Demand in the Second Decade: http://www.chainlinkresearch.com/research/index.cfm?topic=10 and other reports. You will also note that sales of software is not too bad, considering this market. I think the real challenge here is the knowledge and skills to run a better forecast process, something too many people know not enough about. Actually, we are seeing a positive trend in Demand Management.
Not only the technology has gotten substantially better, but senior exec’s do know the value and we sometimes even see it in their 10k’s and other communications to shareholders how demand management techniques contributed to better performance.
New customer relationship/segmentation models; new relationships between trading partners all managed through demand management activities.
In particular, all this rationalization of supply chains due to globalizations and the economic downturn has been done in a ‘smart way’ by using the Demand/Supply Chain systems companies have.
Our research on 2010 priorities shows Demand Planning the number one priority for this year.
We just got done doing a series of research on this and have been publish extensively on Demand in the Second Decade: http://www.chainlinkresearch.com/research/index.cfm?topic=10 and other reports.
You will also note that sales of software is not too bad, considering this market.
I think the real challenge here is the knowledge and skills to run a better forecast process, something too many people know not enough about.

]]> Comment on No Longer a Need to Forecast? by R. Michael Donovan http://daveturbide.com/no-longer-a-need-to-forecast/comment-page-1/#comment-344 R. Michael Donovan Tue, 11 May 2010 19:22:47 +0000 http://daveturbide.com/?p=697#comment-344 Hi Dave, Forecasting and inventory deployment in the supply chain does not get much attention from senior management if they are unaware of cascading negative consequences a poor process has on overall business performance. Many in senior management tend to let the forecasting and inventory deployment process be performed by lower levels without any monitoring nevermind intervention. Many times over the years, I have told clients that if the time to acquire raw material and to manufacture the product is a cumulative leadtime greater than the customer is willing to wait you have to forecast. The most concerning aspect is that one or more people in the organization are forecasting now and it's likely to be the wrong person(s), without the right tools and forecasting the wrong way. The result can be lost sales and margin along with increased costs buried in overhead accounts and excessive amounts of compensating inventory. R. Michael Donovan Hi Dave,

Forecasting and inventory deployment in the supply chain does not get much attention from senior management if they are unaware of cascading negative consequences a poor process has on overall business performance. Many in senior management tend to let the forecasting and inventory deployment process be performed by lower levels without any monitoring nevermind intervention.

Many times over the years, I have told clients that if the time to acquire raw material and to manufacture the product is a cumulative leadtime greater than the customer is willing to wait you have to forecast. The most concerning aspect is that one or more people in the organization are forecasting now and it’s likely to be the wrong person(s), without the right tools and forecasting the wrong way. The result can be lost sales and margin along with increased costs buried in overhead accounts and excessive amounts of compensating inventory.

R. Michael Donovan

]]> Comment on Top Line Bottom Line by Brian Hodgson http://daveturbide.com/top-line-bottom-line/comment-page-1/#comment-342 Brian Hodgson Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:26:06 +0000 http://daveturbide.com/?p=687#comment-342 No question cost savings are easier to identify, quantify and believe. However, the advantages of focusing on growth side are many: cost savings only gets you so far; the executives in charge of growth typically have more experience selling (externally and internally). People's emotionally want to help the growth (everyone is in sales). No question cost savings are easier to identify, quantify and believe. However, the advantages of focusing on growth side are many: cost savings only gets you so far; the executives in charge of growth typically have more experience selling (externally and internally). People’s emotionally want to help the growth (everyone is in sales).

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