by Fronetics | Jan 6, 2015 | Blog, Logistics, Strategy, Supply Chain, Talent
The start of a new year generally brings with it a host of resolutions. For individuals finding and landing a new job, or advancing in their current job are common resolutions. For companies, identifying talent, hiring, and retaining great talent are typical goals for the new year.
At Fronetics we work with clients to understand and execute on talent acquisition, performance management, learning and development, and succession management. We also work with clients to design and develop roles and responsibilities, on leadership development, mentoring and counseling, and on performance management and compensation strategies.
Throughout 2014 we have created content focused on talent. Topics have included: networking; how to identify and hire top top talent; and how to solve the supply chain talent crisis. We have identified the most popular talent blog posts of 2014, #1 receiving the most pageviews.
Here are the top talent blog posts of 2014
Kathryn Minshew, founder and CEO of The Muse and The Daily Muse, began a piece for the Harvard Business Blog Network with this sage advice: “Network Your Face Off.” The truth and value of this statement cannot be underestimated. Here are 5 reasons why networking is essential and why connections matter. Read the full blog post.
CrossFitters recognize that good outcomes only come with hard work, and lots of it. For that reason, it generally attracts people who are willing to make sacrifices and go the extra mile to get results both in the gym and at work. If you want to hire top performers who have staying power hire people who do CrossFit. Here are eight reasons why CrossFitters make great employees. Read the full blog post.
The supply chain industry has a talent crisis. The question is: how can we solve this crisis? To answer this question I turned to Rodney Apple, founder of the SCM Talent Group. Apple has worked as a supply chain recruiter for the majority of his 19+ year career within the staffing industry and he has filled more than 1,000 positions within the industry ranging from executive-level in Fortune 500 headquarters settings to leadership and staff-level roles across large networks of manufacturing and distribution facilities within North America. Apple’s role affords him the ability to witness the talent crisis from the perspective of the industry, the company, and the job seeker. Read the full blog post.
Here’s the thing – the supply chain industry is perceived by those outside the industry as having no “wow” factor whatsoever. If the supply chain industry is going to attract new and qualified talent, it needs a face lift. It is time for the supply chain industry to re- brand itself. Read the full blog post.
Wouldn’t it be nice if great talent looked like Waldo? If great talent looked like Waldo we could simply look at the pool of candidates and be able to identify them by their telltale red and white striped shirt. Unfortunately, great talent doesn’t show itself like our friend Waldo. Given this, how can the supply chain industry spot great talent? Read the full blog post.
Be honest. How does your company approach talent acquisition? Is it viewed as a cost center or is it viewed as a strategic department, crucial to the success and growth of your business? If your answer is the former, it is time to rethink your approach. Read the full blog post.
With more than 240 million active users, LinkedIn is one of the largest social media networks. LinkedIn is an incredible tool for networking and professional development. LinkedIn is also an essential component in a job search strategy. Optimizing your LinkedIn profile is crucial to your success. Read the full blog post.
If the supply chain industry is going to attract new and qualified talent, it needs a face lift. The industry needs to be proactive. It needs to communicate what it is, what is currently happening within the industry, and what is in store for the future. Who is responsible for making change possible? You. Read the full blog post.
After the ball has dropped and after the champagne has been drunk, the New Year will begin. Forty-five percent of American’s will start the New Year with at least one resolution. Whether or not you are typically a resolution-maker, the New Year is a great time to evaluate your career and set goals. Here are nine career resolutions everyone should make. Read the full blog post.
Whining. Just writing the word makes me cringe. Whining is a truly unattractive characteristic. It is unattractive in children and it is even more unattractive when adults partake. One of the reasons why whining is just so unattractive is that it is ineffective and it can make a brilliant leader look like, well, like a blithering child. Read the full blog post.
by Fronetics | Dec 16, 2014 | Blog, Supply Chain
Is your distribution center proving to be a cost center? Looking to increase profits while reducing cost? Here’s how you can transform your distribution center into a profit center.
Synchronize
Anemic communication and fractured messaging within and across departments can be very costly. Build a culture in which exceptional communication in and between departments is a central component. Establishing clearly defined expectations and promoting openness will benefit your employees and your bottom line.
Optimize space
Take advantage of your distribution center. Every single inch should be used in a strategic manner. Empty or poorly used space will quickly transform your distribution into a cost center. Inspect your distribution center with a fine-toothed comb and a healthy dose of honesty. Identify obsolete inventory and work to eliminate it. Inventory that’s not necessarily obsolete, but might not be ideal for your company, should be matched with channels that will generate revenue for these products. Ensuring the optimization of space by eliminating unused and/or outdated inventory will play a significant role in turning your distribution center into a profit center.
Embrace technology
While the cost of purchasing technology may seem insurmountable, often the cost of not adopting specific technologies is even greater. Technology can serve to increase productivity, reduce error, and improve safety. Your customers will notice and appreciate it, too.
Invest in your employees
Attract excellent employees and cultivate them. Be willing to devote time and resources to your employees. Employee turnover is expensive. The cost of replacing an employee can range from 50 to 400% of their annual salary; it will serve you well to create an environment in which your employees want to stay.
Be flexible
Flexibility isn’t just essential to growth, it’s one of the vital elements to ensuring efficient day-to-day operations of your distribution center. When your distribution center is equipped to be able to process a wide variety of goods and SKUs, your distribution is more likely to be a profit center than a distribution center, which can process only a limited number of SKUs.
Scrutinizing every aspect of your distribution processes – from the buildings to what’s in them, and from the workers to how they work – will prove to be worth the investment of time and effort as all your hard work begins to pay off, and pay out.
Let us know what strategies have worked for you.
by Fronetics | Dec 16, 2014 | Blog, Supply Chain
Is your distribution center proving to be a cost center? Looking to increase profits while reducing cost? Here’s how you can transform your distribution center into a profit center.
Synchronize
Anemic communication and fractured messaging within and across departments can be very costly. Build a culture in which exceptional communication in and between departments is a central component. Establishing clearly defined expectations and promoting openness will benefit your employees and your bottom line.
Optimize space
Take advantage of your distribution center. Every single inch should be used in a strategic manner. Empty or poorly used space will quickly transform your distribution into a cost center. Inspect your distribution center with a fine-toothed comb and a healthy dose of honesty. Identify obsolete inventory and work to eliminate it. Inventory that’s not necessarily obsolete, but might not be ideal for your company, should be matched with channels that will generate revenue for these products. Ensuring the optimization of space by eliminating unused and/or outdated inventory will play a significant role in turning your distribution center into a profit center.
Embrace technology
While the cost of purchasing technology may seem insurmountable, often the cost of not adopting specific technologies is even greater. Technology can serve to increase productivity, reduce error, and improve safety. Your customers will notice and appreciate it, too.
Invest in your employees
Attract excellent employees and cultivate them. Be willing to devote time and resources to your employees. Employee turnover is expensive. The cost of replacing an employee can range from 50 to 400% of their annual salary; it will serve you well to create an environment in which your employees want to stay.
Be flexible
Flexibility isn’t just essential to growth, it’s one of the vital elements to ensuring efficient day-to-day operations of your distribution center. When your distribution center is equipped to be able to process a wide variety of goods and SKUs, your distribution is more likely to be a profit center than a distribution center, which can process only a limited number of SKUs.
Scrutinizing every aspect of your distribution processes – from the buildings to what’s in them, and from the workers to how they work – will prove to be worth the investment of time and effort as all your hard work begins to pay off, and pay out.
Let us know what strategies have worked for you.
by Jennifer Hart Yim | Dec 11, 2014 | Blog, Supply Chain
Note: This is a guest post written by Barbara Jorgensen, managing editor, Electronics Purchasing Strategies.
Barb has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist, working for leading electronics industry publications such as Electronic Business, Electronic Buyers’ News and EDN. As a freelance writer, Barb wrote and managed an award-winning custom publication for Sager Electronics; was a leading contributor to Avnet Global Perspectives magazine; was a regular columnist for the National Electronics Distributors Association monthly newsletter and wrote for industry associations such as IPC. Barb was also a featured blogger on the B2B Website Allbusiness.com and helped launch Electronics Sourcing North America, a start-up magazine serving purchasing professionals in the Americas.
Prior to her freelance career, Barb was a senior editor at Electronic Business, the pre-eminent management magazine for the electronics industry, featuring world-class manufacturing companies such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco and Flextronics International. Before joining EB for the second time, Barb spent 6 years with Electronic Buyers’ News as managing editor, distribution, winning several awards for coverage of the distribution beat. A graduate of the University of Binghamton, Barb began her journalism career with the Gannett newspaper chain. She has worked for a number of local newspapers in the Greater Boston area and trade journal publishers Reed Business Information and UBM.
Barb can be reached at [email protected].
Why supply and demand remain unbalanced, even in the connected world
With the advent of the internet and social media, it would seem that the supply chain has more opportunity than ever to collect and disseminate information. In the electronics industry, component makers, distributors and OEMs communicate in traditional ways: EDI, Excel, the internet, extranets, MRP/ERP systems and good old-fashioned e-mail; along with cloud-based platforms, Twitter, Facebook and other social media. It’s impossible to NOT be connected.
Yet, component suppliers and contract manufacturers say that that OEMs’ ability to forecast is worse than it has ever been. OEMs still can’t predict their customers’ demand. Component suppliers—many of which have a minimum of 16-week lead times for production – often end up with too much product. Distributors pick up the slack, but as soon as inventory starts to build in the channel alarm bells go off. With so many opportunities for communication, how is this possible?
There are a couple of industry dynamics that could explain this. First, it’s been at least a decade since the electronics industry has seen any kind of significant shortage. Spot shortages cropped up following the Japan tsunami and Thailand floods of 2011, but nothing that could be termed industry-wide. Buyers have become accustomed to getting what they want when they want it. Moreover, the internet has made inventory and pricing information available to anyone with a search engine. Components appear to be available 24/7, 365 days a year. The urgency to forecast has diminished.
Then there is lean, just-in-time and build-to-order. All of these practices have effectively shortened the time between order and fulfillment. In practice, OEMs are working with an actual order – not a forecast – and the correct number of components is stored nearby. Lean has diminished the levels of inventory in the pipeline, so as long as everything is flowing as planned, there shouldn’t be any surprises.
Finally, the supply chain has figured out that it has to be more responsive and nimble regarding last-minute changes. In order to respond to JIT and BTO, inventories have to be maintained closer to manufacturing sites. Instead of single mega-hubs, suppliers and distributors have warehousing in key regions of the globe, and utilize third-party logistics when necessary. The ability to respond within 24 hours is a reality in most parts of the world.
So why are supply and demand in a state of perpetual imbalance? It’s not a dearth of data. Partners don’t necessarily trust the information they receive. Distributors routinely compare customer forecasts to historic orders to see if something is out of whack. Certain types of information are still withheld from partners: OEMs don’t share their preferred-pricing agreements with EMS. Online inventory is treated with a grain of salt: depending on how often data is refreshed, parts may or may not available at the price at which they are listed. Social media seems to be best used during disasters and for taking the pulse of market—what is trending and what is not.
Not sharing certain types of information is considered strategic by companies in the supply chain; and double-checking forecasts is a responsible business practice. However, these practices mean the supply chain may never be transparent. Information may be more available than ever, but visibility of data is an entirely different matter. Yet, even lack of information is no longer a problem in the supply chain, but full visibility remains elusive.
by Jennifer Hart Yim | Dec 11, 2014 | Blog, Supply Chain
Note: This is a guest post written by Barbara Jorgensen, managing editor, Electronics Purchasing Strategies.
Barb has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist, working for leading electronics industry publications such as Electronic Business, Electronic Buyers’ News and EDN. As a freelance writer, Barb wrote and managed an award-winning custom publication for Sager Electronics; was a leading contributor to Avnet Global Perspectives magazine; was a regular columnist for the National Electronics Distributors Association monthly newsletter and wrote for industry associations such as IPC. Barb was also a featured blogger on the B2B Website Allbusiness.com and helped launch Electronics Sourcing North America, a start-up magazine serving purchasing professionals in the Americas.
Prior to her freelance career, Barb was a senior editor at Electronic Business, the pre-eminent management magazine for the electronics industry, featuring world-class manufacturing companies such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco and Flextronics International. Before joining EB for the second time, Barb spent 6 years with Electronic Buyers’ News as managing editor, distribution, winning several awards for coverage of the distribution beat. A graduate of the University of Binghamton, Barb began her journalism career with the Gannett newspaper chain. She has worked for a number of local newspapers in the Greater Boston area and trade journal publishers Reed Business Information and UBM.
Barb can be reached at [email protected].
Why supply and demand remain unbalanced, even in the connected world
With the advent of the internet and social media, it would seem that the supply chain has more opportunity than ever to collect and disseminate information. In the electronics industry, component makers, distributors and OEMs communicate in traditional ways: EDI, Excel, the internet, extranets, MRP/ERP systems and good old-fashioned e-mail; along with cloud-based platforms, Twitter, Facebook and other social media. It’s impossible to NOT be connected.
Yet, component suppliers and contract manufacturers say that that OEMs’ ability to forecast is worse than it has ever been. OEMs still can’t predict their customers’ demand. Component suppliers—many of which have a minimum of 16-week lead times for production – often end up with too much product. Distributors pick up the slack, but as soon as inventory starts to build in the channel alarm bells go off. With so many opportunities for communication, how is this possible?
There are a couple of industry dynamics that could explain this. First, it’s been at least a decade since the electronics industry has seen any kind of significant shortage. Spot shortages cropped up following the Japan tsunami and Thailand floods of 2011, but nothing that could be termed industry-wide. Buyers have become accustomed to getting what they want when they want it. Moreover, the internet has made inventory and pricing information available to anyone with a search engine. Components appear to be available 24/7, 365 days a year. The urgency to forecast has diminished.
Then there is lean, just-in-time and build-to-order. All of these practices have effectively shortened the time between order and fulfillment. In practice, OEMs are working with an actual order – not a forecast – and the correct number of components is stored nearby. Lean has diminished the levels of inventory in the pipeline, so as long as everything is flowing as planned, there shouldn’t be any surprises.
Finally, the supply chain has figured out that it has to be more responsive and nimble regarding last-minute changes. In order to respond to JIT and BTO, inventories have to be maintained closer to manufacturing sites. Instead of single mega-hubs, suppliers and distributors have warehousing in key regions of the globe, and utilize third-party logistics when necessary. The ability to respond within 24 hours is a reality in most parts of the world.
So why are supply and demand in a state of perpetual imbalance? It’s not a dearth of data. Partners don’t necessarily trust the information they receive. Distributors routinely compare customer forecasts to historic orders to see if something is out of whack. Certain types of information are still withheld from partners: OEMs don’t share their preferred-pricing agreements with EMS. Online inventory is treated with a grain of salt: depending on how often data is refreshed, parts may or may not available at the price at which they are listed. Social media seems to be best used during disasters and for taking the pulse of market—what is trending and what is not.
Not sharing certain types of information is considered strategic by companies in the supply chain; and double-checking forecasts is a responsible business practice. However, these practices mean the supply chain may never be transparent. Information may be more available than ever, but visibility of data is an entirely different matter. Yet, even lack of information is no longer a problem in the supply chain, but full visibility remains elusive.
