September 2023 – Sime Curkovic Ph.D.

FREE resources for Info on Suppliers, Customers, & Prospects…

FREE resources for Info on Suppliers, Customers, & Prospects. A WMU MBA Alum from our Taiwan Program & working in B2B industrial sales, offered the following list of free websites as a resource for research on competitors, customer supply chains, & prospect contact info. Many of these links may already be in your resource list, but if not, they can be helpful:https://lnkd.in/gV786uxYhttps://www.datanyze.com/https://lnkd.in/gqEUT3BBhttps://lnkd.in/gV2KB5dahttps://www.apollo.io/https://lnkd.in/gqR4ZPst Students, you can use this stuff for class....

Free: Endless links to supply chain salary data $$$…

Nice SCM salary report summary: https://lnkd.in/dTneTGgw. “Supply chain pros are making an avg of nearly $30K more/yr than the avg American, & are generally happy in their careers (ASCM)...The report found that the avg median supply chain salary is $98,570 (including base & additional compensation), up more than 3% from the previous year’s survey. The average median pay in the U.S. in Q4 of 2022 was equivalent to $56,420 annually, according...

What is MRO? It is a type of indirect cost.

When a MFG company sells something for $1, $.50-$.80 of that might be in Direct Material costs. So, if a company wants to cut costs to increase pre-tax profit, it will look to where most of its costs come from (i.e., DM). In other words, it will go to its supply chain since most of its Direct Material costs come from buying stuff from suppliers. Also remember, if you cut costs by $1,...

One of the most reprinted articles in the history of the Harvard Business Review (HBR). The “Core Competence” Article…

Subject: Read: One of the most reprinted articles in the history of the Harvard Business Review (HBR).Students (per my class lecture): The "Core Competence" Article. This article is older, but it is one of the most reprinted articles in the history of the Harvard Business Review (HBR). It keeps getting reprinted because it is a classic and its premise is still very relevant. HBR is a journal with articles written for...

Please Watch Out for Power BI or Tableau. Do not be a victim of technology.

Please Watch Out for Power BI or Tableau. Do not be a victim of technology. Students: More and more employers are asking students during job interviews if they know how to use Power BI or Tableau. For example, Eaton Corp in Galesburg, MI uses Power BI to visualize data and Kellogg's is called Tableau world because they use Tableau so much. It becomes easier for managers to solve problems and...

ESI = early supplier involvement & CE = concurrent engineering (everyone does this for their “core” material needs)

ESI = early supplier involvement & CE = concurrent engineering (everyone does this for their "core" material needs)ESI = early supplier involvement and CE = concurrent engineering, and they mean the same thing. Before companies go into production with new products, they have to design those products, it is called the new product development process (NPD). Companies expect suppliers to do a lot of the design work for the parts...

These stats came out from ISM Supply Chain Weekly (you get this if you join ISMWorld.org – $35 for students)

Subject: Read: These stats came out from ISM Supply Chain Weekly (you get this if you join ISMWorld.org - $35 for students)Students:Companies within the same industry (and even across different industries such as aerospace, steel, chemical, etc.) are dependent on each other. The flows are more intertwined ("Integrated" supply (no chain) management) than ever before. In a recent study, 90 percent of manufacturing companies report having some level of outsourcing (no...

Sample supply chain trivia questions…

MOST FIRMS WILL CONTINUE TO REDUCE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF SUPPLIERS THEY MAINTAIN, AND THE REDUCTION WILL CONTINUE TO BE AS DRAMATIC AS THEY HAVE BEEN IN THE LAST 8 TO 10 YEARS. TRUE OR FALSE. False. Yes, the companies that recruit from WMU HCOB have long been on an aggressive outsourcing strategy. Over the last 30 years, they keep outsourcing more and more of their material needs to a fewer and...

One of our WMU SCM alumni put the video above together on supply chain risk management for you.

Subject: Read: One of our WMU SCM alumni put the video above together on supply chain risk management for you. Students: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjziSDoeOcU One of our WMU SCM alumni put the video above together on supply chain risk management for you. It has become a huge area within SCM since covid, especially at the automotive OEMs in Metro Detroit. Feel free to reach out to Lisa and say thank you for doing...

Apple’s Core Competency is SCM? I thought it was technology/innovation?

Subject: Read: Apple's Core Competency is SCM? I thought it was technology/innovation?Students: Apple's Core Competency is SCM?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMLbnsKGRfo Notice how Apple went from $300B in cash to $200B and now to $165B. Where did it go? It appears that this company that outsources almost everything is taking ownership of very selective parts of its supply chain. It will now start doing most of its own design work (i.e., chips, screens, etc.) & it...