Back in January, Manufacturing Leadership Journal posted predictions for the manufacturing industry in 2015. Among the list of trends, one item in particular stood out to us: “The rise of cloud-based supply chains.” Now, with the first half of 2015 behind us, we couldn’t agree more. Cloud-based solutions have become increasingly more attractive to manufacturers, and for good reason. With benefits like real-time status reports, fast and minimally disruptive technology updates, greater … [Read more...]

Recently, I was quoted in an Automotive News article on GM’s move to open book costing, which they call One Cost. The article prompted a number of conversations with CEOs and sales executives not only about GM and their move to open book costing but also about the use of cost models and cost breakdowns by purchasing organizations.  Here is the essence of some of those conversations. But first, let me give some background of how we got here. The development of collaborative relationships … [Read more...]

Crude oil prices are hitting record lows and are having a significant impact on resin prices. But the real question is: Have they hit rock bottom yet? The short answer is that timing and price movement will vary greatly by region and resin type and grade. Buyers of resins and plastic components need the right predictive tools and strategies to take advantage of the lower prices and expected market volatility – but of course, there’s much more to consider. Crude Oil Price … [Read more...]

It’s a question our purchasing and procurement experts are hearing more and more: How are world-class manufacturing enterprises eliminating waste and reducing costs in their supply chains? The answer can be found in one word: collaboration. Getting to the Heart of Collaboration When manufacturers can establish trust and set up high-level channels of communication with their suppliers, that’s where true collaboration begins. The ultimate goal is getting the supplier and customer to … [Read more...]

At the beginning of the month, I was fortunate enough to attend the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) briefings seminar. The CAR conference had a record 1,000 attendees. While attending world class networking in the evenings, it was great to interact with other executives in procurement, manufacturing, operations, finance and sales. If you have not attended in the past, you should consider attending next year during the first week of August in Traverse City. I walked away from the … [Read more...]

Last weekend my 13-year-old son brought a set of triplet brothers up to our cottage for a weekend. While my wife and I already know the boys, we had not interacted with them on a consistent basis in over 5 years. So the boys were put into a strange environment, asked to do things they had not done before (knee boarding/jet skiing), and were without the comforts of home (we do not have a TV in the cottage or internet). Within a day I became convinced that any one of these three boys had the … [Read more...]

Advanced Purchasing Dynamics reaches a milestone in June and July in that we have been in business for 10 years. We incorporated in late June 2004 and started operations in July. So please indulge me while I spend some time reflecting on why APD was started, what we have achieved and where we plan on going. Quite simply APD was started because I always wanted to run my own business. In 2004 at age 45 I found myself exploring franchise opportunities and thought; “I know purchasing; love it; … [Read more...]