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A guy walks up to the counter in an old-fashioned hat store. He's wearing 10 small cowboy hats in a neat pile atop his head. After a quick double-take, the proprietor remarks: "Our customers usually buy the ten-gallon hat. You're the first to buy ten one-gallon hats."

This describes a cartoon that appeared in The New Yorker several years ago, and it provides an indirect foundation for the…

Ever stopped and thought about what distinguishes an organization with a mature supply chain function from a company that’s still building out its supply chain?

Here’s a clue: take a look at who they have working in their supply chain organization.

I’m not talking about the quality of people, per se. I’m talking about their job titles.

Any supply chain organization…

According to most sources, the concept of economic order quantity (EOQ) was developed in 1913 or 1914. That means we're observing its centennial. Happy birthday, EOQ!

In most cases, a 100th anniversary would call for a celebration. In this case, though, I believe we should mark the centennial of EOQ by putting it to rest once and for all.

Don't get me wrong: EOQ has served a…

A time fence is a defined period in which the forecast should not be changed. An item's forecasting time fence often mirrors the item's planning or sourcing lead time. If it takes two months from when an item is ordered to when it's received into inventory, there's logic in not changing the forecast within that two-month period, since a change to the forecast will have no impact on the item's availability.…

Your spreadsheets seem to be doing everything you ask of them. Over the years, you’ve customized and linked them so that they’ll spit out the numbers you need, when you need them. Sure, the presentation value of a spreadsheet isn’t so great, but….at least you know what you’re getting.

Why, then, should you even consider switching from spreadsheets to software? What can demand planning software…