CSCMP Annual Conference:
best in market vs. world class
WHEN IT COMES TO SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES, SOMETIMES “BEST IN
market” trumps “world class.” That was the message from Wal-Mart executive
Gary Maxwell to attendees of the Council of Supply Chain Management
Professionals’ Annual Global Conference in September.
In his keynote address, Maxwell discussed Wal-Mart’s approach to developing
supply chains to serve overseas markets. Although people often assume Wal-Mart will just go in and set up the kind of “world class” supply chain it’s known
for in the United States, that’s not how the company operates, said Maxwell, who
is Wal-Mart’s senior vice president of international supply chain. Instead, the
retailer considers each case individually—analyzing factors like land and labor
costs, local regulations, and risk—and then tailors its approach to that market.
This “best in market” approach requires “thinking like a customer,” said
Maxwell, who noted that Wal-Mart chooses which warehouse technologies to
employ based on what consumers in the new market can afford. “Our first warehouse in India was small and had no automation,” he said. “We had racks and
forklifts because that was what the customer could afford.”
In Japan, by contrast, more affluent consumers have different expectations.
That’s reflected in Wal-Mart’s Japanese warehouses, which feature automated
sortation systems, radio-frequency picking systems, automated cranes, and
miniload systems.
As the markets in various countries mature, Wal-Mart responds by introducing more advanced technologies into its supply chains. “We need to build a
best-in-class supply chain for today,” Maxwell said, “and then we’ll evolve the
supply chain.”
Dec. 3–4
The Supply Chain and Logistics 2009
Summit will include sessions on supply
chain visibility, workforce management,
and green supply chains. The event,
which is organized by WTG Events, takes
place in Dallas. For information, visit
www.supplychain.us.com.
Dec. 7–8
The Institute of Business Forecasting’s
Executive Sales & Operations Planning
Workshop will provide a tutorial on the
S&OP process, focusing on what it is and
how it works. The workshop will be held
in Whippany, N.J. For information, visit
www.ibf.org.
Jan. 19–20, 2010
The SMC3 winter conference, 2010 Jump
Start: Supply Chains Look Ahead, takes
place in Atlanta. G. Tommy Hodges,
incoming chairman of the American
Trucking Associations, will present the
Washington view on labor, energy, and
the green movement. For information,
visit www.smc3conference.com.
and you think you have logistics challenges …
A year ago, when the National Defense Transportation Association held its annual forum
and exposition, the focus was squarely on Iraq. This year—in a sign of changing international priorities—Afghanistan was front and center.
The keynote address for the group’s 63rd annual meeting in September was delivered
by Vice Adm. Mark Harnitchek, deputy commander of the U.S. Transportation Command,
and Maj. Gen. Tim McHale, director of operations and logistics, who spoke about the
“deep logistics” challenge of providing support to troops in Afghanistan.
Sustaining the force there isn’t easy: The country is landlocked and has serious infrastructure limitations. And there are only two points of entry from Pakistan—the Khyber Pass
and Chaman—neither of which is notably secure. Harnitchek said that 12 percent of the
Afghanistan-bound supplies that crossed Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier province in
December 2008 disappeared, most of it in flames.
Now, things are starting to change. In a major shift over the past year, the Department
of Defense (DOD) has put in place a “Northern Distribution Network,” a set of multimodal
routings to Afghanistan by way of Russia that bypasses Pakistan completely. And remarkably, the DOD hasn’t had to blaze its own trail. It’s been able to use commercial partners
and existing infrastructure.
Feb. 3–5
The International Food Safety
Conference will include sessions on regulatory and security challenges for global
food supply chains. The event, sponsored
by the Paris-based Consumer Goods
Forum, takes place in Washington, D.C.
For information, visit www.ciesnet.com.
Feb. 8–11
ARC Advisory Group’s ARC World
Industry Forum combines three previously separate programs—the consultant’s
Operations-focused Forum, Asset
Lifecycle Management Forum, and Supply
Chain & Logistics Forum—under one roof.
Registration entitles ARC World Industry
Forum participants to attend sessions
from any of the three programs. The
event takes place in Orlando, Fla. For
information, visit www.arcweb.com.
