One day while tending his garden, an Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto had an interesting observation. He noticed that about 80% of his peas came from only 20% of the pods in his garden. Pareto […]
Near the close of the 20th century, Hewlett Packard overtook IBM as the world’s third-largest PC manufacturer in the world. Yet not all was well at HP. Cutthroat competition and rapid advances in technology forced […]
For businesses with multiple warehouses, thousands of items in inventory, and complex supply chains, moving to available-to-promise (ATP) supply chain management can transform a company. In the ’90s, Walmart and Kmart were in a brutal […]
When a hurricane starts to form off the eastern seaboard, Walmart sends extra inventory of strawberry Pop-Tarts and beer to the stores where the storm is predicted to hit. Through their massive data collection efforts, they found […]
As products go down a manufacturing line, every added cost and inefficiency eats into the profit margin. It’s why lean manufacturing has become essential for all businesses to survive in an ultra-competitive global economy. Fortunately, […]