Stay ahead of supply chain trends.

Learn how supply chain optimization solutions can help companies conquer the complexity caused by unexpected events – such as the recent, record-setting global heat wave.

We explore some interesting opportunities for planning and operational optimization in the tire manufacturing industry.

Supply chain companies have come to expect the unexpected. Beyond the usual, unpredictable fluctuations in demand and supply, they must also cope with the unforeseen delays, disruptions, and even disasters that regularly occur in their end-to-end operations.

Many supply chain companies are not aware of the huge sums of money they are losing every day due to operational inefficiencies and manual planning processes. These flawed processes and practices lead to hidden, escalating costs that add up and take a tremendous toll on bottom lines.

I have been working with supply chain companies for nearly two decades, and time and time again I see the same issue: companies are struggling to achieve integration of not only their technology, data, and plans, but also their people and processes.

Over the past decade, supply chain and information technology organizations have invested extensively in data collection and storage systems and schemes and have made great strides in terms of their data maturity.

These days, companies across almost every industry are looking for ways to optimize their operations – to do more with less, to do things more intelligently, and continuously improve their processes.

Outside of my business career, I’m an avid and accomplished competitive glider pilot. I am very serious about the sport of gliding, and have competed at the highest levels in the Dutch National circuit. As with many activities in life, I think it is possible to draw some interesting parallels between competitive gliding and business operations and extract some important lessons from the former, which we can apply to the latter.

The Industry 4.0 era is upon us, and manufacturing companies around the globe are increasingly embracing automation and data exchange and implementing new technologies including cyber-physical systems, internet of things (IoT) devices, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, robotics, and advanced data analytics.