Supply Chain Innovations Today Linking Innovations with Business Leaders

Mark Roberti has written a very good article over at RFIDJournal.com "What the RFID Industry can Learn from Steve Jobs." Mark makes, as always, very good points. It should come as no surprise that some of the aspects of products that Steve Jobs tackled (simplicity, focus on the consumer not the technology). Go read the article, and see not only how the RFID industry can learn, but also, think about how you could do your job differently!

I had a discussion today with a few colleagues in a conversation hosted by VICS.org and in that conversation we talked about how organizations can use "social media" and "social networking" to help get their message out. I think we can all agree that what we are doing is important. If it wasn't I would hope we aren't doing it. But sadly, we are not always able to share that important work with others. After giving it some brief thought, and observing how others use social media, here are some of my "guidelines for social engagement."

A recent study by Customer Growth Partner seems to indicate that Target is beating Wal-Mart on Wal-Mart's home turf. Now the study they conducted (as reported in Chicago Breaking News) is limited in scope. It only looked at 35 brand name items in 3 states, but it does seem to mirror experiences seen by consumers nationally. The question is--how? How have they been able to quietly orchestrate this quiet coup? From notional studies does by my students, it appears that while Wal-Mart has focused on perfecting the supply chain, Target has worked diligently on the last 100 feet. That is, Target has been working to ensure that a product, once in the store, makes it into the consumer's hands. They have done this through the application of technology and a customer-centric view of the store.

I was reading through the Sourcing Innovation blog today (an interesting read btw) and came across a post mentioning that when you have to expedite a package there is little choice--FedEx or UPS. Of course, that left off DHL, but then again, it is a distant third.