In years past, information was power. Now, our endless pursuit of information has created a monster. With the massive storage capacity of the cloud, big data can become as big as it wants. It can’t be tamed using the traditional rigid analytical tools that most businesses use – it requires new scalable architecture to keep [...]
Author Archives: Jeff Pyden
The Agile Supply Chain – Turning Ideas (and Data) into Profit
May 9, 2012 – 12:09 pm
Smart companies realize that successfully maintaining competitive advantage and building customer loyalty will depend largely on one thing: Agility. In the new reality, organizations are expected to take action rapidly in response to shifts in consumer expectation, and the opportunity costs of an inflexible supply chain are great. It’s important to incorporate agility into your [...]
Make your Organization More Customer-Centric with Business Intelligence
May 1, 2012 – 3:48 pm
Until now, many organizations have prided themselves on giving customers what they want. But today, the phrase “it’s all about the customer” has a whole new meaning. The value chain now begins with the buyer instead of the seller. We live in a world where consumers are informed and empowered, and a seamless, no-risk buying [...]
Using Business Intelligence to Get Smart about Big Data
April 25, 2012 – 10:14 am
Until now, business success has been measured by traditional KPIs, benchmarks, profitability and other established metrics that tell decision makers whether something is working or not. However, two recent developments in the business landscape are changing the game: the value chain now begins with the customer, and big data keeps getting bigger. As a result, [...]
Forecasting Seasonality for Efficient Distribution
April 16, 2012 – 8:32 am
For distribution companies, learning to distinguish between spikes and seasonality is one of the hardest things to do. Even Gordon Graham, considered by many to be the guru of forecasting, never quite nailed down a surefire way to sort the sporadic from the seasonal. His solution? After applying a simple formula to flag the potentially [...]
Managing Different Inventory Rules with Microsoft Dynamics
March 23, 2012 – 1:50 pm
Does all the inventory in your warehouse have the same reordering guidelines? For most distributors, the answer is no, because certain items often require different restocking policies based on item type and historical usage. When you’re trying to manage sets of inventory that need to be treated differently, you can either rely on mostly manual [...]
Improve Business Intelligence with a Single Source for Reporting
March 15, 2012 – 2:23 pm
Reporting and analytics are key components for any business, and Business Intelligence (BI) tools are also quickly becoming a must-have for organizations that want detailed, real-time reporting. To get the most value from these, it’s essential to make sure you have seamless, efficient tools and processes around them. But when different areas of your company [...]
Why You’re Paying Too Much for Business Management Software
March 4, 2012 – 9:06 pm
How much does it cost to run your business management software? If your organization has multiple systems that don’t work well together, you probably have a lot of unnecessary expenses associated with maintaining these solutions. For starters, you end up paying multiple vendors for maintenance, upgrades and training. When something goes wrong, the vendors start [...]
The Grass is Greener in the Cloud
February 24, 2012 – 12:27 pm
Running multiple disparate systems in your company is not only inefficient, but it isn’t the most environmentally-friendly way to operate, either. The technology exists to create a greener, paperless office and reduce your dependence on manual processes and costly hardware. Money and time spent on reams of paper, printers, toner, servers and Excel spreadsheets adds [...]
Increase Productivity and Decrease Training Costs with a Consistent User Interface
February 16, 2012 – 1:26 pm
When your organization uses multiple systems for specific intended purposes, it’s hard to learn how they work together when they really don’t. For example, when you hire a new employee, how long does it take to get them fully up to speed? As a manager training someone, you probably get tired of saying, “Yes, you [...]
