More Than Tech

Blockchain is one of the hottest topics in technology today. There is a lot of poorly informed hype surrounding blockchain but there is a great deal of promise also. I recently read an article on a pilot blockchain project undertaken by a major company, one which has been responsible for some wonderful technology. The article claimed that blockchain was enabling a swathe of new capabilities, but every single capability described was simply nothing new - been around for years, in fact I designed a system over 20 years ago that had all of the capabilities of this supposedly groundbreaking blockchain. It seems that the only reason blockchain was involved in this project was to ensure that it got funding and publicity! This type of hype could easily drive us to dismiss the technology altogether, but I think that would be wrong. This is an interesting technology that we should understand, if only to spot the hype. Its still a young technology and I think it will take years for it to mat...

E-Procurement solutions have been widely available for almost 20 years now and we have seen them develop significantly A Little History In the late 90’s the indirect purchasing model was not supported by systems. Typically, there would be contracts and preferred suppliers, but it was very difficult to prevent maverick spend and non-compliance with policy. It was the early days of the internet and one of the early internet (or intranet) scenarios was to use a simplified browser-based interface to create purchase requisitions by selecting items from a more user-friendly list of items, which quickly became catalogues. The objective was to digitize the old paper based requisitioning system and drive compliance through an interface that the infrequent user could easily navigate. The interface was intended to require little training and to have a reduced set of functionalities to support very basic purchasing. Quickly after this, we saw the emergence of true e-procurement solut...

I first read "The Goal" in the 1990's wen I was consulting. I wanted to deepen my understanding of factory scheduling, but I got so much more from it. Eli Goldratt believed that writing text books as novels made them easier to read, so The Goal is written in that format. I was fascinated and consumed the whole book in 3 evenings. Reading this book will teach you how to schedule a factory, but more importantly, it will teach you how to understand a system through understanding its bottlenecks. You will learn the Theory Of Constraints, which will help you understand constraints or bottlenecks and how they really are the key to process improvement. Whether you are a beginner to process improvement or a six sigma master black belt, The Goal will improve the way you look at processes. If you read one book this year, select The Goal. I re-read the Goal or I listen to it on audible once every few years and I recommend it widely. you can buy it here: https://www....

In a previous role, my company provided warehousing and distribution services to Apple, Google and Microsoft. We managed a massive global network of warehouses, millions of square feet. We were able to quickly connect companies into our systems, then ship their products for them. We would receive product in bulk, often from manufacturers in China, then we would receive the order details and fulfil them. We also had some very slick reverse logistics capabilities. A great deal of this connectivity is still based on "old" EDI. Its extremely reliable and scaleable, but API’s have provided newer and faster ways to connect structured messages and business processes. This means that even smaller companies are able have rich connectivity, by enabling all the key structured messages. These virtual organizations provide better systems and visibility than the old monolithic organizations. Better systems with lower costs. If you outsource your logistics operations to a third par...