Articles

Cambashi contributes to a number of industry publications.  Our broad industry and technology knowledge informs commentary on how companies can improve business performance by leveraging IT.  We hope you enjoy reading our articles and regularly scheduled columns.  For more information on the magazines we work with on an ongoing basis, see Publishing Partners.

New Approaches to Supply Chain Challenges November 2009
Julie Fraser
How do you optimize inventory across the value chain, or cope with long-lead time materials, or ensure spare parts availability? This year’s APICS show offered some fresh answers. Interestingly, the companies providing those solutions are from a variety of countries, which may be why even though the solutions are not newly introduced, many of us may not recognize these companies by name or product.
New Approaches to Supply Chain Challenges (48 KB pdf file)

Shifting Supply Chain Performance Measures September 2009
Julie Fraser
As conditions change, are your supply chain metrics actually boosting business performance? What you measure matters. So it behooves companies to review performance metrics to ensure continued strategic alignment with business objectives.
Shifting Supply Chain Performance Measures (40 KB pdf file)

Managing Supplier Relationships beyond Strategic Sourcing July 2009
Julie Fraser
Strategic sourcing is a critical start to a supplier relationship, but it is not sufficient. So why is it that we hear so little about supplier relationship management (SRM)? This article talks about capabilities and solutions currently available.
Managing Supplier Relationships beyond Strategic Sourcing (31 KB pdf file)

Who pays and who plays in the Smart Grid future? July 2009
Christine Easterfield
One of the greatest engineering challenges of our day is the global implementation of Smart Grid technology. This next-generation network will link energy producers with consumers in a two-way link of both power and data. Who pays for it, who sets the standards behind it, and who rolls it out are all burning questions.
Who pays and who plays in the Smart Grid future? (116 KB pdf file)

S&OP Matures into Strategic Process March 2009
Julie Fraser
Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP), also called Sales, Inventory & Operations Planning (SIOP) is moving from a tactical process to a more strategic one. This article discusses the elements to consider and some of the solutions that provide those capabilities.
S&OP Matures into Strategic Process (40 KB pdf file)

New Year Project: Make Global Supply Chains Less Risky February 2009
Julie Fraser
Taking risk out of a supply chain is increasingly important as challenges mount. This article examines key factors from two important industry conferences, plus solutions that help factor uncertainty into a variety of operational processes.
New Year Project: Make Global Supply Chains Less Risky (31 KB pdf file)

Supply Chain Solutions Support the Eco-friendly Imperative October 2008
Julie Fraser
Supply chain operations offer many opportunities for lowering energy, materials, and fuel consumption; and generating a more sustainable and eco-friendly operating stance. This article lists eight categories of supply chain practice and software that might assist.
Supply Chain Solutions Support the Eco-friendly Imperative (19 KB pdf file)

"Going green" and the automotive product life cycle October 2008
Bob Brown
This white paper discusses three powerful forces that have come together to produce intense pressure on vehicle manufacturers to develop new technologies and new vehicles.  The first:  rapidly changing demands of their customers.  The second:  investors and shareholders have become increasingly concerned about ethical considerations and good citizenship.  The third: regulatory compliance.
"Going green" and the automotive product life cycle (307 KB pdf file)

Being Green is Good Business December 2007
Allan Behrens
The issue of going ‘green’ has never been more topical. In a recent statement on the topic of climate change by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, he stressed that if no preventative action was taken the world would face the real and dreadful possibilities of drought, mass famine and rising sea levels.
Being Green is Good Business (263 KB pdf file)

Singing a Green Song February 2007
Bob Brown
Most IT vendors have been talking about being green for a long while and some have actually been doing something about it behind the scenes.  Vendors are now beginning to spend real marketing money on establishing their green credentials. 
Singing a Green Song (37 KB pdf file)

What is Your Value Proposition? February 2007
Bob Brown
Your company's value proposition should define the benefits your customer will realise when they adopt your solution.
What is Your Value Proposition? (8 KB pdf file)

The PLM Debate: Outsourcing upsets the IT Integration Pillars in the Temple of Discrete Manufacturing April 2001
Mike Evans
This article launched a debate series about how PLM would cope with the restructuring of supply chains to include outsourced design in a globalized world.  The PLM Debate series starts with this article, and is then advanced by additional articles identified with the prefix title, The PLM Debate.
The PLM Debate: Outsourcing upsets the IT Integration Pillars in the Temple of Discrete Manufacturing (22 KB pdf file)

The PLM Debate: What are supply chain management and product lifecycle management systems? April 2001
Mike Evans
The supply chain management and product lifecycle management systems include SCM and PLM subsystems, explained in this article.
The PLM Debate: What are supply chain management and product lifecycle management systems? (14 KB pdf file)

The PLM Debate: Is PLM Applicable to AEC? April 2001
Mike Evans
This article suggests that discrete manufacturing and AEC have a lot to learn from each other when it comes to PLM.
The PLM Debate: Is PLM Applicable to AEC? (36 KB pdf file)

The PLM Debate: Vendors Respond April 2001
IT Vendors
As part of our ongoing research programme, in 2001 Cambashi ran a debate on product lifecyle management (PLM) and how it interfaces with the supply chain. Several IT Vendors responded to the ideas presented in the main article, Outsourcing upsets the IT integration pillars in the temple of discrete manufacturing, including Agile, Arena, Baan, IBM, IFS, LMS, Manugistics, MatrixOne, Peoplesoft, PTC, SAP, SolidWorks and Tecnomatix.
The PLM Debate: Vendors Respond (118 KB pdf file)

Emerging Environmental Product Policy April 2005
Mark Biagi
The pressure on engineers to consider sustainability of their designs is increasing.  A recent ‘Expert’s View’ discussed the ELV Directive.  Now we consider the extension of these concepts into other product development areas.  Recently the European Union proposed the Integrated Product Policy (IPP).  This article summarizes the philosophy behind IPP and examines its potential impacts on the business of product development, in particular design.
Emerging Environmental Product Policy (93 KB pdf file)

Regulation & Engineering January 2005
Nick Ballard
There is no doubt that we live in an increasingly regulated world.  To some, “red-tape” inhibits creativity, stifles competitiveness, and adds to the cost of doing business, often without achieving the intended aims.  To others it represents the individual citizen exercising restraint, through their elected representatives, on the worst excesses of globalisation.
Regulation & Engineering (69 KB pdf file)