Supply Chain View

I’ve just posted up a development version of a centre of gravity model for distribution centre location. It uses Google Maps, and it is really easy to use, and completely free. Try it here now. I regard it as a “toy” application, but I’m surprised how usable it is (down to the familiar Google interface [...]

Today I’m continuing my analysis of supply chain management in India with some discussion of the economic context. India’s economy is growing very quickly – recently we’ve begun to worry that it’s growing too quickly, running the risk of overheating . But it would be odd if such a rapid transformation of the economy didn’t [...]

I am planning to write a few posts about supply chain management in India. I am in the country working with a local client for a couple of weeks, back for the first time since my 6 weeks living in Delhi earlier in 2010/11. This is a very exciting topic, and though I have been [...]

I forgot to mention in my post yesterday about last week’s HELP Forum meeting that Mike Whiting has also written about the air operation during Nargis, both the air-bridge from Bangkok and the helicopter operation in-country. Mike was OiC for Aviation for the Logs Cluster, so this is an authoritative account. You can find his [...]

While working on a European distribution strategy assignment for a client earlier this year, I did some work on how to use lower-carbon multi-modal transport and still get goods to the customer on time. So I was interested to read about Tesco’s latest innovation – bringing imported wine down Manchester Ship Canal by barge. My [...]

The Royal Mail here in the UK put out a press release last week announcing that it was “piling post hight to reduce environmental impact”. The story relates to the acquisition of 140 double-decked trailers for its distribution network, each with increased carrying capacity that will reduce the total road miles in the system. On [...]

The BBC reported last week that UK online retailing grew by 33.4% to £10.9bn last year. Today the headline was that supermarket Kwik Save was closing 79 stores in a bid to stay afloat. The former story is a well attested trend, and putting it next to the latter is to make a point in [...]