Supply Chain

Tracking inventory in motion got a boost this week with the release of Optum Inc.'s TradeStream 3.0 supply chain process management software.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. isn't the only major retailer to issue an RFID edict to its top suppliers.

Companies that want to sell products to the U.S. Department of Defense soon will have to comply with a new condition of doing business with the multibillion-dollar buyer: wireless inventory tagging.

The automobile industry will be using radio frequency identification ( RFID) technology to track parts throughout its supply chain within three to five years

Oracle Corp. is adding automated configuration tools to its supply chain management applications and is developing an upgrade of its CRM software that's designed to make it easier for users to exchange customer data with other systems.

Betta Stores Ltd. (BSL), the retail services company behind the Australian Betta Electrical and Chandlers retail franchises, is leading a push to streamline supply chain management for the electrical appliance industry.

Last week, I had an experience that shook my faith in SCM and made me think that the concept might just occupy the same space as CRM, ERP, and other big software categories that I lump under TDW (Things that Don't Work) or perhaps TRLC (Things that Require Lots of Consultants), or maybe HLF (High Likelihood of Failure).

Dofasco, the Hamilton, Ont.-based steel producer, faces external trials your company can probably relate to: a global economy, growing competition, rapid change, increasingly sophisticated consumers, and the drive toward leaner organizations.