Monthly Archives: August 2018
ImpactECS In-Depth: Waterfall Charts for P&L Statements
Waterfall charts are a great way to tell a visual story about cumulative effects. According to Wikipedia, “The waterfall, also known as a Bridge or Cascade chart, is used for understanding how an initial value is affected by a series of intermediate positive or negative values.” With the initial and final value columns at either […]
The Capital Strain of The Supply Chain
“Despite all the advances in supply chain knowledge, capabilities, technology, and resources, supply chains are actually putting more financial strain on the enterprise and increasing capital requirements for corporations with days inventory outstanding (DIO) globally deteriorating 8% since 1987.” The supply chain is getting more complex. Due to digitalization there are more supply chain capabilities than at any […]
Effective Product Costing During Product Design
For manufacturers, the critical factor in determining profits is product costs – the direct material, direct labor, and overhead expenses required to produce goods. Product costing is a cornerstone of financial analytics for any manufacturer, and those organizations with complex or process-intensive processes often find this task cumbersome and unmanageable. But no matter the product, […]
FP&A Needs a Beacon to See Through Volatility
In today’s continuously changing market, anything can happen at any time. To manage short-term volatility, FP&A practitioners need to follow the core attributes of their company. While volatility can disrupt plans and create panic, the most effective ways to respond is to have a set of guiding principles to organize your thoughts and reactions. Without […]
Data: Too Much of a Good Thing?
As hard as it is to believe, there was a time in manufacturing when data was difficult to come by. Fast forward to today and manufacturing data is available to anyone and everyone. Compared to a few decades ago, the cost of technology is dramatically less expensive today. As a result, data collection is faster, […]
Intelligent Manufacturing Enhances the Automotive Industry
While the automotive industry seems aligned on all that a massive transformation entails, the forecast and timing horizon is less obvious. There are many visions for the future of connected and autonomous vehicles and the emerging business models, but a dominant view has not yet emerged. The result is that OEMs, suppliers, technology providers, and others […]
The Value of Innovation in the Wholesale Distribution Industry
Distributors should select, implement, and leverage technologies that work together to enable innovations that help them embrace new and alternative business models and processes. The traditional approach to success and profitability in the wholesale distribution industry centered on operational efficiency and supply chain management. But that approach now needs to extend through to customer engagement and […]
The Seven Deadly Sins of Supply Chains
“Companies need to come clean and eliminate common supply chain offenses to deliver the greatest value to their customers.” The demand for excellence involving all parts of the supply chain process has intensified. To maintain orders and improve the quality of business, organizations must have efficient supply chain solutions in place. When implementing new programs, […]
Dynamic KPIs are Key to Keeping Up with Change
In today’s ever-changing business climate, it is imperative that business leaders need to take measuring the digital future seriously. In a big data, machine learning, and customer-centric era filled with dynamic disruption, any organization’s legacy key performance indicators (KPIs) may not be good enough to manage change. Large corporations don’t rely on ordinary or typical […]