First and Foremost, Happy New Year to you all from SCMDOJO!
“The Pessimist Sees Difficulty In Every Opportunity. The Optimist Sees Opportunity In Every Difficulty.”
– Winston Churchill
This was the key message for me in 2018.
During 2018, I made the biggest change by rebranding from Muddassir to SCMDOJO to move from a single person blog to a Supply Chain Solutions and Knowledge platform, and I have successfully achieved that.
SCMDOJO is a supply chain management blog run with the intent of making supply chain knowledge and solutions available to anyone in need of it. Run by professionals who believe that knowledge should not be hidden but shared with anyone in need of knowledge or skills improvement in the world of supply chain.
SCMDOJO was created to solve problems which exist in the supply chain field and share best practice in an easy-to-understand fashion. We have a lot of useful tools that help with that, like training session, e-books, blog posts, self-assessment tools, guides, videos and so on.
SCMDOJO is established to serve everyone, from the SMEs to large corporations to individuals, in need of understanding how Supply chain works, and everything about its management. People need the right tools to succeed, and that’s what SCMDOJO does.
During 2018 I’ve also enjoyed attending Supply Chain & Logistic Arabia as speaker, one of my vlog on supply chain planning as hit 15.5k views, become Top 1% supply chain influencer on LinkedIn, received many 5 star reviews from my 18.8k Facebooks subscribers and moved to the UAE!
With the start of 2019, I like to share with you SCMDOJO ’s top 10 most viewed supply chain posts over the course of 2018. Througout 2018 SCMDOJO has 472,854 sessions and over 670,194 pages. SCMDOJO newsletter has added nearly 18,200 subscribers, increased Linkedin Followers by 23,317 and Facebook page followers by 18,897!
Facilities Cost Management
Optimizing Outbound and Delivery Costs Cost
Contract Management in Procurement
The Top 10 Blog Posts from 2018 @ SCMDOJO
1) Top 23 Supply Chain Interview Questions and Answers Guide
I get a lot of messages on LinkedIn asking for mentoring and coaching request to help candidates prepare for the next interview or what could be most prevailing Supply Chain Interview Questions. I hope most of you would agree if we have a list of comprehensive questions, it will greatly help us prepare?
2) 21 Authentic Procurement Interview Questions and Answers Guide
Since writing a blog on Supply Chain Management interview questions, I received lots of requests from people seeking to interview Buyer or Commodity Managers within the Procurement Function. Typically, such jobs are more suited for experienced managers in the field, but as newcomers or fresh buyers, these procurement interview questions are essential to start out on the right foot. If you are preparing for the next interview in procurement function, knowing answers of some of these questions will help you prepare better.
3) 24 Excel Tips & Tricks to Becoming a Supply Chain Nomad
Knowing useful Excel Tips & Tricks are important for supply chain professionals at all levels. I have come across some candidate who has a fantastic CV, but when asked to use simple Excel formulas like vlookup or pivot table, they struggle. I remember once candidate left halfway through the interview process as he struggles to apply the Excel formulas required to get the desired outcome.
4) 8 Must Have Supply Chain Competencies
The underlying Supply Chain technical competencies are skills, knowledge, and characteristics that support the effective performance as Supply Chain professional. Given the global Supply Chain demands Supply Chain professional should never stop developing new skills and enhancing existing ones. Here are 8 core supply chain competencies that Supply Chain professionals need to master and continually improve (in no particular order!).
5) 7 Best Logistics Management Books You Should Read
There are so many different facets and books for Supply Chain Management; it can be overwhelming when it comes to actually choose which reference book(s) to purchase. To help readers I have recommended these 7 Supply Chain Management books for beginners. Some readers have asked me can I recommend Logistics Management books which leads me to write this blog.
6) Importance of Demand Forecasting in Supply Chain- 9 Authentic Reasons
The importance of demand forecasting has been the topic of discussion in economics and valuable books have been written on it over the years. However, within the supply chain context there are three types of forecasting, which are:
7) 18 Targeted Inventory Reduction Strategies for Supply Chain Professionals
Inventory comprises an important part of current assets, particularly in the manufacturing industry. A lot of cash flow is committed to inventories so as to ensure a smooth flow of production to meet a demanding customer service level. However, maintaining inventory also involves holding or carrying costs along with opportunity cost. Therefore, identifying inventory reduction strategies becomes critical for supply chain and operations professionals.
8) STRATEGIC SOURCING VS. PURCHASING – 7 KEY DIFFERENCES
Procuring materials for the intention of production, sales and service fulfillment is indispensable for every single business. However, the approaches, strategies and implementations differ immensely. We use lot of terms like strategic sourcing, procurement and/or purchasing. In this blog we tried to explain the difference between Strategic Sourcing vs. Purchasing.
9) 6 Safety Stock Formulas You Can Consider in Your Next Calculation Cycle
Safety stock is a term used to describe the additional quantities of stock held by a company to mitigate the risk of running out of stock. This, therefore, acts as a buffer in case the supply and demand are different to what was planned or forecasted. There are many ways in which to calculate safety stock and there are plenty of Safety Stock Formulas available which you could use.
10) 8 Habits of a Highly Effective Supply Chain Manager
A good well-rounded Supply Chain Manager is always in high demand, but they are in scarce supply in my opinion! You just need to look around how many jobs are available with title of “Supply Chain Manager”.
I am very thankful for the constant support, feedback, and comments on my blog and on the Linkedin posts. Your feedback is the lifeblood for me to keep me motivated and keep creating useful content.
During 2018 I have published 5 original Supply Chain Guides which is intended to provide practical information and act as tools to improve your performance in your jobs and help you achive your goals.
Recommended Supply Chain Guides
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Excess and Obsolete Inventory Policy Guide
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5S – Kaizen Guide: Organizing the Workplace for Flow
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Stocktaking: The Ultimate Guide (Stocktaking Procedure)
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Materials Management Competencies Assessment
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Six Sigma Project Examples to Get You Certified
About the Author- Dr Muddassir Ahmed
Dr MuddassirAhmed is the Founder & CEO of SCMDOJO. He is a global speaker, vlogger and supply chain industry expert with 17 years of experience in the Manufacturing Industry in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia in various Supply Chain leadership roles. Dr. Muddassir has received a PhD in Management Science from Lancaster University Management School. Muddassir is a Six Sigma black belt and founded the leading supply chain platform SCMDOJO to enable supply chain professionals and teams to thrive by providing best-in-class knowledge content, tools and access to experts.
You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram
