Ricardo Maiz

Special Guest Blog Post written by Jeff Echel and Steve Lykken with e2open   Supply chain planners in high-tech don’t just manage shipments; they’re crisis managers, data detectives, and sometimes, referees in a high-stakes game of inventory tug-of-war. Why do these planners find themselves huddled in “war rooms,” surrounded by spreadsheets and urgent emails? It starts with relentless pressure: customers expect rapid, reliable service, but the reality is a maze of long lead times, outsourced manufacturing, and unpredictable global logistics. Securing critical components can take months, and a single misstep, like overstocking or missing a shipment, can ripple through the business, impacting revenue and margins. The chaos: War rooms and spreadsheet battles Add to that, the complexity of forecasting demand. Planners reconcile noisy, inconsistent data from retailers and distributors, often with little visibility, into . Forecasts are built, torn down, and rebuilt, sometimes manually, as teams try to align bottom-up channel data with top-down financial targets. Meanwhile, supply plans are constantly threatened by shortages, excess inventory, and last-minute changes. When demand surges or supply is disrupted, channels compete for limited stock, sometimes “stealing” from each other, and sometimes winning simply by being the loudest voice in the room. All of…

Special Guest Blog Post written by Gary Smith, CPIM-F, CSCP-F, CLTD-F, Author of “The Bridge,” Supply Chain Engineer, and Educator   1. Do Supply Chains exist in the public sector? The short answer is “YES!” I spent the first 25 years of my career in the private sector where I worked in warehouse operations, industrial engineering, and consulting, all in the logistics andsupply chain area. I cut my teeth on retail, automotive, chemical, food and beverage, publishing, and manufacturing. During that time, I also completed projects for the public sector in education and for the Department of Defense. In 2005 I was named Director of Supply Chain Operations for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). We operated a 200,000 sq. ft. warehouse that shipped repair material to 335 developments in New York’s five boroughs. In 2013, I was named Vice President of Supply Logistics for New York City Transit, the largest public transportation organization in North America. We operated over 1.5 million sq. ft. of warehouse space covering all of New York City. Several years ago, I was on a national committee for the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM). We created this elevator speech to describe Supply Chain…