Brick-and-mortar retailers also need to update their demand chain management practices so they can reduce out-of-stocks and satisfy demand at the point of purchase.
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Demand chain management is increasingly critical.
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Our closest aggregate measure of demand for the FSC products is the demand for Chain of Custody certificates, required of companies processing certified wood and fiber for products taken to retail markets with the logo.
In response, leaders in manufacturing must place greater importance on transparency in the demand and supply chain gaining a real-time view of global operations, and engaging their entire workforce in improved decision making.
The fact that Qualcomm registered a 28% uptick in sales for the full FY 2012 despite not meeting demand due to supply chain issues with the 28nm manufacturing process underscores the fundamentals of the market in which it operates.
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This is a world that operates from an inside-out perspective, pushing products at customers, parsing and manufacturing demand, tweaking the value chain to achieve ever greater efficiencies, and concerned about outputs more than outcomes.
This is crucial knowledge for not only satisfying the demand, but also reducing supply chain costs and increasing margins.
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As mentioned earlier, our team funcioned like central bankers, as we were overseeing an entire value chain from supply through demand.
Anders Hultin of Kunskapsskolan, a chain of 26 Swedish schools founded by a venture capitalist in 1999 and now running at a profit, says its schools only rarely have to invoke the first-come-first-served rule the chain has responded to demand by expanding so fast that parents keen to send their children to its schools usually get a place.
"We need to establish the supply chain to meet our growing demand, " says Sabra's chief technology officer, Tulin Tuzel.
The Street continues to adjust its thinking on the PC supply chain as signs of weak demand continue to mount.
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Since December, rumblings from Asian supply chain sources have indicated that demand for iPhone components is weaker than was expected.
High demand: The concerns are not the result of weak demand but merely related to supply-chain issues which Qualcomm hopes to overcome by the end of the September quarter.
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Frederick Taylor, Henry Ford and Alfred Sloan among others showed how to run big organizations by delivering mass production through managing the supply chain, parsing and manufacturing demand, controlling employees as human resources, and steadily increasing efficiency through economies of scale.
By supplying algorithms to balance all the variables of a supply chain, such as product prices, stock levels and customer demand, they are following in the footsteps of i2, the market leader in supply-chain management.
But with the growth of things like Netflix, Redbox and video on demand, the 5, 800-store chain now seems like a dinosaur.
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In CF partnerships, a manufacturer and retailer, working together at either end of a (simplified) supply chain, share information about future demand.
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Beyond those areas, Blazer says there is a demand for people who understand finance or supply chain logistics, who can build and supervise complex systems.
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There was improvement for a lot of the products that JDS makes, but aren't sure about overall industry demand because of the state of the technology supply chain, Sue said.
Either Apple is really caught off guard by the demand for the iPad, or it has some supply chain issues.
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Caso notes that checks with the Asian supply chain and visits with companies leave him concerned about demand.
This should bring the sorts of benefits that the Internet delivers everywhere, tightening up the supply chain, making Matsushita more responsive to changes in demand and allowing it to carry less stock.
Given the uncertainty in the demand environment, we decided to aggressively and proactively adjust our supply chain now to maintain lean inventories, especially in the distribution channel.
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Weak PC demand is the biggest issue, pulling down the performance of the whole food chain, chips, drives, software, everything.
Tesco's move, preceded by the Co-op's purchase of the Alldays chain earlier this week, has shown that convenience stores are in demand.
Citing concerns about softening tech hardware end demand, RBC Capital analyst Amit Daryanani this morning turned cautious on the IT supply chain, downgrading shares of the contract electronics manufacturers Benchmark Electronics and Sanmina, and reducing estimates and price targets for various other stocks.
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"The supply chain is not in great shape, and people aren't sure projected demand reflects real demand, " Sue said.
Moreover, China demand for all of those commodities kept business flowing, and jobs growing throughout the agribusiness supply chain, according to government data.
Mr Harcourt believes the key to export success is to target the surging middle class demand for cars in Asia and the Middle East, while providing components to the global supply chain and developing environmental technology for greater fuel efficiencies.
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With signs of weak PC demand growing, the Street has lately been chopping estimates for various key players in the electronics supply chain.
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