Nuanced E-Commerce Shipping Decisions: Lower Zone Isn’t Always the Answer
A major sporting goods manufacturer asked the Data Driven Supply Chain (DDSC) team to review their B2B fulfillment network. This market leader manufactures its product from a facility on the US East Coast and ships via parcel carrier to specialty retailers nationwide. Due to capacity constraints in the East Coast facility, the company also uses […]
City Journal on Rare Earth Mining in the US
City Journal (by Manhattan Institute) has an excellent article on rare earth mining in the U.S. I read this in print a while back (I subscribe) and had to wait for it to come online. Highly recommend reading the full article, excerpts below. https://www.city-journal.org/article/rare-earth-elements-metals-technology-china The stakes [on rare earths] have only risen. In April 2025, […]
Iran War Driving Up Commodities Prices: WSJ Logistics Report
Aside from specialty trade publications, I think The Wall Street Journal ‘s Logistics Report newsletter is the best supply chain news roundup anywhere. I highly recommend subscribing. This article is an example: how many of us would think that the Iran war would also spike prices in aluminum and fertilizer inputs? https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-sp-500-nasdaq-03-09-2026/card/aluminum-price-climbs-on-mideast-supply-crunch-U4vJRHOIPoUhK6mb4if4 #supplychain #iranwar
Geographic Diversification in Manufacturing: A Risk Management Imperative
I wrote this article a year ago in the context of manufacturing disruptions, but the principles apply no matter what the cause (wars included). 1) Design your supply chain with geographic diversification in mind. You don’t want most or all of your production or distribution capacity tied up in one facility, or a few facilities […]
Training Opportunity: Supply Chain Analytics at University of Wisconsin – Madison (and Online), April 21-22, 2026
If you work in supply chain and keep hearing “we need to be more data-driven,” this course will help with that! Our Supply Chain Analytics course is a practical, hands-on course focused on using data to make better operational decisions, not just talking about it in theory. You’ll dig into forecasting, optimization, and supply chain modeling in […]
Training Opportunity: Supply Chain Analytics at University of Wisconsin – Madison, April 21-22, 2026
Ready to level up your supply chain analytics skills? Learn from Ralph Asher and Jeff Clement on April 21-22, 2026: either in-person at the University of Wisconsin (Madison), or online. Offered by Interdisciplinary Professional Programs in the University of Wisconsin College of Engineering, our Supply Chain Analytics course is aimed at data professionals working in roles that support supply chain, […]
Simulating a Simple Board Game
One of the best parts about having a background in applied math and statistics is that I see numbers in everyday life. Waiting in the checkout line at a store, or anxious you’ll not get through TSA security in time? That’s just queueing theory in action. Trying to figure out the most efficient route to […]
NYT Roundtable on Supply Chains
“we estimate that the current elevated level of supply chain disruptions costs U.S. public firms about $100 billion per year in lost market capitalization” “while general supply chains recover from shocks relatively quickly, critical supply chains are affected much more severely and take much longer to stabilize” An interesting selection of expert perspectives on the […]
Rare Earth Mining in Norway
“As Europe seeks to curb its dependence on China for rare earths, plans to mine the continent’s biggest deposit [an estimated 8.8 million tons of rare earths, in Norway] have hit a roadblock over fears that mining operations could harm endangered beetles, mosses and mushrooms… [rare earth] elements, used to make magnets crucial to the […]
The Line Between Good and Bad Really Matters
How can defining goals for a metric actually make the metric worse? When I was on military recruiting duty, we closely tracked how our applicants performed on the ASVAB, the military aptitude test. After an applicant completes the ASVAB, they receive their subtest scores, which are used for determining eligibility for specific military jobs, and […]