Blog

What do baseball, Wall Street and supply chains have in common? A fixation with data analysis, to start. Once upon a time there used to be data… now it’s all about Big Data. Data collection and its high-tech partner, data analytics, is, according to Wikipedia a “process of inspecting, cleansing, transforming, and modeling data with […]

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been justifiably reaping its share of headline space lately – but it’s scarcely a new concept. In theory it appears analogous to 21st century science fiction, but its roots actually date back to the second century AD. In ~ 150 AD, Heron – the celebrated Greek mathematician and engineer – designed […]

Small, indirect, tail-end, small supplier, non-strategic, non-core, tactical, etc.  The list doesn’t go on much longer, but the spend unquestionably does. From our procurement perspective at SDI, indirect spend refers to the sourcing and purchase of goods and services that are not directly incorporated into a manufactured product. For example, consider the components typically used […]

Earlier this month I blogged the desire to strike out on one’s own and launch a small business. Easier said than done? We all need a hand up occasionally, especially when faced with important decisions or funding large projects (home down payments come to mind). So too for the budding entrepreneur.  Fortunately, there are vital […]

Striking Out in the New Year We’re at the end of one year and start of the next. Which means that enduring tradition is upon us: making and upholding (with varying degrees of success) New Year’s resolutions. Often, our resolutions are simple: shed a few pounds. Write more ‘thank you’ notes. Learn a new recipe […]

Remember chat rooms? During the internet’s nascency, volumes of chat rooms materialized covering a copious array of topics for the like-minded, or perhaps the not so like-minded, to meet virtually and engage in rigorous discussion. America Online (AOL) not only popularized the use of chat rooms, but quickly developed a more personal method of information […]

75.4 million is a pretty big number. This staggering number represents, as of 2015, the United States’ population of millennials. “Millennials” is the moniker given to the individuals born in the late 80s, 90s, and early 00s. As a sizable segment of the workforce, millennials are now exerting major influence in the professional realm. More […]

Imagine a shopping spree in your favorite tech store, sporting good shop or the local grocery.  After taking time to assemble a basket of worthy goods, it’s off to the checkout for the next and final stop. The cashier rings up your acquisitions and promptly informs you that there is a surcharge… because you are […]

Mowing the lawn, housework, car repair and general maintenance. The aforementioned essential domestic tasks are likely performed in millions of households around the world.  But who is actually doing them? Busy schedules, long work weeks and family obligations have led many of us to outsource these time consuming chores.   Maybe we simply don’t enjoy taking on these responsibilities […]