bill of materials – OM in the News

AI and OM: A Complicated Relationship

AI has ushered in a new era of possibilities.

Once confined to complex, industrial applications, AI is now becoming part of our everyday activities. Recent advances in AI-generated art and text have created many possibilities. Although the technology cannot fully replace humans yet, improvements are so rapid that we can expect a dramatic transformation of work in the near future. The challenge for organizations will be to harness AI’s capabilities while countering its negative, unintended consequences.

This post is intended to help […]

By Corinne M. Karuppan, Ph.D.|2023-04-15T22:25:12+00:00April 16, 2023|Tags: artificial intelligence, automation, bill of materials, ERP systems, job design, product design, productivity, robots, security|

Eggs Cost Bakeries Too Much Dough

Bakeries across the U.S. have sought creative ways to operate amidst the challenge of soaring egg prices.

Some bakeries have dropped items that require more eggs as the raw ingredient. Others have started selling by advance order only. A few are thinking of sourcing eggs from lower price national vendors instead of local ones. All are trying to keep operating without resorting to passing the price increase to customers.

Video Spotlight:

Egg prices SOAR across America, especially […]

By Anita Lee-Post, Ph.D.|2023-01-27T06:38:27+00:00January 29, 2023|Tags: bill of materials, dependent demand, food supply chain, MRP|

Skimpflation

As inflation is impacting the prices of products, many organizations are looking for ways to cut costs. One such approach previously examined by OM in the News is the concept of shrinkflation, when companies reduce the size of the product. In many cases, customers don’t notice the change is size.

Now, instead of reducing the size of the product, some companies are changing the ingredients, choosing cheaper alternatives. This approach is being referred to as skimpflation.

One example of […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2022-11-07T02:09:19+00:00November 6, 2022|Tags: bill of materials, inflation, inventory management, MRP, product design, quality, supply chain management|

Map Your Supply Chain

Supply network mapping is labor intensive but can reduce risks to supply chain disruptions from COVID-19 to earthquake damage.

Most companies do not map their network and do not know how to mitigate risks when a crisis unfolds. Another reason the mapping proves helpful is removing the focus from lowering procurement costs to better understanding critical suppliers at many levels upstream.

To reduce the labor costs involved in mapping, focus on key components from a bill of materials, such as the top […]

By David Little, Ph.D.|2020-06-30T03:24:17+00:00July 1, 2020|Tags: bill of materials, BOM, coronavirus, covid-19, downstream suppliers, risk management, supply chain, supply chain mapping, supply chain risk|