SCM

Instructions for SCM in the News

Share articles of current events addressing SCM topics (You will share one article during each module.

Instructions for Posting:

Please find a current (within 3 months) news article from a current, relevant, authoritative, accurate, and purposeful source that relates to Supply Chain Management. The article can address any number of topics related to SCM today (M&A activity, recent disasters, and policy changes are three possible topics, but SCM is REALLY broad). If you have a question on if an article's content is relevant, feel free to ask me. The linked video provides a good description of what I believe is a good source. In general places like the WSJ, NYT, or Bloomberg are good sources, the articles my wild aunts and uncles share on facebook are NOT good sources (this is NOT a complete list, in fact, I would prefer you to read widely). Sources that are likely NOT appropriate would be heavily politicized sources, MOST individual blogs, or discussion posts on social media.  YouTube CAN be a great source, depending on the channel that posts the video. If you're going to use YouTube as a source- the channel must be one that meets the above criteria.

1. Post a link to the article and provide a BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) that is concise, but highlights the main ideas of the article. You should be able to describe the article in less than one paragraph (a great barometer would be 1-2 tweets in length, not a 20 tweet thread).

2. Develop a more detailed report on the article. (This should be sufficiently detailed, but no need to write novels. You can write paragraphs or use bullet points).  Topics that could be addressed in your detailed report can include

a. What is being reported?

b. Who will be affected? Who will be helped and who will be negatively affected?

c. Do you believe any predictions made by the authors, if so why/why not?

1. Are the authors wrong? It’s okay (and REALLY interesting if you have contrasting opinions to authors- but bring data, not just opinions)

3. Connect the article to course content. Please ensure you describe what part of the course this material relates and how. Be obvious here, "This relates to course material because it's an example of..."

4. Justify how it meets the criteria of Current, Relevant, Authoritative, Accurate, and Purpose. If you realize the source has a bias, that is fine. Please share that potential bias. For example, an article published by reshoring.org will likely be biased toward reshoring.

Example:

BLUF: Ford has recently had to delay auto deliveries due to a lack of the blue oval shaped name plates used on the vehicle front. The issue was due to a supplier (not Ford's) production.

More detailed summary

Auto supply chains are very complex. Companies cannot produce vehicles if they don't have all the parts necessary for production. Having 99.99% of parts is not good enough. Recently, the supplier that Ford used to make the name plates that adorn every Ford vehicle had to stop their production. The supplier (Tribar technologies) was forced to close because they were found to have illegally disharged chemicals into the water supply.  This issue is important because theoretically, it is out of Ford's control, but in reality Ford is affected because of this disruption. Ford has had to delay the delivery of some of their expensive F-series trucks (which can cost more than $70K) due to the name plate issue. This article evidences how an inexpensive part can limit an expensive product.

The auto industry has had its share of issues recently, mostly due to the semiconductor shortage. This issue will exacerbate the existing problems.

This connects to course material because it shows the importance of supply chain and managing relationships with ones suppliers. This article highlights the importance of supply chain management. The oval badges are probably not thought to be a critical product for Ford, but they can stop production.

Source: The WSJ is a well respected source, the article comes from within the past month, and represents an issue supported by factual information. I trust the source.

Article Link

https://www.wsj.com/articles/fords-latest-supply-chain-snarl-not-enough-blue-oval-badges-11663944141