The Azul Ocean

Hi Everyone,

BOSS MAGAZINE interviewed me about my new book, The Supply Chain Revolution: Unlocking the Sustainable Profit Chain.

Here is a little something from the interview. The full article can be read by following the link below.

Back to Fundamentals

“If you don’t get the fundamentals or the foundation of scuba diving, you’re not going to have fun. You’re not going to enjoy it,” Koch told BOSS. “You’re going to stop, and worst case, it could kill you.”

The consequences might not be as dire for supply chain managers, but they’ll certainly have a miserable work experience if they don’t make fundamentals a foundational part of their approach. They won’t advance in their careers, and they could get themselves fired.

Dive On In What do scuba and supply chains have in common? A lot more than you might think. For self-described workaholics like Art Koch, forcing themselves to get out of the office and clear their minds can be a revelatory exercise.

Hi Everyone,

I'm honored to have my article Modeling Piece Price Comparisons for Local and Regional Suppliers Versus Low-cost Country Initiatives published in SCMDOJO.

Below is an excerpt from the article.

As a procurement officer, you’ve possibly been in the crosshairs of debate between sourcing locally and regionally versus from low-cost countries endorsed by many executive staff and boards of directors.

Every time I was requested to have a target percentage of our purchases from low-cost countries I felt a pit in my stomach. I worried whether I could successfully convey the message that even with the great prices, the total cost for the parts would be more than what it would cost to source locally or regionally. This led me to create the model described below.

Modeling Piece Price Comparisons for Local and Regional Suppliers Versus Low-cost Country Initiatives - SCMDOJO Blog exposes the limitations of focusing solely on piece price and introduces a cost modeling approach to make informed sourcing decisions

Hi Everyone,

I recently had an article published in YFS Magazine. YFS Magazine

Supply Chain Entropy Busters: 3 Phases to Accelerate Processes

Have you ever considered the impact of entropy on your business — let alone your supply chain? If you haven’t, you’re not alone. It was only during my undergraduate studies, while talking with a physics professor about my career, that I began to consider it.

Telltale Signs That Add Up

Entropy is a way to describe how much disorder or randomness there is in energy or a system, but what does that really mean? Consider the First Law of Thermodynamics: Energy can’t be created or destroyed. It can only change forms. Now consider the Second Law of Thermodynamics in simple terms: entropy always increases. This principle explains, for example, why you can’t unscramble an egg.

Here’s another example of entropy: As you cruise through the countryside, you spot an old barn that’s seen better days—some boards are missing, the paint is peeling, and the surrounding field is overrun with brambles and weeds. The barn and the field are transitioning into a more chaotic, lower energy state, resulting in greater disorder.

Supply Chain Entropy Busters: 3 Phases to Accelerate Processes | YFS Magazine Art Koch, a globally acknowledged expert and consultant in supply chain transformation, shares insights on preventing entropy creep.

Hi Everyone,

Last week, I joined Scott "Shalom" Klein on his weekly radio show, Get Down To Business. Check it out.

Art Koch with Scott "Shalom" Klein on Get Down To Business Art Koch joined Scott "Shalom" Klein on his weekly radio show, Get Down To Business. https://www.syklein.com / shalomklein

Hi Everyone,

Last month I received another great book review by Garth Thomas of The Hollywood Digest.

“THE SUPPLY CHAIN REVOLUTION” BY ART KOCH

GARTH THOMAS JULY 14, 2024

BOOKS & MAGAZINE REVIEWS

Like any good left-brainer, Koch uses a straightforward and concise analogy for the heavy, specific text present in The Supply Chain Revolution: Unlocking the Sustainable Profit Chain. Simply put, diving. Complete with chapters structured with a ‘buddy check system.’ “Being a good dive buddy is essential to enjoying the underwater ecosystem. These best practices translate well to businesses; it’s an excellent methodology to ensure peers learn key concepts and improve their skills.

What if process integrity, team engagement and development, and organizational commitment by the CEO are not all synchronized? In that case, without sponsorship from the CEO new technology will too often become nothing more than a footnote in the history of supply chain management, much like block chain, capacity requirements planning, and manufacturing resource planning II have become.

He succeeds with this. I enjoyed the book, and I actually grasped a lot of the concepts despite being about as right-brain and humanities department as you get. It’s not something he’s willing to dumb down to appeal to audiences not interested in the book’s theme. But it is something he’s generous of spirit about to add some humor and levity to.

Once again, back to the scuba diving analogy. And a surprisingly sharp one at that, when you actually think about the breakdown process. “Learning to scuba dive and mastering the complexities of supply chain management (SCM) share a non-negotiable requirement: an unwavering commitment to foundational principles. Fail to grasp the basics of scuba diving, and you risk severe injury or even loss of life. In the world of SCM, the stakes are no less severe: A neglect of fundamentals could result in crippling operational setbacks and financial devastation—potentially sinking your business,” Koch writes. “It’s common for people to get their open water certifications and never to proceed from there because they don’t have the confidence to dive on their own without the tether and comfort of an instructor at arm’s length.

"Therefore, they never have the opportunity to explore the entire underwater ecosystem and all its natural beauty. As a diver, I worked on my core skills by logging more and more dives, combining what I had learned with taking additional specialty classes and then progressing to certification as a rescue diver. As a supply chain professional, I’m always learning and absorbing new ideas, information, and insights to strengthen my core skills so I may help my clients and teach others.”

Garth Thomas

“The Supply Chain Revolution” by Art Koch - The Hollywood Digest Like any good left-brainer, Koch uses a straightforward and concise analogy for the heavy, specific text present in The Supply Chain Revolution: Unlocking the Sustainable Profit Chain. Simply put, diving. Complete with chapters structured with a ‘buddy check system.’ A little on the nose, but ge...