Finding the time in the ‘muck and bullets’ I have been thinking about the soft skills that make a successful career in ‘Data Science’ (which is where I think I have ended up in my career). Yes, communications skills are important, teamworking skills are vital, and there is a whole series of documents to be written about the importance of …
In simple terms, a Supply Chain Analyst is a hybrid of a Supply Chain Consultant and a Data Analyst. A Supply Chain Analyst combines expertise in identifying both supply chain inefficiencies and opportunities (much like a Supply Chain Consultant). What differentiates a Supply Chain Analyst is that data analysis-led recommendations make up a key part of their output. Along with …
Analysing a company’s cost to serve has been a recurrent theme throughout my career spanning multiple sectors – and with good reason. Performing a Cost to Serve analysis makes sense of what it actually costs to serve customers varying in both order size and geographic location, bringing valuable insights and opportunities for improvement. However, frequently the outputs are not then …
The ‘green shoots’ of lockdown release are beginning to be seen in mainland Europe, and while we in the UK are not at the point of determining ‘when’ the moment is that measures will be relaxed, there is a growing sense that it will happen in the coming weeks. Across all sectors of the economy, businesses will have to assess …
If you find yourself with a never-ending queue of backorders causing lost sales and/or failure to meet customer demand on time, then you may find this list of actions helpful. Simply buying more stock is not the correct response. Without understanding why you don’t have the right stock available at the right time to meet customer demand, you run the …
BBC News recently covered China’s falling birth rate, the lowest it has been in seven decades. They also observed that despite this the population of China was still rising, due to a lower death rate. Analysing the raw data from the World Bank we start to be able to understand the detail… Firstly, the “one child policy” introduced in 1979 …
We’re all familiar with the doom and gloom the UK pub sector has faced over the last decade. If not through the demise of your favourite local, you’ll have likely seen reports of pubs closing on a weekly basis across the country. However, newly released government data suggests that our public house woes might be on the turn – in the …
I love a good headline, but even more, I love probing data “facts” presented by the media who too often tend to search for and favour information in a way that confirms prior beliefs. Scrolling through the news feed on my phone recently, my attention was grabbed by: “More women than ever having children over the age of 45” The …
Ben Stokes had a pretty good 2019, by all accounts. Fresh off his Sports Personality of the Year victory, he was recently named the ICC player of the year. With this achievement, as well as his heroics in the 2nd Test in South Africa, it got us thinking about how you can compare sporting greats, and the use (and abuse) …
One of my goals of 2019 was to improve the number of books I was reading. Building on a non-existent habit that would usually see me finish one book a year, I finished 2019 with an additional 14 books under my belt – that’s a 1,500% increase (and a quick lesson in how vanity metrics can look far more impressive …
