Mar 29, 2023
Exclusive interviews with Mary Leitao and Ludovic Bidault, Heads of Purchase Management at La Redoute, who graciously took the time to discuss La Redoute’s predictive optimization partnership with Lokad. La Redoute, the second largest women’s clothing retailer, chose Lokad to drive transformation around predictive optimization. The goal of this collaboration was to use artificial intelligence to better manage the match between pricing, sales performance, and inventory.
Mar 8, 2023
At the core of a Quantitative Supply Chain initiative, there is the Supply Chain Scientist (SCS) who executes the data preparation, the economic modeling and the KPI reporting. The smart automation of the supply chain decisions is the end-product of the work done by the SCS. The SCS takes ownership of the generated decisions. The SCS delivers human intelligence magnified through machine processing power.
Read More
Jan 11, 2023
Lead times are a fundamental facet of most supply chain situations. Lead times can and should be forecast just like demand. Probabilistic forecasting models, dedicated to lead times, can be used. A series of techniques are presented to craft probabilistic lead time forecasts for supply chain purposes. Composing those forecasts, lead time and demand, is a cornerstone of predictive modeling in supply chain.
Read More
Nov 2, 2022
Stuttgart is a fictitious automotive aftermarket company. They operate a network of stores delivering car repairs, car parts and car accessories. In the early 2010s, Stuttgart also started two ecommerce channels, one to buy and sell car parts, and one to buy and sell used cars.
Read More
Mar 15, 2023
In an interview, Peter Cotton, Chief Data Scientist at Intech, and Joannes Vermorel, founder of Lokad, discuss probabilistic forecasting, the M6 forecasting competition, and the differences between finance and supply chain perspectives on volatility and uncertainty. They emphasize that perfect forecasts are impossible and probabilistic forecasting can help make better decisions amid volatility. Both agree on the value of simplicity and robustness in handling complex systems, whether financial markets or supply chains. They also discuss issues like P-hacking, transparency in prediction model errors, and market mechanisms for improving predictions. Vermorel highlights the cultural challenges in supply chain management, while Cotton emphasizes the importance of markets in improving overall forecasting.
Read More
Mar 1, 2023
The meaning, role, and value of probabilistic forecasting are often viewed as mysterious and impossible to grasp without a degree in data science. On the contrary, probabilistic forecasting is rather intuitive, as we discussed with our guest, Sim Taylor.
Read More
Feb 8, 2023
Resilience is very much this decade’s supply chain cause célèbre (and with good reason). The intrusion of constant shocks - and the inevitable firefighting that follows - has tested the resilience (and exposed the fragility) of supply chains across the globe.
Read More
Feb 22, 2023
In supply chains a sizable portion of supply chain terminology is inadequate. Good terminology should be as neutral and factual as possible, however this is far from the case in supply chain. We suggest changes to ABC analysis, service level, safety stock, seasonality, EOQ, BI and ERP, along with an explanation behind our proposed improvements.
Read More
Feb 1, 2023
The Kanban method was initially implemented to improve manufacturing efficiency and reduce waste by providing a simple and visual material replenishment process so that every step of the production process would get just enough to operate smoothly without stockpiling raw materials or components.
Read More
Jan 4, 2023
Every single SKU calls for mundane daily decisions, such as moving in more stock or changing the underlying price tag. Naturally, sticking to a fully manual process for those decisions is labor intensive and companies have been adopting varied software-based automation solutions.
Read More
Mar 22, 2023
Generative AI – ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion, or similar – has captured mainstream attention in a way few could have predicted. The fruits of this innovation can be found in practically every sector, from supply chain vendors to students at university. Some herald this as the beginning of a new era; one where artificial intelligence will work alongside humans, replacing many of the mundane tasks of modern business, work and study. Others are far more tentative, believing the merits of generative AI are grossly overstated, if not outright fraudulent.
Read More
Sep 28, 2022
The world of Supply Chain is exceedingly opaque and there are very few places on internet nowadays where you can learn anything of value about it. While Reddit targets a young category of users and Wikipedia is bound to contain old and somewhat deprecated information, LinkedIn remains one of the only trustworthy source of information in the field, due to the experience of the professionals that are sharing their experiences.
Read More
Aug 31, 2022
Digital twin has become a buzzword in the supply chain industry, and refers to a virtual representation of a physical process. A supply chain’s digital twin is a simulation of that supply chain as a whole. In this episode, we challenge the claims that digital twins are delivering on their promise of conducting accurate simulation and what-if modeling to immediately see the impact of various supply chain decisions.
Read More
Feb 15, 2023
More than 1000 flights from nearly 200 companies are able to take-off daily thanks to the repairs and maintenance carried out by Air France Industries. If you are curious to learn how such a complex supply chain program runs and how Lokad is coordinating efforts to optimize the process, Jacques Dauvergne- Senior Vice President Supply Chain at AFI- is happy to share all the aspects and insights of the story.
Read More
Dec 14, 2022
Patrice Fitzner decided a decade ago to translate his knowledge from the automotive industry to La Redoute, the second largest women’s clothing retailer. Patrice has been a major contributor in the creation and success of La Redoute’s ultra-modern logistics platform called Quai 30.
Read More
Dec 7, 2022
Exclusive interviews with Jacques Dauvergne (Senior VP Supply Chain); Fanny Kientz (VP Engine Supply Chain and Assets); Guillaume Adrien (VP Supply Chain Design and Performances); Olivier Pelloux-Prayer (VP Assets and Outsourced Repairs of Component Division); and Stephan Lise (Head of Prognos for Inventory).
Read More
Mar 29, 2023
Exclusive interviews with Mary Leitao and Ludovic Bidault, Heads of Purchase Management at La Redoute, who graciously took the time to discuss La Redoute’s predictive optimization partnership with Lokad. La Redoute, the second largest women’s clothing retailer, chose Lokad to drive transformation around predictive optimization. The goal of this collaboration was to use artificial intelligence to better manage the match between pricing, sales performance, and inventory.
Read More
Jan 18, 2023
Interviews exclusives avec Olivier Legrand (Président de Revima) ; Brice Arias (Responsable de la chaîne d'approvisionnement de Revima, APU & Landing gear MRO) ; Sebastien Honore (Revima LDG - Buyer & Planner) ; Thomas Niel (Revima Purchasing Group) ; et Simon Schalit (Directeur des opérations chez Lokad).
Read More
Jul 27, 2022
La Redoute, the second largest women's clothing retailer, chose Lokad to drive transformation around predictive optimization. The goal of this collaboration was to use artificial intelligence to better manage the match between pricing, sales performance, and inventory.
Read More
