Why participate?  Because all respondents are offered the results (report)
plus a one-hour call with Lora Cecere to review the results.  Lora Cecere is
the Founder of Supply Chain Insights, the research firm that is paving new
directions in building thought-leading supply chain research.

Take the survey here!

Survey closes June 12th !

EXTON, PA – May 15, 2013 – Elemica, the leading Supply Chain Operating Network provider for the process industries, announces that Gary Neights, Elemica’s Director of Product Management, will be speaking at the Chemicals & Allied Industries Customer Service Management Group (CCSMG) Spring Conference on May 19-22, 2013 in Orlando, FL. Gary will be leading two workshops at the conference that focus on best practices and management of the customer service process, automating processes to add value, and service successes for exceeding customer expectations.

Michele Foust, CCSMG President stated, “Our conference highlights best practices and current topics in our industries.  Over the past several years, members have wanted to hear about the future of automation and how it can increase supply chain efficiencies.  Gary Neights and Elemica shared current trends and best practices at our last conference in Philadelphia, and recently hosted a CCSMG focus group to dive deeper into specific automation topics. We are very happy to have Gary back this year at our conference and the topics he will be covering are trending right now on the minds of our membership.”

Gary Neights will be leading two workshops at the CCSMG conference. “Engineering Enduring Excellence in Customer Service Processes” will include research done by APICS on service failures and the adverse impact on product availability, as well as service successes in meeting and exceeding customer expectations.  In addition, Gary will engage the attendees to share what they see in practice and what automation designs contribute to improvement in customer service.

The second breakout session is entitled, “Your CSRs Hate Supplier Portals, So Why Push Your Customers to Yours?”  Many organizations are considering portal replacements for technology reasons.  As a facilitator, Gary will lead the audience to share what they think the next generation of portals should do to make it a “customer experience” that will add value to the business.  The workshop will also help to define the role of Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) in portal activities.

The CCSMG Annual Spring Conference will be held at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort, Universal Orlando®, FL., May 19 – May 22, 2013. The Chemical Customer Service Management Group (CCSMG) is a business chapter of the International Customer Service Association (ICSA), whose mission is to provide a professional forum from which the Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Allied Industries membership will have Networking and Educational opportunities. For more information on CCSMG or their upcoming conference, visit their website at www.ccsmg.org.

Click here to download.

EXTON, PA – May 13, 2013 – Elemica, the leading Supply Chain Operating Network provider for the process industries, today officially launched its new brand identity, inclusive of a completely new corporate logo, leading edge social user interface design, simplified website, and a modern and more vivid corporate color palette.  Today’s brand identity introduction celebrates last week’s successful launch of Elemica’s entirely new supply chain network platform that delivers to clients robust B2B social collaboration, quick mass on-boarding campaign execution, and real-time actionable information.  The change in brand identity also represents a significant leap forward in Elemica’s overall vision, look, and message.

“Our customers are at the center of everything we do,” said Ed Rusch, Corporate Director of Marketing at Elemica. “When we ‘built from the ground up’ our next generation QuickLink Network platform, we utilized the latest technologies to bring unmatched capabilities into the market.  Elemica decided to celebrate by reimagining every aspect of our brand identity.  Our new leading edge look highlights Elemica’s vision to give people total control over their global supply chains, and it also exemplifies our truly innovative solutions and expansive global resources.”

The heart of the new Elemica brand identity can be found in the redesigned corporate logo.  The logotype is modern and powerful, underscoring Elemica’s strength as a supply chain technology leader for the process industries. The logo symbol exudes a commerce network.  Its design foundation is sharing across a network with Elemica as the key enabler at the center of business collaboration.  Elemica also moved to a more vivid color palette indicative of the vibrancy and rapid change occurring within the company, their clients, and the extended global markets. The evolution of the brand presentation is viewable on Elemica’s newly launched website: http://www.elemica.com/iBrochure/.

The new brand identity theme of ‘sharing across a network’ is demonstrated in Elemica’s next generation QuickLink Network platform.  It captures transaction data across an entire network of trading partners and enables a critical mass of actionable business information in real-time. This allows trading partners on the network to collectively sense and properly respond to supply and demand changes in the market.  Elemica’s built-in B2B social collaboration gives clients the ability to discover and create new or more robust business relationships faster.  In addition to being an efficient method for broad collaboration, social also provides clients with the ability to more quickly analyze the marketplace and better assess partner performance.

About Elemica

Elemica’s Supply Chain Operating Network is designed to give clients greater control over their global supply chains. Capturing transaction data, across all trading partners, and translating it into actionable information is key to driving value out of the supply chain. By combining powerful SmartLink business process applications with a robust QuickLink Network, Elemica solutions improve operational efficiency, lower costs, and decrease working capital.  Founded in 2000, Elemica today processes nearly $200B in annual transactions across more than 5,000 process industry trading partners. Elemica’s global operations are headquartered outside Philadelphia and include offices in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Frankfurt, London, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo. Clients include BASF, BP, Continental, The Dow Chemical Company, DuPont, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, LANXESS, Michelin, Rhodia, Shell, Sumitomo Chemical, and Yokohama. For more information, visit www.elemica.com.

In the interview, Eric and I discuss the following:

Elemica provides a Supply Chain Operating Network that helps trading partners communicate and collaborate on supply chain processes. Who uses it? How do they use it?

How do companies use Elemica’s solutions and what benefits do they get from using them?

Elemica’s solutions are available “in the cloud.” What does this mean? Why do companies want to use cloud-based solutions?

The Elemica network benefits from a critical mass of users, causing the value to users of the network to increase exponentially. How do companies join and access the network?

What does the future hold for Elemica? What are the future plans for your software and services?

You can listen here.

Over the years, I’ve witnessed that the language and terminology we use changes alongside the evolution of technology and process.  Often times, I’ve seen companies adopt and overuse trendy buzz words without linking to a simple definition.  So the audience hearing or reading the material is left to wonder…what does that mean exactly?

Your Supply Chain involves so much more than inside the walls of your organization; it involves many external parties – suppliers, customers, logistics providers, etc.  And doing business with these external parties is extremely complicated.  There are a variety software, SaaS or Cloud applications that provide solutions to particular problems; however, without the power of a collective network, organizations are left to manage a complex ‘spaghetti chart’ of multiple point-to-point connections to the various partners they do business with.

I came across this video where Adrian Gonzales of Talking Logistics provides a terrific explanation of a Supply Chain Operating Network.  It’s definitely worth a watch!

EXTON, PA – May 09, 2013 – Elemica, the leading Supply Chain Operating Network provider for the process industries, will hold its annual North American conference, entitled “inSIGHT 2013,” on June 11-12, 2013 in Philadelphia. Facilitating social collaboration across B2B global supply chains, enabling massive trading partner on-boarding programs, and building the framework for powerful business apps and big data analytics are slated to be key themes presented throughout the conference. The event also provides attendees with an exclusive first look at Elemica’s recently launched and entirely new supply chain network platform.

“inSIGHT 2013 is a great opportunity for companies to learn from industry leaders and peers about the latest supply chain trends, such as the benefits of B2B social collaboration, or how real-time, actionable information garnered from extensive trading partner connectivity will drive better supply chain performance,” said Patrick Faloona, VP Sales North America at Elemica. “We are also excited to share our ‘built from the ground up’ QuickLink Network platform with attendees, providing them with insights into how to increase operational efficiency, gain a competitive edge, and lower supply chain costs.”

The Elemica conference starts the evening of June 11, with a Cocktails & Hors d’oeuvres reception aboard the Freedom Elite private yacht boarding from Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia. The information sessions begin the next day, providing attendees with presentations on:

• Introducing New QuickLink Network Platform – John Blyzinskyj, CEO, Elemica
• Supply Chain 2.0: Managing Supply Chain Complexity in an Age of Uncertainty – Dr. Martin Christopher, Emeritus Professor, Cranfield University
• A B2B Journey – Gene Joswick, NA Architecture Director, Syngenta
• A Market Driven Supply Chain – Lora Cecere, Founder & CEO, Supply Chain Insights
• Managing Global Logistics – Craig Coffey, Logistics Manager, Afton Chemical
• Growing Lean: The New Paradigm – Bruce Grant, Chairman, Applied Value

Breakout sessions on Logistics Management, Supplier Management, Customer Management, and Sourcing Management will be interspersed throughout the day to provide attendees updates on the latest technologies, relevant industry issues, and best practices from Elemica. Breakfast and lunch will be served; a cocktail reception ends the conference, providing a relaxed atmosphere where attendees can network with their peers. The conference will be held at the Chemical Heritage Foundation located at 315 Chestnut St. in Philadelphia.

For more details on the conference and agenda, visit: http://www.elemica.com/event/insight-2013/

About Elemica

Elemica’s Supply Chain Operating Network is designed to give clients greater control over their global supply chains. Capturing transaction data, across all trading partners, and translating it into actionable information is key to driving value out of the supply chain. By combining powerful SmartLink business process applications with a robust QuickLink Network, Elemica solutions improve operational efficiency, lower costs, and decrease working capital.  Founded in 2000, Elemica today processes nearly $200B in annual transactions across more than 5,000 process industry trading partners. Elemica’s global operations are headquartered outside Philadelphia and include offices in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Frankfurt, London, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo. Clients include BASF, BP, Continental, The Dow Chemical Company, DuPont, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, LANXESS, Michelin, Rhodia, Shell, Sumitomo Chemical, and Yokohama. For more information, visit www.elemica.com.

We created a video for our New QuickLink Network Platform launch. Enjoy!

Robust B2B Social Collaboration, Quick Mass On-Boarding Campaign Execution, and Real-Time Actionable Information Improves Business Performance.

EXTON, PA – May 07, 2013 – Elemica, the leading Supply Chain Operating Network provider for the process industries, announces the launch of their entirely new QuickLink platform designed to give clients complete control over their global supply chains. Being connected to Elemica means you are able to create and better manage a more market driven supply chain. The actionable information garnered from extensive trading partner connectivity, combined with robust B2B social communication capabilities, provides clients with automation and powerful insight.  Process manufacturers gain a real competitive advantage by leveraging these benefits in today’s ever more volatile and complex marketplace.     

“Elemica is delighted to announce the launch of our new QuickLink platform, the highly flexible and quickly scalable supply chain value network for the future,” said John Blyzinskyj, CEO of Elemica. “Our clients want more control across their supply chains and lower costs from significantly reduced working capital requirements.  Capturing all their transaction data, enriching it to work in any construct across varied enterprises globally, and enabling better social collaboration, are fundamental to helping them achieve their goals. By building the new network platform from the ground up, and taking advantage of today’s leading edge technologies, Elemica has broken through the limitations of legacy approaches and created a supply chain network which is second to none.”

Elemica’s Supply Chain Operating Network drives greater value faster by enabling collaboration across multiple networks of corporate stakeholders and supply chain trading partners.  With today’s launch, Elemica’s clients now have the ability to perform highly scalable trading partner on-boarding campaigns that will transform their businesses.  Delivering robust capabilities, the new QuickLink Network includes:

Automation of customer-driven processes with a critical mass of partners

Management of large scale on-boarding programs

Actionable information derived from transactions and events

Social collaboration across the network

Expansive partner discovery search features

“IT providers focused on B2B commerce have articulated the vision of value-added B2B networks for more than 10 years.  The formidable challenge associated with doing basic B2B integration across diverse B2B communities held back many earlier attempts for participants to realize that vision.  However, companies achieving 100% participation in their B2B projects has led to a greater focus on the quality of B2B process execution via visibility and analytics, beyond simply its automation.”  - Gartner, Proliferation of Multienterprise Business Process Solutions Offers Many Benefits, by Analysts Benoit J. Lheureux, Paolo Malinverno, Deborah R. Wilson, Bill Swanton, published 5 February 2013.

The new Elemica QuickLink Network captures transaction data across the entire network, creating a critical mass of real-time business information allowing partners to collectively sense and properly respond to supply and demand changes in the market.  Built in social collaboration gives clients the ability to discover, create, and build new or more robust business relationships faster.  In addition to being an efficient method for broad collaboration, social also provides clients with the ability to quickly analyze the marketplace and assess partner performance. 

“Social collaboration in the new platform means businesses can quickly search for new trading partners to connect, measure partner performance, and create more collaborative on-boarding campaigns,” adds Mr. Blyzinskyj. “These are real game changers and lead to better bottom line results.”

About Elemica

Elemica’s Supply Chain Operating Network is designed to give clients greater control over their global supply chains. Capturing transaction data, across all trading partners, and translating it into actionable information is key to driving value out of the supply chain. By combining powerful SmartLink business process applications with a robust QuickLink Network, Elemica solutions improve operational efficiency, lower costs, and decrease working capital.  Founded in 2000, Elemica today processes nearly $200B in annual transactions across more than 5,000 process industry trading partners. Elemica’s global operations are headquartered outside Philadelphia and include offices in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Frankfurt, London, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo. Clients include BASF, BP, Continental, The Dow Chemical Company, DuPont, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, LANXESS, Michelin, Rhodia, Shell, Sumitomo Chemical, and Yokohama. For more information, visit www.elemica.com.