It was a dark and stormy night…  The wind howled through the skeletal branches of the trees…  ghosts, goblins and other monsters scampered along the street…  the full moon shone brightly, yet all the streets seemed dim and darkened and you were wary about what might bump into you in the night… Yeah, yeah, yeah.  OK, so it’s warm, a bit breezy and mostly sunny.  At least it is in most of Southern California.  But it seemed just wrong to start off a blog on Halloween with something so … so … cheerful. I was thinking, on this warm and sunny October day – that Halloween is the PERFECT version of the supply chain.  Honestly, think about it…  And think about how many different supply chains may be involved…! But the basic one – “TRICK OR TREAT” – the art of hitting up the neighborhood – is a perfect example of a simple – yet WILDLY effective – supply chain. The breakdown: *             you put on some clothes (a costume), *             you walk down the street, *             you ring a doorbell and yell “TRICK OR TREAT!” , *             and the person gives you some candy (or other great treat)…! How much simpler and easier is that supply chain?!?  Nothing to do but get dressed up on some costume – whether a simple sheet with ...

I just read this article – well – a pair of articles – over on MSN – about the 25 WORST cities for finding a job and the 25 BEST cities for finding a job.  Truly interesting stuff; however the methods used to create the article are – at best – flawed.  The flaw is that they only use the unemployment rates, as compiled and published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics – a federal agency that is responsible for researching and compiling labor economics and statistics… The list of the bad cities includes quite a few cities located in California.  But if you were to look at the list – and if you’re not from California – you’ve probably NEVER heard of many (if ANY) of those cities.  Here’s the list: 1.    El Centro, Calif.        2.    Yuma, Ariz.                3.    Flint, Mich.                4.    Merced, Calif. 5.    Yuba City, Calif.       6.    Modesto, Calif.       7.    Visalia, Calif.             8.    Monroe, Mich. 9.    Palm Coast, Fla.       10.  Stockton, Calif.          11.  Fresno, Calif.              12.  Bakersfield, Calif. 13.  Hanford, Calif.           14.  Redding, Calif.           15.  Muskegon, Mich.     16.  Jackson, Mich. 17.  Rocky Mount, N.C. 18.  Saginaw, Mich.          19.  Madera, Calif.            20.  Detroit 21.  Elkhart, Ind.                22.  Sebastian, Fla.           23.  Kokomo, Ind.             24.  Rockford, Ill. 25.  Niles, Mich. 11 of them are from California.  But, of those 11 – only one is NOT located in the Central Valley area of California.  And the ...

Ahoy, Me swarthy mateys and hearty wenches...  Avast and bear to smartly and prepare to be boarded. Earlier today, I was talking with one of our EDITalk founders (John B) and somehow, I got stuck into "pirate speak"...  Did you know that there is actually an "INTERNATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY"...?  There is..!  So, arr, Me hearties and Me beauties, let's search for some buried booty and find our fortunes and leave our lives to the fickle finger of fate...  So get your first mate into the crow's nest and set sail for the South Seas to find our treasure trove of EDI booty!  Shiver Me timbers and set sail! But wow... how about we start the "Talk Like an EDI Geek" day...?  Or the "Speak EDI-ese" day..?  Now how well would THAT go over...?  About as well as the grog coming from the bung hole...!  What..?  You don't know what a bung-hole is...?  Well, no, it's not THAT...  On a ship, it used to be that stuff - food, drink, supplies - were stored in wooden casks or barrels.  The "cork" - or stopper - in the barrel was called a BUNG and then it went into a hole - called the BUNG HOLE.  I know it sounds worse, but it's not. Aye, Me hearties...  Get yer mind ...

I was reading The Inovis Blog - yes, I do read other things! - but Meg Suggs (Inovis) talked about how McDonalds (over in Europe!) is "going green" with their fleet of delivery trucks. I commented (of course!) on how it would be great if the US and our automakers could be as forward thinking about the acceptance of alternative fuels and energy sources (such as bio-diesel). My own car is a Chrysler PT Cruiser. Chrysler sells the PT Cruiser over in Europe, and offered (at least at one point) electric versions of the PT, as well as a CRD powered PT Cruiser. CRD is the acronym for COMMON RAIL DIESEL and it actually is a very viable diesel motor - with great performance and low emissions - not anything like the diesels we all may remember from the 80s.... Jeep even offers the CRD engine in their "Liberty" truck-ette in the US. But I digress from My original thought and point. Reading that post (at Inovis) and My comment on same made Me think of how much better and easier (!) EDI could be if more hubs and suppliers - and even EDI providers - were to be more open and accepting to other ways of thinking.. How much more we could all get done. As a ...