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Supply Chain Governance

 June 1, 2015

Supply Chain Learning Series Part 3

Effective governance is a critically important enabler in achieving “top performer” status. “Governance” is the third topic in a supply chain learning series presented by ScottMadden and Shared Services & Outsourcing Network (SSON). In this session, we focus on the key building blocks of effective supply chain governance models including decision rights, performance metrics, service level agreements, and issue escalation/resolution. In addition, we discuss how to create alignment across an enterprise for a consistent supply chain strategy that clearly differentiates transactional efficiency from higher-value, strategic activities.


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P2P Strategy: It’s Not Just About the Transaction

 June 1, 2015

Many global organizations have experienced significant challenges when combining their procurement and accounts payable functions to form truly integrated procure-to-pay (P2P) process models. Disconnects between supply chain and finance, the two larger areas responsible for procurement and accounts payable respectively, are not a new phenomenon. Inherently, business drivers of the two functions are different: supply chain aims to create processes that reduce cost and deliver goods
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Inventory Optimization: Responsibly Meeting Reliability and Service-Level Expectations

 June 1, 2015

How can inventory growth be controlled without compromising reliability or service-level requirements? To start, we should level-set on key definitions and concepts.


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EPA’s Clean Power Plan – An Update

 May 13, 2015

The U.S. power generation fuel mix continues to shift, driven in part by low natural gas prices, state renewable mandates, tightening environmental regulations, and lower installed costs of some generation technologies such as solar. On June 18, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP), a proposed greenhouse gas emissions regulation scheme for existing plants, promulgated under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act.

International Payroll Administration – Transition Planning for a Global Payroll Solution

 May 12, 2015

When implementing a global payroll delivery model, it is critical that there is sufficient time spent determining the right delivery model for the organization (fully outsourced, partially outsourced, business process as a service, or in-house), designing the future state delivery model, creating the business case to support the change, and developing a comprehensive implementation plan (including a change management plan).


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Congress Passes Bipartisan Energy Efficiency Bill

 May 7, 2015

On April 21, 2015, the U.S. Congress passed a modest energy efficiency bill with bipartisan support. The bill—which was passed by voice votes in both chambers of Congress—is expected to be signed by President Obama.


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Unlocking the Value of Voice of the Customer Surveys for Shared Services Organizations

 May 5, 2015

Understanding the voice of your shared services customers is vital to your organization moving up the value chain. More importantly, results from a recent HR shared services organization (SSO) survey conducted by APQC and ScottMadden, show that understanding links between voice of the customer and performance is seen as one of the most important keys to being a top-performing SSO.

In this article, you will gain insights on trends and lessons learned from more than 20 years of ScottMadden conducting voice of the customer surveys for our shared services clients to help you unlock the value of conducting a well-thought-out customer survey.

Additional Contributing Author: Min Qin

Will Recent Policy Changes Accelerate the Advancement of Small Modular Reactor Technology?

 April 30, 2015

Though the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has not yet approved any Small Modular Reactor (SMR) designs, there are several companies in the United States that are investing heavily in SMR technology. NuScale Power LLC (owned by Fluor Corp.) is arguably the farthest along in the process of developing the technology and is expected to submit its SMR design to the NRC for approval sometime in 2016. Earlier this year, Westinghouse Electric Company announced that the NRC provided safety approval for the company’s testing approach for its SMR design. According to Jeff Benjamin, Westinghouse senior vice president, New Plants and Major Projects, the NCR approval “… confirms the technical maturity of the Westinghouse SMR concept design.”


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Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs): The Outlook for Lease Condensate

 April 27, 2015

The production of condensate is set to continue its rapid pace of production. Concurrently, domestic demand has declined due to constrained demand from refineries [1]. In particular, lease condensate may be particularly susceptible to this oversupply/decreased demand condition. Although lease condensate is a byproduct of natural gas drilling, it is considered crude oil by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the Department of Commerce and thus banned from export. This prevents creating an export market for all of the supply, something that is occurring with other NGLs such as butane. Low oil prices further hurt the near-term business case for natural gas exploration and development, including condensate.


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SolarCity Installs More than One-Third of Residential Solar in 2014

 April 20, 2015

GTM Research and Solar Electric Industries Association (SEIA) report that 1.2 GW of residential solar was installed in the U.S. market in 2014. SolarCity was the market leader, installing 34% of all new capacity.


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Residential Solar Leases Add Complexity to Home Sales

 March 30, 2015

The introduction of third-party leases has helped rapid growth of rooftop solar but may be hindering home sales in California and other states. Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory (LBNL) found host-owned solar PV actually adds value to homes ($3-$4/watt); however, leased solar appears to introduce complexity in home resale. Before finalizing a sale, a homeowner with a solar lease may be required to either buy out the lease contract or find buyers willing and able to assume lease terms with sometimes stringent credit qualifications. Real estate professionals report a growing number of sales falling apart because of disputes over solar leases.


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Will Nuclear Power Plants in the United States Experience Life beyond 60?

 March 13, 2015

After 40 years in service (the initial license period), nuclear reactors can receive a 20-year operational extension through an established NRC license renewal process. Of the 99 operating reactors in the United States, 75 (representing approximately 69,000 MW of capacity) have been granted the 20-year extension to operate for a total of 60 years, 17 reactors are currently undergoing a license renewal review by the NRC (a process that lasts approximately 30 months), and seven more are expected to file for a license extension in the next few years.


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