Happy (Chinese) New Year

I have descended from the mountain to rejoin the blogging civilization and want to wish everyone visiting my blog a Happy Chinese New Year. The longer I am in Asia, the more impacted I feel by the Chinese New Year versus the Western calendar new year, but it is also a good excuse to delay coming back here to kick off 2008.

In 2007 I pretty much went off the blogging map, in stark contrast to all the very focused posts I put together in 2006 on supply chain topics and peripheral subjects such as 'resilience'. Last year ended up with me focused on my career development and creating closer ties with family--these were definitely the two most important themes in my life last year.

Switching jobs from a traditional Japanese company to Manhattan Associates was such a drastic change, it was like hopping from a slowly prodding burrow onto an untamed stallion, feeling it bolting forth and not quite knowing which direction it might take you next. But, once broken, you can take in the scenery more clearly and also move forth swiftly and with resolution.

In my first year with Manhattan, I was fortunate to be part of two successful IT implementations--one in Japan and one in South Africa. Today I am in the beginning of my third implementation while still providing support to our client and partners in South Africa. Where in Japan I balanced my knowledge of the culture and language with my growing understanding of supply chain technology, in South Africa I was completely reliant on my knowledge of Manhattan technology, people skills and crisis management skills. These two distinct experiences have laid the foundation for my current project--a client's roll-out of supply chain technology to their logistics centers across the world, including Japan.

Nailing the delivery of a customer's supply chain technology solution is difficult in and of itself--nailing it across several countries within a two- to three-year time frame is several times more challenging. In this scenario, skills in both managing global projects  and also managing the balance between a global supply chain design versus local delineations are critical.

These are some of the major themes I hope to focus on in 2008 while reflecting back upon the many experiences I had in 2007 as I became familiar with the dynamics of the supply chain technology industry.