Dave Blanchard

Senior Editor

IndustryWeek

Email dblanchard@industryweek.com

Focus: Finance & Supply Chain

Email: dblanchard@industryweek.com

Follow on Twitter @supplychainDave

Call: 216-931-9794

Contributing Editor Dave Blanchard provides the IndustryWeek audience his expertise in lean supply chain, reporting on topics from logistics, procurement and inventory management to warehousing and distribution. He also specializes in business finance news and analysis, writing on such topics as corporate finance and tax, cost management, governance, risk and compliance, and budgeting and reporting.

Dave is also the chief editor of Penton Media’s Business Finance and editorial director of Material Handling & Logistics.

With over 25 years of experience, Dave literally wrote the book on supply chain management, Supply Chain Management Best Practices (John Wiley & Sons, 2010), and is a frequent speaker at industry events. Dave is an award-winning journalist and has been twice named one of the nation’s top columnists by the American Society of Business Publications Editors.

Dave received his B.A. in English from Northern Illinois University, and was a high school teacher prior to his joining the publishing industry. He is married and has two daughters.

Articles by Dave Blanchard

Supply Chain & Logistics: Collaboration Provides a Sobering Solution for CPG Industry

Supply chain project brings suppliers, wholesalers and retailers to the same table.

Finance: When It Comes to Year-End Cash Management, It's All in the Game

Short-term gains to improve Q4 financials typically are negated in the following quarter.

Finance: US Economy Heading Toward the Fiscal Cliff

How's this for a conundrum: If the U.S. Congress does nothing prior to Jan. 1 to prevent the full fiscal cliff from occurring, the country will almost certainly slip back into recession.

Supply Chain and Logistics: Dell Taps into Innovation to Reach Emerging Markets

The PC giant retools its supply chain to appeal to a global audience.

Supply Chain and Logistics: Lean Six Sigma Keeps Cardinal's Supply Chain Healthy

Over the past 30 years, the percentage of the U.S. GDP devoted to logistics costs has dropped from 17.9% in 1980 to 8.3% in 2011. It's a far different story for U.S. health care costs, which have soared from 9.0% of the GDP to 17.6%.

U.S. Companies Are Pulling Back from the Eurozone

With the shaky state of the U.S. economy one of the dominant themes of the presidential campaign, it's perhaps not surprising that almost half (47%) of the finance executives at large companies are less optimistic than they were in the previous quarter.

Decision Analysis Leads to a Smoother Ride for Angus

The transition from a private to a public company requires significant financial planning and analysis.

Book Shelf: How to Optimize Your Supply Chain Network 1

How do you know if your production facilities and warehouses are in the best places to ensure the most efficient and cost-effective flow of materials and goods from your suppliers to your customers?

A Smarter Way to Plan for Demand

Planning is one of the core functions of supply chain management, and yet by its very nature the concept of an “accurate forecast” is an oxymoron. All forecasts end up being wrong; the key is being able to minimize the errors.

Pessimism is a Growth Commodity for Manufacturers

The window of opportunity for manufacturers could be closing more rapidly than most companies expect.

Paper Manufacturer Protects its Assets while Reducing Emissions

Just as homeowners are more likely to renovate their current homes rather than purchase
a new one when the economy is soft, so too are many manufacturers opting to maintain and repair their existing equipment rather than making substantial capital investments in new systems. According to Ralph Rio, research director at analyst firm ARC Advisory Group, there’s been strong growth in the adoption and usage of maintenance management systems, and that growth has been propelled by four key factors: uptime, cost control, asset longevity and safety.

How to Manage a Global Supply Chain

As the world has gotten flatter and supply chains have gotten longer, the need for companies to follow best practices in global supply chain management has intensified.