Maine Pointe In The News

Originally posted in Supply Chain Brain

Anybody with a passing knowledge of the supply chain knows how important it is to a company’s success. So why haven’t some CEOs, boards and investors gotten the memo? Maine Pointe CEO Steve Bowen, along with University of Tennessee’s J. Paul Dittmann, Ph.D., answer that question in this informative podcast on Supply Chain Brain titled “Do companies and investors get the importance of supply chain excellence.” 

Originally posted in Mergers & Acquisitions

It comes as no surprise that the market for PE acquisitions continues to be robust. Global deal value increased from $594.54Bn in 2015 to $825.77Bn in 2018 and that’s nothing compared with the predictions for 2019.

Buoyed by low interest rates, an eager supply of deal financing and a prolonged period of economic growth, PE has plenty of dry powder and has proved to be resistant to the impact of trade wars, tariffs and political uncertainty. However, not all factors are positive: Valuation multiples remain high and there’s considerable competition among PE firms to find and acquire those elusive “diamonds in the rough.” At the same time, corporate “strategics” looking for suitable acquisitions to support their growth, are offering a viable alternative for firms considering sale.

Originally published in Supply Chain Dive

A false sense of comfort after months of trade truce has left many businesses unprepared for the new tariff list, which covers nearly all previously untaxed Chinese imports.

A relatively calm trade environment suddenly turned stormy earlier this month after a Sunday night tweet from President Donald Trump. The long-anticipated tariff hike on $200 billion worth of imports became reality on Friday, May 10, as the duty rate rose from 10% to 25%.

Originally published in Forbes

In his second Forbes column, Maine Pointe CEO Steve Bowen highlights the importance of supply chain in creating a path to value through growth. Steve notes an effective supply chain strategy is essential, given the volatility of current trade relations between the US and China, and outlines six best practices to optimize supply chain and minimize risk, including redefining the supply chain, creating a cross-functional team, focusing on the right metrics, connecting with the c-suite, managing risks and implementing Total Value Optimization. 

Companies use multiple tactics to generate economic profit, including introducing new products, launching marketing campaigns or undertaking acquisitions. Supply chains offer an effective, though less understood, path to creating value through growth, driving down working capital, improving cash flow and lowering cost.

Originally published in Chief Executive

Maine Pointe CEO Steve Bowen and GSCI’s Paul Dittmann take on “Why CEOs are still in the dark about the supply chain” in Chief Executive magazine, in an insightful piece  showing a surprising number of top executives don’t have a formal strategy in place for managing supply chain risk. Geopolitical uncertainty and volatile trade relations are adding to the risk profile, making it all the more necessary to have a plan in place. The  article highlights not only the risks, but the solutions – starting with redefining supply chain excellence and identifying best practices.

Originally published in Supply Chain Dive

"The USPS is required by law to deliver to all United States postal addresses in all jurisdictions, regardless of geography and density. This makes them an ideal partner for others that want to deliver to those locations, but do not have the infrastructure or capability to do so," Michael Notarangeli, an executive VP of Maine Pointe, told Supply Chain Dive last year.

Originally published in Supply Chain Brain

In the IT world the ability to recover data and systems fast when disaster strikes is an organizational priority. Doesn’t it make equally good sense to have a plan in place to protect your supply chain?

Global supply chain risk events increased by 36 percent in 2018 according to Resilinc’s annual Event Watch. The threat of trade tariffs from the U.S. looms large, the U.S.-China dispute rumbles on — and then there’s Brexit. 

 Originally published in Consulting UK

Prior to joining Maine Pointe, a global supply chain and operations consulting firm with offices in the Americas, Europe and Asia, Loder worked as a company director, a partner in professional services, an entrepreneur and an accountant, among other roles. 

Throughout his career, he has helped numerous private equity firms assess targets (financial, operational due diligence) and deliver deal drivers. Loder has further led management buy-outs, and has successfully exited businesses he founded.

Originally published in Supply Chain Dive

Maine Pointe CEO Steve Bowen says many companies had hoped for a better agreement, and some US companies without optionality will be left with few supply chain alternatives, noting that a supply chain shift for a global company may be a years-long process. 

Originally published in Supply Chain Management Review

Companies are constantly looking for new ways to compete in a challenging, often unpredictable global marketplace. According to Nate Powrie, EVP Data Analytics, one significant opportunity for enterprises is to capitalize on improving visibility and insights into their end-to-end supply chain. Specifically, companies are aligning center-led procurement operations with financial decisions to see an impact that goes beyond cost reductions.

These is a growing trend for organizations to unlock value by making strategic sourcing and working capital improvements within the boundaries of their existing ERP implementations. This is particularly challenging when an organization’s spending is highly obscured, with limited visibility into how the money is spent. A lack of transparency in the data processed from the procure-to pay-cycle, makes it very difficult for companies to understand cost savings opportunities.

Originally published in Inbound Logistics

Maine Pointe's Michael Notarangeli and Janice Pinson were quoted in the publication’s popular “Good Question” series, which addresses important industry topics among the industry’s top leaders. In this month’s question, “What’s the first thing you would do to address the supply chain talent gap,” Michael offered concrete advice about defining the attributes which drive success, forecasting where talent is needed and curating it across the firm. In Janice’s answer, she addresses the gap that exists because of a lack of talent and undefined expectations, and encourages organizations to address the gap from multiple angles to better align supply chain strategy with corporate strategy.

Originally published in SupplyChainBrain

Maine Pointe CEO Steve Bowen is profiled in SupplyChainBrain, actively discussing Total Value Optimization in detail, reinforcing the idea that the supplier is more than just a supplier, but rather, a provider of value who can react instantly to rapidly changing conditions in the supply chain. 

Business theorists have been talking up the concept of supply chain as a “competitive weapon” for so many years that if it were really happening, they’d have a well-stocked armory by now.

 Originally published in PE Hub

Maine Pointe has promoted Mark McTigue to executive vice president, private equity, North America. Boston-based Maine Pointe is a supply chain and operations consulting firm to private equity firms.

Global supply chain and operations consulting firm Maine Pointe today announced the promotion of Mark McTigue from Vice President, Industry Partner, Private Equity; to Executive VP, Private Equity, North America.

In his new role, McTigue will continue offering hands-on experience to help PE firms solve their toughest supply chain and operations challenges while achieving new levels of performance.
As a senior business professional with more than 25 years’ experience solving complex business problems, McTigue has a strong track record for helping C-level and private equity executives improve value and optimize performance across the end-to-end supply chain.

 Originally published in Spend Matters

Maine Pointe’s global presence was the subject of a case study mentioned in an article in Spend Matters, one of the most influential publications in the procurement sector. The article, “Shifting to digitization from manual sourcing processes isn’t easy unless you use Bonfire,” is a profile of Bonfire procurement software which describes how Maine Pointe’s use of the strategic software and how it has helped the company stand out in a global marketplace. Quoting Nate Powrie, Executive VP Data Analytics, the article describes how Maine Pointe provides value for clients and promotes visibility through the Bonfire software system.