by 
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Intel Corporation today announced that Erik Huggers will serve as corporate vice president and general manager of the company’s Digital Home Group and become a member of Intel’s Management Committee. Huggers is director of the BBC’s Future Media & Technology division and serves as a member of the BBC's Executive Board. He replaces interim general manager Brad Daniels.
“Erik Huggers’ proven track record of managing a variety of digital media businesses will be an extraordinary asset to Intel’s digital home initiative,” said Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini. “Erik’s background and vision for delivering new platforms, interactive content and services to consumers are an outstanding fit for Intel, and I am thrilled to welcome such a talented person to drive this key strategic business for Intel. We look forward to him joining our team.”
Huggers joined the BBC in 2007 and is responsible for delivering BBC content over the Internet, interactive TV and mobile, helping audiences enjoy programming using a wide variety of devices from any location. He is also responsible for managing the BBC's Broadcast and Enterprise Technology Group and BBC Archives, as well as leading the BBC's Research and Development activities.
Huggers has long been at the forefront of digital media innovation. Prior to joining the BBC, he was with Microsoft where he led the global business development for Windows Media Technologies. Before joining Microsoft, Huggers worked with Endemol Entertainment as director of business development for its interactive division.
“I look forward to joining one of the leading technology companies in the world,” said Huggers. “This is a tremendous opportunity to build a new business for silicon, software and services to unlock the potential of high-quality connected media experiences in the living room.”
{complink 2657|Intel Corp.}
What's you particular beef with Excel? You don't name anything else here that you recommend to take its place. What do you recommend and why?
Craig and Steve,
Awesome work on this report.
I have saved it and will be reading it again and again whenever I need a refresher course in Supply Chain management[Have also printed a copy for my Team].
The best parts of the report which I liked was the
Stop using Excel as a supply chain application
& Use your supply chain to expand your business, not just move stuff
We Supply chain execs really have to stop using Excel as aggressively as we do today.Its just not worth the problems it creates in the long run.
As for the second point-Business expansion today is key but very,very difficult.But more often than not we have pointers within our organizations itself on what can and can't be done(to expand),these lie in many areas but especially in all the Supply Chain data.
Great stuff!!
Keep up the good work.
Ashish.
Hi Ariella,
I don't want to step on Craig and Steve's toes, but I do know there are tools out there that are more flexible and user-friendly than Excel. Arrow Electronics has a bill-of-materials (BOM) tool that can be customized so the data fields include your part numbers, contract prices, cross references, and can be set to flag you with problems or parts shortages or delays…it has a bunch of supply chain bells and whistles that Excel doesn't have. It can be shared as well, but rather than uploading or downloading a spreadsheet it can be done in one spot and then updated for everyone. (I actually know more about this stuff than excel which I never mastered).
There are also some Web-based solutions that are easier to use than Excel, again, for electronics supply chain purposes. I would imagine as a basic spreadsheet Excel still rocks, but for electronics BOMs, there are better solutions for their specific purposes.
Thanks, Barbara.
Ariella:
Thanks for the reply and great question. I hate to give you the consulting “it depends” answer, but candidly, it really does depend. It depends on a company's industry, capability requirements, etc. Over the past five or so years, a lot of interesting solutions have emerged which operate like web-based versions of Excel – with a lot more horespower.
This blog is not the proper format to debate the merits of these different supply chain solutions (as each one has its fit in the market), but I will say there are a lot of solutions available that can help companies get off Excel.
Thanks,
Steve
Ashish:
Thanks for your comments!
Steve
Thanks for the great conversation everyone! I would simply add that I have fond memories of managing daily requirements planning for a multi-billion dollar consumer electronics company in Excel. I'm also glad that I don't have to do it anymore. It's a terrific tool and will always have a place in supporting thought experiments and helping move from proof of concept to actual system implementation. Indeed, the issue perhaps isn't even with Excel but rather that having folks manage key operational and supply chain data locally risks all kinds of data quality and work flow challenges that could take up an entirely new blog post.
Can we debate the merits of store-bought vs. homes baked cookies?
(see, I was paying attention)
🙂
Dear Craig and steve, the nine points you mentioned through this blog is very much valid, especially in related to supply chain management. I agree that there are many open source and free tools are available in market and over web, which can use in lue of Excel. But still many of the supply chain professionals are much relayed on Excel than any other tools, why?
In my opinion nobody wants to think or experience the things in a different way, everybody wants to think and do their work in a tradition way. Even though they are aware about the other tools and they are more reliable, still they are dependable on Excel. This is because of the confidence they had build over years with MS and Excel. More over I don’t think it’s so easy for them to switch immediate; it may take months and even years for a rethinking.
While I agree that all of the above 9 resolutions are clearly important for the success, the singlehandedly most critical piece has to be Change Management. Most of the time the hardest problem to overcome is people. If employees are not aligned with the right incentives, they are not willing to change. It's only common for most of us to be content with the way things are because it is much easier to do. SO in order to accomplish the above, management needs to think about sending out the right message and right motivation for employees to do all the great things that will improve the financial bottomline
Hwong:
Yes, there is need for organizational change to get the type of result that Craig and Steve discussed.
Resoultions #3 and #8 empphasizes these changes that needs to occur both wiithin the organizations and in the organization's relationships with all its external audiences. To make change happen, skill development has to be the focus of the oragnization. Each new employees' skill and experience level must be matched with the supervisor's directive and supportive behaviors to model the change desired.
You are right about the need for the management to get it, and to send out the right messages, but those by themselves will not motivate the employees. Helping the employees develop business skills, capabilities, and hands on experience on new and creative ways of doing business builds their confidence. This is what creates a positive work environment and a motivated work force.
Good advice. I've found it's best if my wife makes the cookies, not me!
What's wrong with Excel? If a simple tool can do the job, let it be.
Nothing wrong Alex, it have its own popularity and majority of supply chain professionals are using Excel in a good way. Even though there are many other free and paid tools are available, we (myself) didn’t even tried to use the other. That means, am that much comfortable with Excel and moreover didn’t want to move away from my comfortable zone. I think majority of supply chain professionals are thinking in similar line.