Best Supply Chain Quotes

I'm always on the lookout for great supply chain quotes.

But it's hard to find them when you need them!

So, I decided to build a list with some of my favorites.

Here ya' go... enjoy!

P.S. - Please add your favorite supply chain quotes in the comments below!

“Without data you’re just another person with an opinion.” (Deming)

"“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” - - Winston Churchill

"AI began with an ancient wish to forge the gods." Pamela McCorduck, Machines Who Think, 1979

"Since the dawn of human civilization, we have both craved and feared the creation of beings superior to ourselves. We tell stories of these beings in books, films, YouTube clips, and tweets. It's the best we can do while feeling around a pitch-dark room looking for the light switch." Lex Fridman, MIT Research Scientist, 2019

There is no more B2B or B2C. It's H2H: Human to Human

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children."

"Many supply chains are perfectly suited to the needs that the business had 20 years ago." MIT Professor Jonathan Byrnes

"It is the mark of an educated mind to rest satisfied with the degree of precision which the nature of the subject admits and not to seek exactness where only an approximation is possible." - Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)

"It is utterly implausible that a mathematical formula should make the future known to us, and those who think it can would once have believed in witchcraft." - Jakob Bernoulli (1655-1705)

"Amateurs talk about strategy. Professionals discuss logistics."

"The real competition is between supply chains, not companies." Martin Christopher

"The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment." Warren Bennis

“The planet was being destroyed by manufacturing processes, and what was being manufactured was lousy, by and large.” Kurt Vonnegut

Explanation of Bitcoin: "imagine if keeping your car idling 24/7 produced solved Sudokus you could trade for heroin" @Theophite

"Planning Is Everything. The Plan Is Nothing." Dwight Eisenhower (Citation needed)

"The First Law of Forecasting... the forecast is always wrong." (Citation needed)

"The Supply Chain stuff is really tricky." Elon Musk (Citation needed)

"Forecasting is the art of saying what will happen, and then explaining why it didn't!"

The beginning of all wisdom is to call things by their name~> Confucius

"Dude, where's my truck?"

"The more you touch it, the more it costs."

"Forecasting is the art of being less wrong." Jill Hays, supply chain professional

Why is talk cheap? There's an overabundance of supply versus demand.

“The line between disorder and order lies in logistics…” — Sun Tzu

"Narrow the gap between effort and accomplishment." Gary Smith, Supply Chain Professional

“You can have any car that you want as long as it's black" Henry Ford

“In theory, there is no difference between practice and theory. In practice, there is.” ~~Yogi Berra

“What gets measured gets improved.” ~ Peter Drucker

"A forecast is only as good as your ability to execute." Sheri Hinish, The Supply Chain Queen

"The future of business education is lifelong, and online." Steven Brown, Supply Chain Professor

“INTELLIGENCE IS THE ABILITY TO ADAPT TO CHANGE.” STEPHEN HAWKING

"Every company needs to think globally about their business, and strategically about technology." Daniel Stanton, Mr. Supply Chain

‘We shall blockchain our inventory, whatever the cost may be, we shall all provide it on the beaches, we shall provide it from the truck docks, we shall provision fields and in the streets, we shall provision in the hills; we shall never overstock.” Richard Donaldson, Supply Chain Expert

"Whenever we think we have final answers then progress, science, and better understanding ceases." Eliyahu M. Goldratt, The Goal

"I can cube out a handbag as good as I can a truck." Katherine Szabo Fowler, Supply Chain Expert

"The thing about a forecast is that it is always wrong. (It is important to be able to understand this variance.)" Joanne Gorski, Supply Chain Expert

"All models are wrong; however, some are useful." George Box

“One is none. Two is one, In short plan for failures."

"If you want to kill any idea, get a committee working on it." Charles Kettering

"Products can be easily copied. But a supply chain can provide a true competitive advantage." Yossi Sheffi

"A Camel is a racehorse designed by a committee."

“I don't know what the hell this ‘logistics’ is that Marshall is always talking about, but I want some of it.” Admiral E. J. King

“My logisticians are a humourless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” (Alexander the Great)

"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." - Mike Tyson

“You will not find it difficult to prove that battles, campaigns, and even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics.” General Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Almost all quality improvement comes via simplification of design, manufacturing, layout, processes, and procedures." Tom Peters

“Supply Chain is the science. Logistics is the art.” RDML Fabry, U.S. Pacific Fleet

“Supply Chain is like nature, it is all around us.” ~ Dave Waters

"The best way to reduce your supply chain inventory is to sell it." Dilbert.

"Geeks are People who love something so much that all the details matter.” Marissa Mayer

"In God we trust, all others must bring data." W Edwards Deming

"85% of the reasons for failure to meet customer expectations are related to deficiencies in system and processes...rather than the employee." W. Edward Deming

"Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all." Peter Drucker

"In the word of supply chains you don't have to out-run the bear just the other guy" 

"The Business Schools reward complex behaviours more than the simple behaviours, but simple behaviour is more effective." Warren Buffett

"A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow." Andy Weir

“Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.” Mark Twain

If supply chain had an arch enemy it would be called " bad communication"- EverythingSupplyChain.com

"It's critical that we drive digitization of supply chains, because without it, there will be no transparency; and without transparency, there will be no accountability." Christian Lanng

"If you don't know where you are going, any path will get you there" Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

"Logistics Planning - The wisdom to realize when working on plan A, you'll run into conflicts in executing plan B and being properly prepared, and successfully executing plan E." - Capt John P. Laverdure, Scott Air Force Base, HQ Air Mobility Command, 1996

“I think everybody would agree that now business has to take full responsibility for the impacts of your supply chain.“ Steve Howard

"Looking at the world through a sustainability lens not only helps us 'future proof' our supply chain, it also fuels innovation and drives brand growth " Paul Polman

"Place, time, quality, price, cost, and quantity" Kyle Smith, Supply Chain Professional

“Leaders win through logistics. Vision, sure. Strategy, yes. But when you go to war, you need to have both toilet paper and bullets at the right place at the right time. In other words, you must win through superior logistics.” – Tom Peters

"Survival is not compulsory" Deming.

“Do not burden future generations with requirements for maintenance or vigilant administration of potential danger due to the careless creation of products, processes or standards.” William McDonough

"Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning." ~ Winston Churchill

“You get what you expect, you deserve what you tolerate!” - - Margie O’Jea

“Prior planning prevents pretty poor performance”

"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten."

“Improving logistics requires a lot of trade offs” - unknown.

"The RF gun is staying, you don't have to." Unknown

"There is never enough time to do it right but we will always find time to fix it." Unknown

'There's always got to be a better way to do it' - Lindsay Fox

"If you can't measure it, you can't manage it"

"DISPATCHER noun "Someone who does precision guesswork based on unreliable data provided by those of questionable knowledge" See also, Wizard or Magician." Unknown

"Forecast accuracy improves in direct correlation to its distance from usefulness." Richard Sherman, Supply Chain Expert

Supply chain management is all about managing conflicting interests (APICS course CSCP module 1, 2018 Edition)

"Supply chain professionals are the canaries in the coal mine of the global economy." Pete Mento, Supply Chan Expert

"Be comfortable that there may be paths out there that haven't been walked that are your paths." Dany Garcia, The Garcia Companies

Want even more? Here are 12 pages of quotes about QUOTES ABOUT MILITARY LOGISTICS. (Thanks to Dan Moats for sharing!)

#SupplyChain #SupplyChainManagement #Quotes #Business #Leadership #Forecasting #ShipsAndShipping #Humor #Logistics #Transportation

Who is Mr. Supply Chain?

Daniel Stanton is a supply chain industry veteran and an IBM Futurist. He's the best-selling author of Supply Chain Management For Dummies, and is dedicated to empowering professionals through education and technology. His courses on LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) have been viewed almost 1 million times, and he's a frequent speaker at educational conferences and industry events.