Buzzwords. The words we love to hate. For the second year, a company called Preperly conducted a survey on corporate buzzwords, and what they found was that more than 1 in 5 people say they dislike these words, yet 7 in 10 say they use them. Phrases like “win-win,” “circle back” and “put it on my radar.” Yep. We are all guilty of using these.
Here at Blue Yonder, we decided to ask our Industry Strategy team which supply chain-related buzzwords they hear regularly are their least favorite and why. Here’s a sampling of their responses:
Chirag Modi, Corporate Vice President, Industry Strategy – Supply Chain Execution and 3PL
Transformation. The word gets overused, reducing its significance as it is a really big deal for companies to go through one.
Ben Wynkoop, Global Industry Strategist, Grocery & Convenience
New Normal. It implies that we live in set ways, and just move from one set of business to others instead of being on a constant evolution in business.
Ann Marie Jonkman, Senior Director, Global Industry Strategies – Logistics
Block Chain. Beyond a small segment of the supply chain population, most people have to look up the definition or are misinformed on the meaning of the term and use it improperly.
Salim Shaikh, Corporate Vice President, Industry Strategy – Automotive
AI/ML. They have both become jargon/buzzwords that many companies don’t fully understand the use cases for them. And now with generative AI, there is even more confusion around the terms.
Wayne Snyder, Vice President, Retail Industry Strategy EMEA
Digital Twin. It is often meaningless as is Industry 4.0.
Dave Hamilton, Senior Director Retail Industry Strategy
Disruption. It is definitely overused these days, but it is also an important one as supply chain disruptions can have a significant impact on businesses and consumers. They can lead to shortages of goods, price increases, and delays in delivery. Businesses may need to adjust their operations and consumers may need to be flexible in their purchasing habits.
