Simon Ellis

Practice Director

> View Analyst Research

Analyst Profile

Simon Ellis currently leads the supply chain strategies practice area at IDC Manufacturing Insights, one of IDC’s industry business units that address the current market gap by providing fact-based research and analysis on best practices and the use of information technology to assist clients in improving their capabilities in key process areas. Within the supply chain practice, Mr. Ellis specializes in advising clients on LCS (Low Cost Sourcing), Lean, Six Sigma and more. Mr. Ellis also contributes his supply chain expertise to IDC Retail Insights research.

Mr. Ellis blogs in the IDC Manufacturing Insights Community (http://idc-insights-community.com/manufacturing) and contributes to the IDC Retail Insights Community (http://idc-insights-community.com/retail). His Twitter handle is simellis.

With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Mr. Ellis most recently was the Supply Chain Strategy Director/Futurist for Unilever North America, a $12 billion division of Unilever, the maker of such well-known products as Dove, Suave, Wisk, All, Q-tips, and Vaseline. Mr. Ellis was responsible for leading the implementation of key new technologies that impacted the future of the Unilever Supply Chain. Specifically, he led the North American RFID and e-Catalog teams, and was the project leader for the new Data Management Organization.

Having been with Unilever since 1985, Mr. Ellis has also worked within the sales and finance organization, thus bringing a well-rounded business side background to the practice he directs. Prior to Unilever North America, Mr. Ellis worked for Unilever subsidiaries Lipton/Foods in finance from 1985-1990, and Lever Brothers in finance and logistics from 1990-1997.

Mr. Ellis received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University and an M.B.A. in Finance from Columbia University.



Download Simon Ellis's Bio in pdf format.

Research Authored by Simon Ellis

Perspective: Oracle Value Chain Summit, 2013 Simon Ellis Apr 2013 - Doc # MI240675    Perspective This IDC Manufacturing Insights Perspective looks at a recent Value Chain Summit event hosted by Oracle in San Francisco in February 2013. A somewhat more civilized experience than Oracle OpenWorld, the summit was full of both existing cust... purchase document

Business Strategy: Arguing the Case for Supply Chain Resiliency in 2013 Simon Ellis Apr 2013 - Doc # MI240502    Business Strategy This IDC Manufacturing Insights report discusses the growing importance of supply chain resiliency and argues the case for focus and investment.According to Simon Ellis, practice director, IDC Manufacturing Insights, "The pressure on manufa... purchase document

IDC Maturity Model: Big Data and Analytics — A Guide to Unlocking Information Assets Dan Vesset,  Michael Versace,  Greg Girard,  Adelaide O'Brien,  Cynthia Burghard,  Jill Feblowitz,  Debra Osswald,  Simon Ellis Mar 2013 - Doc # 239771    Industry Development and Models This IDC study describes IDC's Big Data and Analytics (BDA) Maturity Model framework that identifies the stages, critical measures, outcomes, and actions required for companies to effectively develop BDA competency. As evidence of the compe... purchase document

Perspective: Supply Chain Traceabilty — Fall Behind .... or Get Ahead! Simon Ellis Mar 2013 - Doc # MI239778    Perspective This IDC Manufacturing Insights Perspective looks at supply chain traceability as an important priority through the lens of the recent horsemeat contamination in the United Kingdom. purchase document

Perspective: Improving Supplier-Retailer Collaboration with Big Data, Mobile, and Social Leslie Hand,  Simon Ellis,  Kimberly Knickle,  Heather Ashton Feb 2013 - Doc # GRI239528    Perspective This IDC Retail Insights Perspective is a companion to two other Perspectives — Perspective: Improving Collaboration with Big Data, Mobile, and Social in the Brand-Oriented Value Chain (IDC Manufacturing Insights #, January 2013) and Perspe... purchase document

Perspective: Product Quality, Optimization of Sourcing, and Logistics Drive Collaboration for Retail Ecosystems Leslie Hand,  Simon Ellis,  Kimberly Knickle,  Heather Ashton Feb 2013 - Doc # GRI239584    Perspective This IDC Retail Insights Perspective is a companion to Perspective: Improving Collaboration with Big Data, Mobile, and Social in the Brand-Oriented Value Chain (IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI239210, January 2013) — which offers a look at co... purchase document

Perspective: The Shifting Cadence of Decisions Across the Manufacturing Supply Chain Simon Ellis Feb 2013 - Doc # MI239435    Perspective This IDC Manufacturing Insights Perspective looks at strategic, tactical, and operational decisions within the manufacturing supply chain and how different business processes connect across that spectrum of decisions. purchase document

Vendor Assessment: Traceability and Regulatory Compliance in the Food and Beverage Manufacturing Industry Simon Ellis,  Heather Ashton,  Leslie Hand Feb 2013 - Doc # MI239393    Vendor Assessment This IDC Manufacturing Insights report discusses the growing importance of traceability, compliance, and product life-cycle management to food and beverage manufacturers.According to Simon Ellis, practice director, Supply Chain Strategies I... purchase document

IDC Predictions 2013: Chief Risk Officers — A New Dialogue with IT and the CIO Michael Versace,  Jill Feblowitz,  Shawn P. McCarthy,  Scott Lundstrom,  Greg Girard,  Simon Ellis,  David Potterton Feb 2013 - Doc # 239293    IDC Presentation This IDC Presentation highlights trends in the business environment and how 3rd platform innovations are driving this maturing relationship between risk managers and the technology environments they operate within. This Presentation also sp... purchase document

Perspective: Improving Collaboration with Big Data, Mobile, and Social in the Brand-Oriented Value Chain Simon Ellis,  Leslie Hand,  Heather Ashton,  Kimberly Knickle Jan 2013 - Doc # MI239210    Perspective This IDC Manufacturing Insights Perspective is a companion to two other Perspectives — Perspective: The State of Collaboration in the Brand-Oriented Value Chain (IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI239086, January 2013) and Perspective: Product Q... purchase document

Perspective: The State of Collaboration in the Retail Value Chain Leslie Hand,  Simon Ellis,  Heather Ashton,  Kimberly Knickle Jan 2013 - Doc # GRI239245    Perspective This IDC Retail Insights Perspective examines the state of collaboration between retailers and manufacturers. We evaluate how current economic factors are impacting the decisions retailers and consumer products manufacturers (including foot... purchase document

More Research authored by Simon Ellis