INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICAL EXHIBITION-11 MARCH 2009

INTERNATIONAL PHARMA POWER - A REVOLUTION IN PHARMACEUTICAL BY EXHIBITION EXCHANGE

THE WORLDS BIGGEST EVER, ONLINE B2B EXHIBITION WHICH WILL BE INTERNATIONAL FOR PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES OF THE WORLD WILL FIND THEIR COMMON PLATFORM WITH WWW.MADE-FROM-INDIA.COM.

PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ROUND THE WORLD SHOULD NOT MISS THIS EXHIBITION AS IT WILL HAVE HIGHEST NUMBER OF VISITORS FROM ENTIRE WORLD.

THIS EXHIBITION HAS ALREADY CAUGHT THE FANCY AMONGST AND BIG PLAYERS OF PHARMACEUTICAL BESIDE SME’S .

THIS WILL HAVE FOLLOWING TYPES OF EXHIBITORS :
A) DRUG MANUFACTURERS
B) PHARMACEUTICAL MACHINERY MANUFACTURERS
C) PATHOLOGY LEADERS
D) BIO MOLECULAR AND GENERIC LEADERS
E) WORLD RENOWNED EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS

THIS EXHIBITION WILL BE FROM 11TH MARCH TO 18TH MARCH 2009.VENUE WILL BE WWW.MADE-FROM-INDIA.COM , A B2B PORTAL FOR PHARMACEUTICAL BUSINESS AND EXHIBITIONS.

MANUFACTURERS, EXPORTERS, IMPORTERS, TRADERS, CONSULTANTS WILLING TO ATTEND THIS EXHIBITION AS EXHIBITOR MAY CONTACT AT exhibition@made-from-india.com AND info@made-from-india.com.

FIRST CUM FIRST BASIS WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR ACCEPTING THE EXHIBITORS .TOTAL STRENGTH OF EXHIBITORS IN PHARMACEUTICAL WILL BE SOMEWHERE AROUND 800 AND MORE.

THIS IS THE BEST OPPORTUNITY TO BEAT RECESSION AS THIS FIRST AND BIGGEST EVER ONLINE B2B TRADE SHOW AND EXHIBITION IS GOING TO NOT ONLY CREATE HISTORY BUT ALSO CREATE DEMAND OF PRODUCT OF EXHIBITORS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD WITH INSTANT BRANDING AT NEGLIGIBLE COST OF $500 FOR THE SAID PERIOD .

IN THIS EXHIBITION , EXHIBITORS WILL BE ABLE TO EXHIBIT THEIR PRODUCT ALONGWITH THEIR DETAILS AND VIDEO AS WELL AS GETTING HIGH NUMBER OF LEADS FROM THE EXHIBITION AND MAXIMUM ROI WITH NEGLIGIBLE COST OF EXHIBITING TO THE WORLD WITHOUT INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY.

Tags: 11 MARCH 2009, 18 MARCH 2009, B2B PHARMACEUTICAL, B2B PORTAL, BIOMOLECULAR, INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICAL EXHIBITION ONLINE B2B EXHIBITION, Medical Trade Show, PHARMACEUTICAL MACHINERY

B2b Exhibition a Revolution to beat recession

Every other day there are conferences , seminars, workshops and round the table conferences amongst the corporate world so to beat recession . But , has any body found any way out from recession in market .

If the answer is no , then gone are the days , now one can beat the recession at ease with Exhibition. In the market when demand is not there , then the demand has to be created since every good thing is meant for sold and buyers are there but they don't buy by the time a need is not created in their mind. In the same manner , the recession has only one solution that is exhibition where b2b world gathers and shows the best product and demand and supply gets instantly created.

Further, to combat the costing , the online b2b exhibition is an option to be cherished for in order to beat the slackness and recession in the global market.

Online B2b exhibition is not only an alternative but is more effective and advantageous than offline exhibition in order to beat recession. Really , want to know how , then please read it very carefully:

a) No international Boundary – Online exhibition has deepest reach and penetration since any person at any point of time and from any part of the world can see the exhibitors products and services . No international boundary exist for the visitors who want to go for online exhibition, whereas, offline exhibition always have a barrier of international boundary. Since, entire world is for business and b2b portals just make it happen.

b) No Travelling – Neither the exhibitor need to travel to a place to show their products or service nor a visitor need to travel to see the products or services of the exhibitors.

c) Very Less Cost - The cost for travelling , lodging and boarding, cost of distribution stuff and manpower gets reduced to almost 5% .It is very cost effective since , costing is the need of the hour especially when entire world is pointing on costing.

d) No Time Limitation – Convenience is the other name of online exhibition since there is no restriction of time for visiting online exhibition. Any person can visit such exhibition at any time of day or night and see and find the products and services of his/her need. This is not possible with offline exhibition. With such innovative online B2b exhibition people don’t have to plan out time ,out of busy schedule to visit upto the place of offline exhibition but as per their convenience , it can be explored .

e) Maximum ROI- Business world always care for return on investment i.e profit , for them online exhibition always have maximum ROI in return .Since, not only it is cost effective and reaches maximum mass and targeted genuine audience but also more people can participate in exhibition.

f) Better Communication – On finding a particular exhibitor, a visitor can immediately contact him/her by email or call as entire details are available . It makes communication more effective and fast as well.

g) Maximum Exhibition can be Attended- One can attend atleast 5 online exhibitions at the cost of 1 offline exhibition. Moreover, frequency of participation also increases without much preparation and no need to settle again after visiting one exhibition before preparing for participating the other one.

h) Tension free- The term tension can include any and everything which is associated with offline exhibition . Whereas, online b2b exhibition is totally tension free and blended with latest technology to improve the chances of success.

i) Instant Branding - Since, entire world can see your product & therefore brand awareness is tremendous. Whereas, brand awareness is a long process & it takes time to get positioned to result into branding. With online exhibition, brand awareness & creation becomes not only easy, instant but worldwide as well.

The list of advantages are more and more …….just think once again !

Any Manufacturers, exporters, importers, suppliers, traders from any country of the world willing to participate in international online exhibition which is to start from 15th February 2009 on www.made-from-india.com. This event is going to be the worlds largest B2b Online exhibition held so far may contact at exhibition@made-from-india.com for further details .
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online b2b exhibition

Looking For Export? Are you worried , then B2b is there!

Looking For Export? First Session:


Looking for Export , but how to Export ? Is this the question which hovers the most in the mind of every person looking to venture beyond boundaries of one’s country .Ofcourse, this was also the problem of Mr Nath , the marketing head of a corporate which wanted that they should also start export as their product is of very high standard .Whereas, inferior products than their products have good command in international market.


This made him to see me as to how to go for it .Before that they had no experience of international trade. The over confidence about their product with ignorance about international market was biggest challenge for me to make him understand that it is not always better product which can be exported but a lot matters which if does not exist , then transaction cannot be completed.


Anyhow, the gentleman agreed to give up the thought that only quality matters but various factors dominate an international business.


The factors which need to be understood for international business are :


a) Piloting with proper product – Even if one is manufacturing various products say three products and have very good market share in all of the three products , then too , the proper product has to be identified .


Here, one will say that ok , the theory is fine , but how to conclude that it is a proper product , then the answer has to be found by the person dealing in the products as he is the best judge in that case .Because, such person can only understand the minor aspects of any change if demanded or compelled in international market


b) Finding Proper Market - Every market has only one golden rule which is demand and supply compliment each other. The proper product should also get the most proper market. Since, merely because everything can be bought and sold in a market , any market cannot be said to be proper market.


Say, if ink pen has high demand in Russia and has very good potential , but it is being tried to be sold to USA which has least takers , then such market cannot be said to be proper market for ink pen.


This simple analogy if understood by an exporter at an early date , it can bring wonders for him as success of any international business is dependant upon proper market


The very next question which arises is that how to find out as to which is the best potential market. This question has solution on studying the following :
i) Research on customers behaviour in different countries
ii) Data on demand of a particular products in a particular country
iii) Export import data of the targeted countries
These all will give a strong signal that which country is having best potential for one’s product.


c) Product Specification in potential market- the very next step which comes as most important factor is identifying and matching the specification of demanded products and successfully implying in your potential product before it can be explored for exporting .


The product specification has to be considered in following important terms :
i) Segment usage
ii) Packing
iii) Warranty and after sales service
iv) Pricing
v) Pattern, shape ,size, color etc
On understanding the above factors, a exporter can have confidence to place the product in the potential market.


Hope , lot of unsolved puzzles are solved and many more will be in future as well. In the following sessions , we shall be highlighting about other crucial factors so that the fear of how to and shall I export will permanently vanish from the minds of manufacturers, exporters, trades, suppliers of the world including India.


The author is business editor with www.made-from-india.com, a world class B2b Portal especially meant for promoting business of SME’s .

Supply chain needs pros

CONCERNED by the lack of supply chain management professionals in the country, 2GO of the Aboitiz Transport System Group encouraged youth leaders to embark on a “unique” career in the supply chain business.

Belle Pacetes, 2GO training manager, revealed during the Third Aboitiz-organized Future Leaders Business Summit last Friday that the company has observed a “wide gap” in the supply chain industry caused by the lack of professionals in the business.

“There is, currently, no formal training or education (to produce) professionals. Most practitioners in the supply chain industry (acquired) their expertise from experience, training, simply being on the job (and) learning the ropes,” she said.

2GO is the supply chain solutions provider under the Aboitiz Transport System (ATS), the transport and logistics company of Aboitiz and Co. (ACO) that is owned by publicly-listed Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV). From the release of the goods from the manufacturer to the delivery of the products to customers nationwide, 2GO’s supply chain services include warehousing, order entry and releasing, transport planning and routing, delivery to customers nationwide, and document management, among others.

To address the high demand and help the youth develop core competencies required for the job, 2GO launched a supply chain management course with the Jose Rizal University (JRU), De la Salle College of St. Benilde (DLSU-CSB), Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) and the Society of Fellows in Supply Management (SOFSM).

Scholarships

2GO recently granted 15 full four-year scholarships in JRU that now offers Bachelor of Commercial Science major in Supply Management, focusing on sourcing and procurement, manning and replenishment, logistics operations, and customer service.

DLSU-CSB and TIP will offer a similar course as post-graduate studies to be launched this year.

Pacetes explained that these courses can be taken as a certificate course to be completed in two years or a full degree completed in four years.

2GO is also planning to partner with local higher education institutions, such as the University of San Carlos in Cebu City.

“Our mission is to help our customers and our country gain competitive advantage through reduced overall cost by eliminating processes and layers or middlemen,” said Pacetes.

She said that by diversifying its product offerings and getting into the supply chain business, 2GO has been able to weather the negative effects of rising fuel prices. (NRC)
Source-sunstar.com.ph

PathGuide Technologies Recognized for Innovation by Supply & Demand Chain Executive

PathGuide Technologies, a leading provider of warehouse management systems (WMS) for wholesale and industrial distributors, today announced that the company has been included on the Supply & Demand Chain Executive annual '100' list of supply chain solution providers, consultants and other organizations that help lead the way in transforming companies' supply and demand chains.

The special focus of this year's '100' was supply chain innovation.

'We're delighted to receive this recognition from Supply & Demand Chain Executive,' said Eric Allais, president and CEO of PathGuide Technologies. 'Delivering warehouse management solutions that meet each customer's unique distribution requirements, and wrapping those solutions in the industry's best dedicated service and support is our core focus. It's a pleasure to be part of the annual ‘100' ranking.'

Supply & Demand Chain Executive has identified leading providers of supply chain services and technologies who are at the forefront of innovation. Based on submissions to the '100' from end users and solution providers, the judging committee for the '100,' including editorial staff of the magazine, in conjunction with the editorial advisory board, has compiled a list of leading supply and demand chain innovators.

'Our goal with this year's ‘100' is to highlight a broad range of solutions and services targeted at a variety of industries, addressing the needs of companies of varying sizes and assisting in the transformation of a diverse mix of the functions that make up the supply chain,' explained Andrew K. Reese, editor of Supply & Demand Chain Executive. 'Therefore, our judging committee looked for solutions across a variety of industries, addressing the needs of companies of varying sizes, and assisting in the transformation of a diverse mix of the functions that make up the supply chain.'

Final recipients are featured in the cover story of the June/July issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive, and can be found online at www.SDCExec.com/SDCE100.

About Supply & Demand Chain Executive
Supply & Demand Chain Executive is the executive's user manual for successful supply and demand chain transformation, utilizing hard-hitting analysis, viewpoints and unbiased case studies to steer executives and supply management professionals through the complicated, yet critical, world of supply and demand chain enablement to gain competitive advantage.

About PathGuide Technologies
PathGuide Technologies, Inc., a privately held company founded in 1989, is a leading provider of WMS solutions for wholesale and industrial distributors across North America. PathGuide's software and services help suppliers increase productivity and order accuracy, improve customer service and lower labor costs, ultimately driving greater profitability. To learn how distributors of all sizes can benefit from improved warehouse management, visit www.pathguide.com.
Source-pr-inside.com

Manufacturing Executives Eye Supply Chain to Drive Growth and Control Costs

Manufacturing executives plan to use supply chain as a key mechanism to improve both top- and bottom-line performance, despite challenges of the current economic environment, according to results of a recent survey prepared by management consulting firm Archstone Consulting.

Nearly three-quarters of the 265 manufacturing executives surveyed in Archstone's Manufacturing Executive Agenda for 2008 felt that the current market pressures, including sharply rising commodity prices, a sluggish economy and foreign competition, may be triggering significant transformational changes within manufacturing organizations.

"Over 80 percent of manufacturers have responded to the current economic climate by devising aggressive agendas to boost sales and cut costs," said Todd Lavieri, president and CEO of Archstone Consulting.

Two of the four most common ways that executives plan to bolster performance in 2008 depended upon the capabilities of supply chain.

"An interesting pattern emerged, in that manufacturers across the board have high expectations for their supply chains to both boost revenues and reduce costs," said John Ferreira, industrial manufacturing practice leader at Archstone Consulting.

"In the past manufacturers simply used their supply chains as a means to control costs by improving efficiencies," Ferreira continued. "Now they are using their supply chains as a mechanism to boost revenue and improve customer satisfaction through capabilities like better management of highly customized products, quicker delivery times and more integrated services."

The four executive agenda items shared by manufacturers in all industries include:

• Increasing revenue growth by leveraging supply chain capabilities to add value to products and services.
• Reducing costs with supply chain efficiency improvements.
• Improving product innovation.
• Controlling direct material costs.

Industry Trends
Archstone also identified several major industry trends in its Manufacturing Executives Agenda for 2008 surveys, including:

• Aerospace & Defense: Nearly 70 percent plan to simultaneously increase revenues and reduce costs by 3 percent or more.
• Consumer Packaged Goods: Nearly 90 percent anticipate cost reductions of 3 percent or greater. CPG executives cited managing direct material and commodity costs as the most important to achieving cost targets.
• Electrical & Electronic Equipment: Over 90 percent consider the sluggish economy to be a major constraint, and less than half expect revenue growth of 3 percent or more.
• Pharmaceuticals: Nearly 70 percent expect to reduce costs by 3 percent or higher, and 72 percent anticipate revenue growth of 3 percent or more.

Archstone Consulting launched the Manufacturing Executive Agenda for 2008 survey in April to examine which macroeconomic constraints are having the most significant impact on manufacturing executives, what cost and revenue targets have been established, and what strategies or areas of focus executives are evaluating to achieve those targets. Over 265 respondents participated in this survey.
Source-sdcexec.com

Cardinal Health steps in as Prime Therapeutics’ primary supplier

Cardinal Health Inc. has taken over as the primary pharmaceutical supplier for a Minnesota company that serves nearly 15 million people nationwide.

Dublin-based Cardinal said it struck a three-year deal with Prime Therapeutics, a St. Paul-based pharmacy benefits manager. Through the deal, terms for which the companies didn’t disclose, Cardinal will be primarily supplying two Prime facilities in Irving, Texas, and Albuquerque, N.M., that serve the company’s mail-order consumers.

Sheila Thelemann, a Prime spokeswoman, declined to dislose the name of the distributor it cut ties with, but said it made the switch to gain access to a wider range of generic pharmaceuticals and receive quicker delivery.

Prime provides pharmaceutical benefits for about 14.6 million people through Blue Cross and Blue Shield, employer, union and third-party plans. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Ohio isn’t among Prime’s clients, Thelemann said.

Tara Schumacher, a Cardinal spokeswoman, said Prime is in line for additional supply-chain services as well. Details are still being finalized, but Schumacher said Cardinal often works with facilities such as Prime’s mail-order centers to streamline ordering and receiving processes.

“Once the medication gets through the door, we’re trying to remove as many steps as possible,” Schumacher said. “If they can be more efficient, they drive costs out.”

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH), the largest publicly traded corporation in the state, recorded a $1.9 billion profit on $86.9 billion in revenue in fiscal 2007 ended June 30. The company employs about 43,000 worldwide.

Prime employs about 1,600 and managed more than $8.2 billion in prescription drug spending last year. The company declined to disclose annual revenue.

Source-bizjournals.com

CDC Software's Respond Product Line Delivers First Half 2008 License Sales that Exceed all of 2007

CDC Software, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CDC Corporation and a provider of industry-specific enterprise software and services, today announced its CDC Respond product line, a suite of enterprise complaint and feedback management solutions, has demonstrated an approximate 62 percent increase in license revenue growth for the first half of 2008 compared to the same period a year earlier and a 133 percent increase in license sales for the second quarter of 2008 compared to the same quarter last year.

For the first half of 2008, 54 percent of the license revenue for CDC Respond was generated from new customers and 46 percent from existing customers. Of that license revenue, 44 percent of customers were from the financial services sector, 25 percent from the government sector with the remainder coming from the utilities and general business sectors. Over the last several quarters, CDC Respond has generated new business with both new and existing customers including: Telford & Wrekin Council and Essex County Council, both of whom are United Kingdom government organizations, United Utilities, a U.K. utility, and a leading United States-based bank, which represents a seven figure transaction and the largest CDC Respond sales deal to-date.

Since CDC Software acquired Respond Group in February 2007, several new CDC Respond products have been launched and CDC Respond has seen a rapid growth in sales. "We believe that this growth trend is primarily a result of market conditions forcing organizations to use customer retention and customer service as competitive differentiators," said James Heavey, president, CDC Respond product line, CDC Software.

"The success of CDC Respond shows there is robust opportunities in the enterprise complaints management market," according to Andy Hayler, Bloor Research. "The new products demonstrate ongoing innovation and the impressive customer case studies, including a major U.K. retail bank deployment of 32,000 licenses worldwide, suggest CDC Respond is headed for continued success."

"We are very pleased to see such strong organic growth for CDC Respond with the first half license sales for 2008 exceeding the whole year of 2007," said Bruce Cameron, executive vice president, Worldwide Sales and Marketing, CDC Software. "In a slower economy, companies are looking at innovative technology solutions such as CDC Respond to help them increase customer satisfaction and retention. We believe that CDC Respond is strategically well positioned as a leading solution provider in this space. We have and are continuing to see strong traction and our second half pipeline reflects this. We want to build on the strong momentum we generated over the last few quarters, including record license sales in the United States and United Kingdom, including a multi-million dollar transaction with a leading commercial bank in the United States."
Source-marketwatch.com

RedPrairie launches unified supply chain solution

RedPrarie has announced the release of its E2e Supply Chain Execution suite, which incorporates both RFID and automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) technologies in hopes of simplifying and unifying the supply chain process.

For the new release, RedPrairie has integrated the asset management capabilities of its stand-alone mobile resource management application into its E2e warehouse management module. The system can now support the use of RFID, two-dimensional bar codes and other AIDC technologies to track inventory and assets from distribution centers, throughout the transit process, at customer sites and within a retailer's store network.

Both serialized and non-serialized assets can be tracked at each location, and the system enables customers to track the condition and status of each asset, as well as its movement throughout the supply chain. This enables reusable assets such as freight containers to be tracked at the same time as their cargo, with the hopes of decreasing inefficiencies in the supply chain.

Other elements of the E2e Supply Chain Execution suite include transportation management and work force management. The platform is built on a service-oriented architecture framework enabling it to be operated remotely as well as run on a user's own network.
Source-rfidnews.org

Supply chain management software set to top the sales charts

Software industry experts are predicting that supply chain management software will generate a staggering £4 billion of sales by 2010, which would make it one of the world’s most widely bought global business specialist applications.

Supply chain management software has proved extremely popular over the last 30 years with businesses that operate in time and cost conscious production and distribution environments. As with most cutting-edge technologies, supply chain management software functionality has undergone exponential advances, especially in the last five years which have allowed it to keep pace with an ever-changing business world.

It is the adaptive nature of the software and its ability to drive successful businesses that will propel supply chain management software to the top of the software sales charts. At the outset, early systems focused purely on transactions, but it wasn’t until the recent advent of client server technology that supply chain management systems could be more easily understood and accepted by users.

Organisations are increasingly operating across a number of time zones on different continents, and as well as the geographical and cultural challenges faced, there is the added problem of multiple distribution channels. With greater emphasis placed on empowerment of users through access to information, supply chain executives have added pressure piled on them to ensure that they embrace globalisation, battle obsolescence and also to contain costs, in addition to their day job!

The trials and tribulations of supply chain executives make them aggressive when demanding improvements to software. They want something that can do all the above and make sure they can control inventory and suppliers, and supply chain management software companies are more than happy to oblige. They are quick to adopt new technologies in their quest for the perfect supply chain management software and have naturally embraced the web in their designs.

Indeed, the internet acts as a superb connectivity tool for supply chain management software. A whole suite of collaborative programs for the entire supply chain can be operated over the web, which impacts positively on forecasting and planning while providing a transparent view of the performance measures.

Today’s advanced systems can bring together a huge number of suppliers at the click of a mouse, using XML web services and trading portals, and have certainly come a long way from the primitive EDI systems of the 1970s. But, possibly the biggest difference between today’s successful supply chain management systems and their forerunners is the impact they have in helping workers make decisions.

That is the true value of any successful system, allowing the business to keep the supply chain in perfectly efficient working order while providing many opportunities to control increasingly diverse supplier relationships and inventory portfolios. For as long as there are companies operating in aggressively competitive markets, the future looks bright for sales of supply chain management software.

Disclaimer: Matthew Pressman writes for a wide variety of commercial clients. This article is intended for information purposes only and readers should seek additional information before taking any actions based on its content.

Source-bestsyndication.com

Where Does the U.S. Stand in the Global Market?

Customers and competitors alike used to be just a short drive away. All business was local. But the entire world has changed over the last twenty years thanks to globalization. The forest products industry is no stranger to this trend. What has taken place abroad, especially in Asia, has forever impacted the business landscape in North America. Although the furniture industry and some other large wood users have primarily moved offshore, there remain some bright spots for the future of America’s forest products industry.

Hakan Ekstrom, president of Wood Resources International LLC (WRI), agreed to discuss with the TimberLine recent developments in the global wood market. As a leading consultant and publisher of market reports, Ekstrom keeps tabs on international markets. His expertise includes on-site evaluations of forest resources, raw material flows (logs and wood chips), forest products trade, wood cost outlook (pulpwood prices and sawlog prices) and forest industry developments worldwide.

WRI has successfully completed more than 200 consulting assignments in over 35 countries. WRI publishes two quarterly timber price reports The North American Wood Fiber Review and the Wood Resource Quarterly.

Ekstrom talked about some of the most pressing issues facing the global forest products industry and shared a surprisingly optimistic view of America’s position in the market.

TimberLine: Russia has announced that it will impose stiff tariffs next year on exported logs in an effort to encourage more domestic production of finished wood products. How will this impact the global market given the vast forest reserves that Russia holds?

Ekstrom: If we assume that there won’t be any changes in the new tariffs, then there will be a lot less logs coming out of Russia. Small hardwood logs are exempt from the higher tariffs, but large Birch logs mainly going for plywood in Finland and all softwood logs will stay in Russia after January 2009.

Countries that are currently importing these logs (mainly Finland, China and Japan), have to look elsewhere for softwood logs if they want to continue to supply their industry. Indirectly this may increase competition for logs coming from other parts of the world. This will lead to higher log costs in some markets. Some businesses and even countries will have to evaluate whether or not they want to scale back production or keep current levels in place.

The Russian situation will lead to increased opportunities for raw logs coming from the United States and Canada. This trend has already started as more Hemlock on the West Coast is being sent to Korea. I believe that some companies are not waiting until January to start looking for alternative sources of material. Companies in Finland are looking at Sweden and the Baltic states for additional logs. The global flow of logs has already started to change, and we will see more of that in the near future. In the long term, we may see more countries decide to import more finished products and process fewer logs.

TimberLine: Newspapers are filled with reports about illegal logging taking place around the globe. Will efforts to encourage certification and cut down on illegal logging really make much of a difference?

Ekstrom: If we talk about Russia, which is the country that exports the most illegal logs, obviously the export tax won’t have an impact since those logs are illegal. A lot of those volumes are going to China for material that doesn’t have to be certified anyway. It will take a long time before certification will have a big impact on illegal logs from Russia.

The impact of certification on tropical wood will move a little bit faster. Most of that material or finished goods are going to Europe, and they are starting to be tougher on making sure that wood is not illegally cut and has some kind of certification stamp on it. If you are talking about tropical wood going into Japan or China, they care less about certification. Those cutting forests in Brazil or Africa may just decide to ship the material to Asia instead of Europe if they are concerned about certification. As long as you have a market for those products, it will be hard to eliminate much of the illegal logging taking place in some countries.

Then there are some countries like Malaysia that stand out as a producer of certified tropical wood. They are major exporters of tropical wood products. And they are really trying to do a good job and develop an image that they only export products that come from legal sources and have certification stamps.

TimberLine: American hardwoods have a strong reputation around the world. How will U.S. producers fare in the future? What will be the key drivers that will enable or limit success?

Ekstrom: Smaller hardwood logs in the southern U.S. are going primarily into the pulp market. That industry is pretty competitive. If you look at the cost of the raw material going into pulp mills in the South compared to the rest of the world, it looks pretty good. I believe the pulp industry in the South will remain fairly competitive, which should fuel strong demand for small hardwood logs.

Larger hardwood logs and the demand for American hardwood products will do fairly well in the future for a couple of reasons. The raw material is fairly steady. You have a good market working with lots of buyers and sellers. Right now and probably over the next 3-5 years, maybe longer, the weak U.S. dollar makes it easier for exports to compete. Over time demand for tropical wood products will decline as consumers begin to look for a stamp that indicates the wood came from a legal source and was managed in a sustainable way. Certification is something that U.S. companies can deliver on in the future.

The key thing is that the industry needs to invest and be more efficient. Companies should not try to cut back even if times are hard but rather increase investments in scanners, optimizers and other equipment to be competitive now and in the future.

TimberLine: What are major competitors around the globe to the U.S. hardwood industry when it comes to log and lumber exports? How do you think this will change in the future?

Ekstrom: On the tropical side, major competitors are Latin America, Asia and Africa. But we will assume that the supply coming from regions will decline. When you talk about temperate hardwoods, there are not that many places out there – primarily Germany and France. If you look at Russia, it has Birch, Oak and Ash that could be competitive in the future. They are not competitive now because they don’t have a working industry.

More Eucalyptus will come on the market as more sawmills figure out how to use it to produce lumber, furniture and components. Eucalyptus is fast growing and cheap. You are starting to see Eucalyptus for cabinet doors and flooring. You can stain it to make the material look like Cherry or other hardwoods. There will definitely be applications for Eucalyptus. IKEA, the furniture company, is looking into using more Eucalyptus in the future.

TimberLine: What do you see taking place right now in the low grade markets in this country? What impact will these trends have on prices?

Ekstrom: It all depends if you are a buyer or a seller. It looks pretty good if you are in the South and are a buyer of logs and lumber. Competition is not as strong for material as it was a couple of years ago. If you go back two years, you may have had competition for the same log from a sawmill, an OSB plant and pulp mill. Right now, it is mostly the pulp mills competing for the low grade material because the OSB plants and sawmills have curved production. It is always difficult to generalize for the Southern U.S. because it is such a big market. There are some places where landowners are less eager to harvest timber because they are starting to use more land for recreation and other purposes. Generally, in the South you see less pressure on the resource in 2008. Therefore, prices for logs have started to come down. However, this downward trend will change when lumber markets improve in 2009 or 2010.

On the West Coast, the market is shifting a little bit the other way. There is more pressure on the round wood resources. Sawmills have been cutting back production so there are fewer residual wood chips. Pulp mills are forced to go out and look for round wood instead of chips, which results in more competition and higher costs. This is a good thing if you are a landowner, but a bad thing if you are buying logs for pallets or other uses.

Looking ahead as long as the housing starts stay where they are and lumber production is down, I don’t see any major changes that will impact prices of logs in the U.S. market.

TimberLine: Asia is a huge consumer of the world’s wood supply. Do you believe there will be huge opportunities for American exports to continue to grow in this region?

Ekstrom: Japan is the big consumer of lumber. They are the big importers of softwood logs. There are opportunities for the U.S. to export more logs to Japan and long term to China as well. It’s just that in China they don’t build houses the same way that the Japanese do. They don’t need as much lumber. They are two very different markets.

When it comes to hardwood, there will be import opportunities of both logs and lumber because domestic consumption is rising and the manufacturing of wood products for export continues to go up because it is cheaper to do a lot of things in China than North America or Europe. Neither China nor Japan have large forest reserves so much of their raw material has to be shipped in from other parts of the world.

TimberLine: How is the rise in energy costs impacting finished good producers in Asia that have to buy raw material from other countries? Could high fuel prices cause some of those jobs to come back to North America?

Ekstrom: Even though energy costs have gone up significantly, it is still a fairly small share of the total cost of producing items, such as furniture. Their labor costs are so much lower than our costs. Higher energy costs are affecting their margins. But it will not have any major impact on the trade of logs or lumber.

A little more logs are shifting into Vietnam than China just because it is slightly cheaper to produce in Vietnam than China. But you won’t see a shift back to the U.S. again. We have to accept that Asian countries will continue to do the more labor intensive things while American companies will have to do more sophisticated things requiring automation.

TimberLine: Timber production from Latin America has boomed over the past decade. Do you believe this trend will continue? Why?

Ekstrom: Yes, they will continue to expand plantations in Brazil. They will continue to grow more on every acre five years from now than they do today. You see the same in Uruguay. This could also happen in Venezuela, Colombia, or Nicaragua. It all depends on what happens with the politics in those countries. As a continent, Latin America can certainly boost its production capacity. Trees grow faster down there than in more temperate climates, and they have a lot of land that is not used for anything.

When it comes to plantations and developing the right tree clones, Latin America countries are probably ahead of the rest of the world. If we want to learn something about fast growing Eucalyptus, we have to go down to Brazil.

Brazil has become a large producer of hardwood pulp to the world. Brazil and Uruguay have invested the most money in this technology over the past five years and have the most modern pulp mills in the world.

TimberLine: Is Latin America a major competitor for U.S. raw wood exports? Please explain the competitive tension between these two regions.

Ekstrom: No, the U.S. doesn’t really export lots of logs outside of North America. Its exports are limited to Canada, Japan, Korea and China. And in terms of lumber, a lot of that material is unique species, Doug Fir, Cedar, Oak, Beach, Red Alder, and you don’t have those species down in Brazil. What they produce down there on plantations is fast growing pine. Some markets that the South sells into with SYP may experience competition from Brazil. That is probably the only area where Brazil would compete in an export market against the U.S. sawmills.

Russia, not Latin America, is the largest exporter of raw logs around the globe.

TimberLine: Since Russia is such a big player in the export market, won’t its recent tariff decisions increase opportunities for U.S. exports?

Ekstrom: It is definitely going to change how things are done in some areas, especially Japan and China. There are not a lot of places they can go for softwood material. They can source from New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the U.S. They have to decide if they want to buy logs or lumber.

Some exporters in North America are looking into the prospects of putting lumber, logs and even wood chips into cargo containers for return trips back to Asian countries.

With favorable exchange rates, there could definitely be good opportunities for U.S. companies to export both logs and lumber to Asia. The U.S. has the resources and now a pretty competitive cost structure. Asia is where the demand is increasing for all different kind of forest products. The next step is to see if American companies can find the right distribution channels and understand the markets in Asia.

Source-timberlinemag.com

Enporion Named Among Top Innovators by Supply & Demand Chain Executive 100

Enporion, a leading provider of supply chain solutions and professional services, has been named to Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine's Top 100 companies for the third consecutive year. This achievement recognizes Enporion's continuing commitment to its customers and to delivering best-of-class supply chain solutions.

"Our readers turn to Supply & Demand Chain Executive to learn about new solutions and best practices for enabling the supply chain, to understand trends in supply chain technology, and to benchmark their own companies' enablement initiatives with those of other enterprises across industry verticals," explained Andrew K. Reese, editor of Supply & Demand Chain Executive. "Enporion was chosen for the Supply & Demand Chain Executive 100 this year because of its ability to leverage established supplier networks as a 'single point of contact' with suppliers from order issuance through e-invoice settlement. The company has truly shown itself as an innovator in end-to-end e-procurement."

"Enporion has always strived to provide innovative solutions to its customers and we are thrilled to be recognized for our innovation in end-to-end e-procurement as it truly represents the full suite of what we offer customers -- a complete source-to-settle solution," said George Gordon, Chairman and CEO of Enporion. "In addition, we are continuing to introduce significant innovation as we enable the integration of physical and financial supply chains, also acknowledged in the magazine."

This year the magazine focused the criteria for its "100" feature on supply chain innovation. Supply & Demand Chain Executive has identified leading providers of supply chain services and technologies who are at the forefront of innovation. Based on submissions to the "100" from end users and solution providers, the judging committee for the "100," including the editorial staff of the magazine, in conjunction with the editorial advisory board, has compiled a list of leading supply and demand chain innovators.

About Enporion

Enporion is a supply chain management solutions and services company, providing strategic sourcing and e-procurement applications, and related professional services. Enporion is delivering results for customers in the gas and electric utilities, manufacturing and distribution industries.

Enporion's Supply Chain Manager(R), an integrated suite of e-commerce tools, delivers cost reduction through price and process savings, and includes capabilities in catalog management, supplier enablement and connection, spend reporting, e-sourcing including auctions and electronic RFx's, and contract management. These applications are delivered in a Software-as-a-Service environment, resulting in quick implementation and early realization of benefits. Visit Enporion online at www.enporion.com.
Source-marketwatch.com

Wordingham Technologies Adds Online Support for Supply Chain Management

Wordingham Technologies, specialists in custom machined parts for optics, photonics and precision instrumentation, announces online customer access for tracking orders and managing releases, 24/7. The Wordingham Quality (WQ) Portal, the first of its kind in this industry, demonstrates Wordingham's commitment to "quality delivered."

"Quality isn't just delivering tight tolerances and great aesthetics, important as those are," says David Trombley, Wordingham General Manager, "it's helping our customers get their parts when they need them, even when their plans change."

The WQ Portal allows customers to log on to a secure site, accessible from http://www.wordingham.com, and view critical planning information. This information includes:

    -- Inventories of all their custom parts
   -- Orders in process
   -- Planned releases
   -- Recent releases
   -- In-process delivery tracking information
   -- Pending quotes
   -- Immediate request for in-person help if desired

Trombley continues, "We want to do all we can to help our customers manage their supply chains better. In today's global markets, victory goes to the agile. That's why we invested in the WQ Portal and made it as easy to use as we could. While we will always give fast in-person response to questions, self-service access is a big plus, particularly to our international customers."

Mike Jackson, Inside Sales Representative and developer of the WQ Portal, notes, "Early feedback has been fantastic. The WQ Portal is letting our customers monitor plans for their own customer deliveries in a new way. But that's not all. The WQ Portal is also helping them construct winning bids for new business, faster and easier, by providing real-time data 24/7."

About Wordingham Technologies

Wordingham Technologies provides full-service, dock-to-stock metal machining, including: multi-axis milling, multi-axis turning, honing, advanced metrology, finishing and mechanical sub-assembly. Though ultimately serving many markets, Wordingham focuses on custom parts for Optics and Photonics, including illumination, medical/biometric, and defense and security; and for Precision Instrumentation, including measurement, data collection/transfer and nano-positioning.

Wordingham Technologies' competitive edge is people: their deep commitment and strong optics roots. From its start as an outgrowth of Burleigh Instruments, an early market leader in life science optics and nano-positioning systems, the company has grown to a team of over 50 with a proven track record for producing high quality precision optics interfaces. Visit http://www.wordingham.com to learn more.
Source-marketwatch.com

It's Time to Take the Automotive Supply Chain Online

For all the innovation that has swept through the auto industry — out of the necessity to survive as much as the creativity demanded by the marketplace — automotive companies and suppliers still find themselves bogged down with slow and expensive IT networks that require constant tweaking and upgrading. And for all the talk about reshaping the industry to serve today's consumer, the industry's primary players still remain hunkered down behind walls of secrecy rather than opening themselves to the benefits of full collaboration.

This is the era of Web 3.0, online communities, mobility, flexibility, unified communications and the virtual workforce. Yet the auto industry clings to its silos of information housed in legacy systems when the only way to advance is to centralize data. Supply chains absolutely require complete visibility up and down the line to information on production schedules, warehouses and logistical arrangements for delivery of components and finished products. Until a company integrates its data in a single repository, it cannot expect to keep up with the pace of a changing market because it is spending too much time trying to find and cobble together its own data. Suppliers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) should be consolidating information and leveraging it across their organizations globally to synchronize their production, logistics marketing and service operations like the components of a fine timepiece.

Then companies need to stop hoarding their best practices and start collaborating with each other so that they can deal effectively with design, development and capacity issues that continually toss the industry off the path to progress and into seemingly bottomless potholes. It's time for true collaboration among OEMs and shippers if the industry expects to drive more volume and leverage its massive capabilities globally in a nimble fashion.

Interestingly, the farther back we go in the supply chain, the more data integration and collaboration we find. For example, logistics companies, along with tier-two and -three suppliers, share much common information related to shipping by ground, rail, sea or air. But tier-one suppliers and OEMs often have developed such a culture of protecting competitive advantage that they fail to make data as visible as necessary either within their companies or across their supply chains. The result is that many businesses struggle with performance while costs rise because of inefficiencies, redundancy and waste in the system relating to data management, information flow and legacy systems.

Web of Data

The industry would do well to turn in coordinated fashion to Web-based systems. Even smaller companies are beginning to realize the value of leveraged Web technology, which many now view as the most cost-efficient way to manage and communicate data and to collaborate within and between enterprises. Businesses today must be able to link into the rest of the world, regardless of their size or service.

The visibility offered by the Web enables suppliers, manufacturers and logistics companies to see exactly where shipments are, anytime and from anywhere, to gather bids from shippers in just minutes. It also enables them to select the best modes of shipment by referring to databases containing performance history and ratings, and take advantage of other capabilities that generate nearly instantaneous collaboration and accelerate decision-making. When operating across multiple time zones and technology platforms, companies absolutely must leverage the Web as a primary global resource.

Web-based collaboration will be an especially important tool for smaller, niche service providers that are seeking a way to thrive in this community-oriented marketplace. These small businesses will be collaborating and forming virtual partnerships with larger supply chain companies. While the smaller firms may not be able to win the biggest deals on their own, by collaborating with several larger companies they can retain their niche services while working as part of a team on big projects. Remaining within the boundaries of what they do best, small firms thus will employ collaboration as a major enabler for the way they will do business in the future. The result will be the opening of new avenues to a huge customer base and the expansion of the firm's footprint from the visibility it gains as a collaborative partner, leading to more opportunities for business in their areas of strength.

Source-sdcexec.com

New BSR Report Outlines Lessons on Building Supply Chain Capacity for CSR

While many companies concerned about corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues in their supply chain tend to focus on monitoring factory conditions, a new report by Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) reveals that companies working directly with factory managers to equip suppliers with skills, knowledge and systems to take ownership of CSR issues are more effective in addressing persistent issues such as labor standards violations, environmental degradation, and poor health and safety protections.

BSR's "Pilot Summary Report: Building Capabilities to Implement CSR Management Systems at ICT Suppliers in China" is based on a series of recently completed pilot projects aimed at breaking through common barriers to improving factory conditions. Organizations in this collaborative project include BSR, the World Bank Group’s investment climate advisory service, the Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS), the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC), the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) and the Shenzhen Electronics Industry Association (SEIA). In 2007, the collaboration published a report identifying the root causes of poor factory conditions, and providing recommendations for how customers, suppliers, government and civil society can all contribute to improved capacity among factories in China.

Based on findings from these reports and the recent pilot projects, there are several steps companies can take to build capacity in their supply chains:

• Support multiple capacity-building strategies. Approaches can include providing generic tools (such as a factory committee or worker hotline to address concerns), conducting trainings, creating supplier-support networks and implementing factory-specific projects.
  
  
• Focus on the business case. To achieve buy-in from suppliers, identify real incentives and allow supplies to shape their own approach to CSR improvements within the factory.
  
  
• Integrate a mentoring system into the monitoring process. Work with the supplier to identify root causes of compliance issues. This strengthens the relationship between the company and the supplier, shifting focus from immediate compliance to continuous improvement.
  
  
• Foster ongoing dialogue among stakeholders. These include customers, suppliers, NGOs, local government and industry associations. This reinforces each group’s efforts, creating the potential for a much bigger impact on everyone’s CSR efforts.

Moving forward, BSR will apply these lessons to other industries and countries. "The challenges with capability building identified in these reports are not unique to the ICT sector or to China, and many of the recommendations can be applied to a wide variety of sectors and geographies," said Laura Commike Gitman, BSR Director, Advisory Services. "The project partners look forward to building on these lessons to help focus future capability-building efforts."

For more information about BSR's work in this partnership, please contact Laura Commike Gitman at lgitman@bsr.org.



About BSR
Since 1992, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) has been providing socially responsible business solutions to many of the world’s leading corporations. Headquartered in San Francisco and with offices in Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, New York and Paris, BSR is a nonprofit business association that serves its 250 member companies and other Global 1000 enterprises. Through advisory services, convenings and research, BSR works with corporations and concerned stakeholders of all types to create a more just and sustainable global economy. For more information, visit www.bsr.org.

About the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition
The EICC consists of 30 companies that have come together in their common interest to improve working conditions and environmental stewardship throughout the electronics supply chain. This group supports a common code of conduct for electronics companies, the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct. The code covers expectations for performance across a range of issues, including labor, health and safety, environmental practices, ethics and management systems. Through its board, steering committee and working groups, the group is working to implement the code of conduct, engaging with stakeholders and keeping the code up to date. For more information, visit www.eicc.info.

About the Global e-Sustainability Initiative
GeSI is a joint initiative of an international group of ICT service providers and suppliers, industry associations, the Carbon Disclosure Project and WWF, with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme and International Telecommunication Union. GeSI seeks to contribute to sustainable development in the ICT industry by taking a leadership role in collaborative exploration and responsible management of the evolving interfaces among industrial, ecological and social systems. The EICC and GeSI are working together on development and deployment of a consistent set of tools and processes to measure, monitor and improve supply chain corporate responsibility performance across the ICT sector. Information about GeSI members and ongoing activities can be found at www.gesi.org.
Source-csrwire.com

Green Supply Chain Management, It's Good For the Environment, It's Good For the Bottom Line

While the majority of global executives consider carbon reduction an important aspect of purchasing and supply chain management, only a minority follow through:

That's too bad, according to the McKinsey study. Not only are these companies not helping fight climate change as much as they could, they are also missing out on some cost lowering opportunities. The facts:

• For consumer goods marketers, high-tech, and other manufacturers, between 40-60% of their carbon footprint is in their supply chain.
  
• For retailers, the number is even higher, 80%.
  
• Many of the opportunities to reduce emissions carry no net life-cycle costs, with the upfront investment more than paying for itself through lower energy or material usage.
  
• Others may require tradeoffs between emissions and profitability, in areas such as logistics and product design.
  
• Forward-looking companies are using such discussions as opportunities for supplier development.
  
• This opens up the possibility of still lower costs and improved operational performance, in addition to helping suppliers remove carbon from their supply chains.

Wal-Mart comes to mind, as a great example of a company that understands the multiple benefits of a greener supply chain. The question of, why are not more companies following Wal-Mart's lead, warrants further examination. Is it lack of knowledge? Having to attend to other, more pressing issues? Inertia? What do you think?

Source-cleantechblog.com

Nordic Semiconductor to relocate supply chain headquarters to the Philippines

Nordic Semiconductor intents to set-up a regional supply chain headquarters in Manila, the Philippines. This will later be expanded to include a regional RF test-engineering group to support local backend test development and subcontract partners in Asia.

The move will represent a wholesale relocation of Nordic's supply chain headquarters from Norway to Asia, and Nordic now seeks to recruit local backend supply chain, production, and test engineering staff.

The new operation will be located within just a few miles of a Manila facility of Nordic's long-term test subcontractor, Amkor Technology, where Nordic's 2.4GHz ULP transceivers are tested on a base of permanently installed, Nordic-owned test systems. Nordic will now have its entire manufacturing and supply chain operations based in Asia, bar only a few legacy products being produced in Europe.

Organizationally, however, everything else is to remain headquartered in Norway; including Nordic's global sales and marketing headquarters in Oslo, and its global R&D and registered company headquarters in Trondheim.

Supply Chain:Warehouse Management System (WMS)

SUCCEEDING IN today’s competitive environment requires warehouses to guarantee customer and supplier satisfaction by providing accurate and profitable warehouse processes associated with productivity. Outdated software applications, poor system integration, and bad accounting inventory tracking solutions can result in a lack of inventory visibility and control. These challenges can prevent warehouse operators from increasing their profitability within and beyond the four walls of a location or multiple warehouses.

WMS BENEFITS:

Increase customer satisfaction, improve employee productivity, eliminate paperwork, data entry, remove IT headache, eliminate maintenance and upgrade costs, reduce inventory costs, automate warehouse operations, avoid stock-outs centralise visibility, compatible with wireless technology, gain immediate ReturnOnInvestment (ROI), complete back-office integration.

Warehouse Management System (WMS) helps warehouses consolidate and manage all inbound purchase orders across departments through one centralised system to streamline the “procure-to-pay” or “procure to receipt” purchase process. By centrally managing these purchasing processes, warehouse accounting can improve productivity and eliminate duplicate data-entry.

Integrating business processes from the back office to the warehouse floor helps streamline the receiving and put-away process by tying receipts to inbound orders. Within the inbound order process, the WMS solution also sources available suppliers from historical perform and based rating system generates customised purchasing and supplier reports automates receiving against inbound orders eliminates paper-based purchasing to lower costs reconciles orders against errors or short shipments.

Keep customer commitments with error-free order fulfillment WMS offers the ability to maximise the productivity of a company’s sales and warehouse staff by providing a centralised system to manage the flow of inventory from sales order, to pick, to ship, to invoice.

With WMS, both sales and warehouse operators effectively manage and access the same accurate customer data to fulfill orders quickly and accurately while shortening lead times. WMS also allows sales and warehouse operators to check real-time, accurate product availability during order fulfillment through integrated inventory control generate pick tickets and shipping documents directly from the sales order gain process efficiency with picking rules view sales order and shipment status from a central view.

Inherent value in on-demand software on-demand architecture enables warehouses to quickly deploy and integrate with front-office an back-office operations. As a managed service, there is no hardware to buy, no software to install, no network to set-up and no technical staff to maintain. As a result, warehouse operators don’t have to worry about system deployments, performance, reliability or upgrades It’s WMS worry not yours.

WMS is an affordable solution that grows with you. Warehouses can easily add users, additional warehouses or SKUs with simple and easy-to-use configuration settings. Delivered over the Internet, WMS is more cost-effective then traditional software solutions and provides users with an intuitive interface to help increase employee adoption.

WMS solution:
Eliminates IT headaches, improves reliability and scalability provides real-time information and integrates easily with computer hardware.

Source-merinews.com

Study: Manufacturers Using Supply Chain for Growth

A new survey by management consulting firm Archstone Consulting has found that manufacturing executives are planning to use supply chain management as a tool for boosting performance.

The results of the survey, conducted in April of this year, further prove that the concept of supply chain management is gaining popularity in corporate circles, according to John Ferreira, Archstone’s industrial manufacturing practice leader.

“It’s starting to move into the mainstream,” he said.

The survey, Archstone’s Manufacturing Executive Agenda for 2008, includes responses from 265 manufacturing executives from a wide range of industries.

“Over 80% of manufacturers have responded to the current economic climate by devising aggressive agendas to boost sales and cut costs,” said Todd Lavieri, Archstone’s president and CEO.

According to the survey, two of the four most common ways that executives plan to boost performance this year were supply chain management-related.

“I think it’s very intriguing that they’re talking about leveraging the supply chain to enable growth,” Ferreira said.

The four executive agenda items shared by manufacturers in all industries include:

• Increasing revenue growth by leveraging supply chain capabilities to add value to products and services.
• Reducing costs with supply chain efficiency improvements.
• Improving product innovation.
• Controlling direct material costs.

In addition, Ferreira said respondents indicated they wanted to use supply chain management techniques to rapidly adapt to changing markets and offer more customized customer service.

Ferreria said the respondents did not indicate how long it would take to implement their ideas, but the survey asked respondents to consider their plans for 2008.

Source-scmr.com

Managing the Global Supply Chain

The global supply chain is a vital part of modern business. Presenting a global view of the scope and complexity of supply chain management, this book reflects the rapid change that has taken place within the supply chain and its environment.

Schary and Skjøtt-Larsen have fully updated their successful first edition, giving readers of this new edition an insightful overview of the conceptual foundations of the global supply chain. The book has been completely reorganized toward a customer orientation and rewritten to include the new changes in technology and practice.

'Managing the Global Supply Chain' is based on three parallel elements: structure, process and organization to build a supply network that includes distribution, production and procurement within one integral system. It moves beyond concepts from business logistics to emphasize inter-organizational networks and the strategic role of the supply chain in corporate strategy. A separate section on management and strategy examines organizational forms and management tools.


Source : www.cbspress.dk

GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

With increased globalization and offshore sourcing, global supply chain management is becoming an important issue for many businesses. Like traditional, supply chain management, the underlying factors behind the trend are reducing the costs of procurement and decreasing the risks related to purchasing activities. The big difference is that global supply chain management involves a company's worldwide interests and suppliers rather than simply a local or national orientation. Because global supply chain management usually involves a plethora of countries, it also usually comes with a plethora of new difficulties that need to be dealt with appropriately. One that companies need to consider is the overall costs. While local labor costs may be significantly lower, companies must also focus on the costs of space, tariffs, and other expenses related to doing business overseas. Additionally, companies need to factor in the exchange rate. Obviously, companies must do their research and give serious consideration to all of these different elements as part of their global supply management approach. Time is another big issue that should be addressed when dealing with global supply chain management. The productivity of the overseas employees and the extended shipping times can either positively or negatively affect the company's lead time, but either way these times need to be figured into the overall procurement plan. Other factors can also come into play here as well. For example, the weather conditions on one side of the world often vary greatly from those on the other and can impact production and shipping dramatically. Also, customs clearance time and other governmental red tape can add further delays that need to be planned for and figured into the big picture. Besides contemplating these issues, a business attempting to manage its global supply chain must also ask itself a number of other serious questions. First, the company needs to make decisions about its overall outsourcing plan. For whatever reason, businesses may desire to keep some aspects of supply chain closer to home. However, these reasons are not quite as important as other countries advance technologically. For example, some parts of India have now become centers for high-tech outsourced services which may once have been done in-house only out of necessity. Not only are provided to companies by highly qualified, overseas workers, but they are being done at a fraction of the price they could be done in the United States or any other Western country. Another issue that must be incorporated into a global supply chain management strategy is supplier selection. Comparing vendor bids from within the company's parent-country can be difficult enough but comparing bids from an array of global suppliers can be even more complex. How to make these choices is one of the first decisions companies must make, and it should be a decision firmly based on research. Too often companies jump on the lowest price instead of taking the time to factor in all of the other elements, including those related to money and time which were discussed above. Additionally, companies must make decisions about the number of suppliers to use. Fewer supplies may be easier to manage but could also lead to potential problems if one vendor is unable to deliver as expected or if one vendor tries to leverage its supply power to obtain price concessions. Finally, companies who choose to ship their manufacturing overseas may have to face some additional considerations as well. Questions regarding the number of plants that are needed, as well as the locations for those plants can pose difficult logistical problems for companies. However, it often helps to examine these issues in terms of the global supply chain. For example, if a business uses a number of vendors around Bangalore, India than it may make sense to locate the manufacturing plant that would utilize those supplies in or around Bangalore as well. Not only will this provide lower employee costs, but overall shipping and tariff expenses should also be reduced. This would then save the company money. Source : www.epiqtech.com

Financial Insights Releases First Global Benchmark Comparison of Bank Financial Supply Chain Offerings

Financial Insights has now established the first consistent definition of financial supply chain management services that can be used to make valid comparisons between competitors and provides a snapshot of what is being offered at this point in time. Financial supply chain management is still an emerging area, therefore considerable variation in product offerings and even definitions still exist.

Based on this pioneering study, Financial Insights considers JPMorgan to be in the lead at this time, followed closely by American Express and Bank of New York Mellon. JPMorgan's leading position is based primarily on the comprehensive scope of its offerings, as well as the organizational focus it has shown with regard to the financial supply chain opportunity. The report further states how important it is for financial institutions to support purchasing cards, as this is one of the fastest-growing market segments of the card business and also combines payments and financing, making these cards a natural fit for financial supply chain management.

According to Aaron McPherson, practice director and author of the report, "Financial institutions will have to work together to connect their individual buyer-supplier networks into a single network-of-networks, similar to what is happening in the check image exchange market. Financial institutions still have to agree on a remittance data standard and push their customers to use it in a coordinated fashion as the focus of competition will become comprehensive service, reliability, and quality, rather than proprietary buyer-supplier networks or connectivity standards."

The seven financial institutions profiled in the report have made impressive strides by being willing to buy as well as build the necessary technology and overcome conflicting internal goals to present a unified face to the market. The following financial institutions are benchmarked in this report: American Express, Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Citi, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, and Wells Fargo.

A review of the benchmark data and results will be discussed during a Financial Insights Webinar on August 21. The Webinar is open to all: registration is required.

Clients of the Financial Insights' Payments research advisory service may download the report, others are encouraged to contact Financial Insights to discuss how this research fits into strategic technology investments and ongoing go to market services. Please contact us at info@financial-insights.com. To arrange a press briefing with Aaron McPherson, please contact Deborah Stark, 508 935 4318 or email dstark@idc.com.

About Financial Insights, an IDC company

Financial Insights provides independent research, custom consulting, and detailed multiclient studies on the technology issues and challenges facing the financial services industry. Our global research covers topics of strategic importance to corporate and retail banks, insurance carriers, asset management firms, securities and brokerage firms. Our local practices in Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and Canada add an in-depth regional viewpoint. Financial Insights, an IDC company, is headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts, USA. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading IT media, research, and exposition company.

Source : marketwatch.com

Midwest floods create short and long-term concerns in the supply chain

While the short-term impact of the massive floods in the Midwest may be dealt with the long-term impacts may be felt for months to come.

In the days and weeks during and after the floods, the primary concerns to buyers and supply chain professionals were logistics-related. Railroads reported major stretches of track underwater, major highways in Iowa and Missouri were closed and damaged and a 300-mile section of the Mississippi River was closed to barge traffic. Union Pacific issued an embargo on its shipments, saying it was simply not able to meet its schedules in the region.

Buyers reported major delays in shipments as a result. “The rail line between Chicago and the west has been underwater for days,” says one respondent to a Purchasing.com survey. “This has halted intermodal traffic. I ship to the West Coast by rail exclusively. The cost to ship there by truck is double the intermodal price.”

Another said: “We are based in central Iowa and the floods closed road in our town as well as in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Waterloo. We order and ship material from all of these towns to our location, so our supply chain was messed up for over a week. Things are returning to normal now. Hopefully we won’t see any more rain for a while.”

The floods also caused some manufacturers to shut down production facilities. Cargill Inc., the largest U.S. agriculture company, declared force majeure on its corn-syrup supply contracts after flooding forced it to shut down its corn-milling plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Minnetonka, Minn.-based company won’t be able to fill all of its customers’ contracts, Cargill spokeswoman Liz Pearce said in a Bloomberg report.

Archer Daniels Midland also said it had a plant in Cedar Rapids downed by the floods. And according to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, a total of 300 million gallons per year of ethanol production capacity was forced offline by the floods at two plants: one owned by ADM and the other owned by Penford.

But the long-term impacts of the flooding could be more severe than delayed or even lost shipments. Because the floods were concentrated in Iowa and Missouri, the corn crop in the U.S. could take a hit this year, which would impact not only food prices, but also ethanol and thus gasoline prices later this year. According to Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey an estimated 3.3 million acres of corn and soy beans were destroyed by spring floods in Iowa alone, pushing corn prices up to just under $8/bushel in late June on the Chicago Board of Trade before they trended down again. And the higher corn prices go, the thinner margins are for ethanol producers, so ethanol prices will go up.

In some cases, ethanol producers have simply shut down until their business becomes more profitable. David Driscoll, an analyst at Citigroup, said in June that as a result of the rapid margin deterioration, nearly 120 small to midsize ethanol producers “will be shut down over the next few months.” There are currently about 160 ethanol plants in the U.S., according to the Renewable Fuels Association.

But ethanol market experts warn that abandoning the biofuel altogether due to lower margins will only create more havoc for gasoline prices. “Abandoning our commitment to ethanol and biofuels, as some would suggest we do, would do nothing to provide meaningful relief from high prices today or in the future,” said Renewable Fuel Association President Bob Dinneen in a recent Dow Jones Newswires report. “It would absolutely force the price of gas through the roof and require the import of more record-high foreign oil.”

Source by panchasing.com

Apple nabs top spot on AMR's Supply Chain 25

Apple Computer has topped the list of AMR Research's annual Supply Chain Top 25 because, according to AMR's analysis, Apple's “retail outlets churn cash with virtually no physical inventory on site.”

AMR says its analysis of companies' supply chains is based on public data such as return on assets, inventory turns, and growth and incorporates expert and peer assessments of the future supply chain potential of each company. Apple received high praise from AMR, which scores firms' supply chain effectiveness in five categories and uses a composite score to determine a firm's overall ranking. Apple had a composite score of 7.17. AMR said “Apple's scores are outstanding across the board, a result of its brilliant mix of design, software interfaces, and consumable goods that are purely digital.”

AMR went on to say that the introduction of the iPhone and its resulting demand, could have caused some companies to struggle to meet demand or fail on quality. “Behind-the-scenes moves like tying up essential components well in advance and upgrading basic information systems have enabled Apple to handle the demands of its rabid fan base without having to fall back on their forgiveness for mistakes.”

Other companies rounding out the top five include Nokia, last year's winner with won high marks again this year for its supplier collaboration work, Dell, Procter & Gamble and IBM.

Source by purchasing.com

Ascent Media Demonstrates Complete Digital Media Supply Chain At IBC 2008

At IBC 2008, Ascent Media will showcase its leadership in network origination, content distribution, asset management and systems integration for broadcasters and content owners.

The company’s unrivalled portfolio of specialist playout and content distribution services, together with the leading technology solutions and consultancy, will be featured as part of IBC, from 12-16 September 2008.

Network Origination:
Ascent Media provides a turnkey playout solution allowing global broadcast customers to seamlessly aggregate, ingest, archive and distribute content with file-based post production, in multiple languages through many distribution platforms.

Content Distribution
Using its global file transport network, Ascent Media can distribute content around the world, in both standard and high definition, using its hybrid fibre and satellite platforms.

Media Services - Viia
Ascent Media’s Viia suite of file-based media services is the complete solution for content owners to digitise, store, manage and re-purpose content through one platform. Viia handles the entire process of media encoding and metadata insertion through to content packaging in multiple formats and digital archive of assets up to high resolutions.

Systems Integration
Ascent Media’s provides consulting, systems integration, and technical support services and has unparalleled expertise in delivering turnkey, vendor-agnostic installations and support services for major broadcasters looking for system designs, facility installs and upgrades and complete project build management.

Source by broadcastbuyer.tv

LG Electronics credits GXS e-commerce with supply chain consolidation

Consumer electronics and appliances giant LG Electronics reports successful consolidation of its supply chain operations, following implementation of GXS’ e-commerce suite. The company is using GXS Trading Grid to centralise interactions with more than 200 global trading partners, and integrate its disparate ERP base throughout Europe, the US, South America and Asia-Pacific at its HQ in Seoul, South Korea. SunYoung Oh, assistant manager of LG’s IS team, points out that the company depends on its ability to coordinate supply chain activities and share real-time information with a network of contract manufacturers, third party logistics providers and consumer electronics retailers around the world. “As we’ve grown in the last 50 years, so has the complexity of our supply chain. Reducing that complexity was as important to our company as ensuring global integration capabilities and increasing real-time visibility into our trading partner network. GXS is the only B2B integration vendor we have found that can easily support all three of these initiatives.” Prior to consolidating with GXS, LG used multiple B2B e-commerce providers managed independently by centres around the world – resulting, she says, in. duplicate processes and inconsistent capabilities and complicating LG’s efforts to manage its trading partner network.

Author Brian Tinham

Source by mcsolutions.co.uk

Building a Better Supply Chain in Three Not-So-Easy Steps

Aug. 1, 2008 -- How can you build a healthy, collaborative and profitable supply chain culture at your business? It all comes down to communication, explains Ron Cain, president and CEO of TMSI Logistics, a provider of third-party logistics services. And a key component to good communication involves the breaking down of the silos that historically isolate the various areas of a company into unconnected islands with no apparent link to any of the other islands. To establish a silo-free supply chain, Cain recommends manufacturers follow this three-step process:

1: Start by asking, "What kind of culture drives our organization?" This step requires a clear-eyed look at how your people view themselves, how they view each other and how they view the organization.

Some good questions to ask during this process are:

• Could investing in an improved workplace culture drive more effective communication? A culture that encourages communication means a business that effectively shares information. If you're eager to break the silo effect mentality, you'll need to change the culture.
• Do you have the right team? Unfortunately, not everyone can be expected to buy into changing their communication habits to improve your workplace culture.
• Are you personally willing to change -- and maybe fail? You can't expect everyone to change their way of working, communicating and collaborating while you keep your own habits. This means trying new approaches, stretching your abilities and risking failure. Creating an improved culture starts with you.

2: Identify the tools for your plan. To realize a communicative, performance-based workforce, you need both a plan and the tools to complete it. Before you start sawing floor planks, you should probably have a blueprint for your house, so let's start with the plan.

Your blueprint is a statement of your strategy and should provide a birds-eye view from 50,000 feet. It should derive from the mission statement and tell the story about how you want to create a performance-based culture.

Your tools, on the other hand, are the tactics and methods that you use to build, day-to-day, a culture that drives effective communication. A good tactical start is making sure your efforts are visible. Use technological tools to your advantage by sending e-mail updates, putting messages on pay stubs and setting up information centers to keep everyone in the culture loop.

3: Implement your plan for a culture that encourages communication -- and demolishes silos -- by creating incentives for it. These incentives will emphasize the importance of improved communications by putting your money where your mouth is. As you see improvements in communications, you should also begin to see improvements in your bottom line. And using financial incentives allows you to reward people for having an impact, both on the company's culture and its bottom line.

Source: industryweek