Global Supply Chain Management

INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICAL EXHIBITION-11 MARCH 2009

2008-12-05T01:22:00.001+05:30

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

2008-12-04T01:14:00.000+05:30

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 .
AddThis

online b2b exhibition

2008-11-28T01:03:00.001+05:30

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

2008-11-28T00:59:00.001+05:30

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

2008-08-04T10:00:00.000+05:30

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

2008-08-04T09:58:00.000+05:30

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

2008-08-04T09:51:00.001+05:30

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

2008-08-04T09:49:00.000+05:30

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

2008-08-02T10:08:00.002+05:30

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

2008-08-02T10:05:00.000+05:30

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

2008-08-01T10:32:00.000+05:30

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?

2008-08-01T10:21:00.001+05:30

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

2008-07-31T10:04:00.001+05:30

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

2008-07-31T09:50:00.000+05:30

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

2008-07-30T10:32:00.000+05:30

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

2008-07-30T10:22:00.000+05:30

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

2008-07-29T10:13:00.001+05:30

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

2008-07-28T17:10:00.000+05:30

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)

2008-07-26T17:43:00.000+05:30

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

2008-07-26T17:39:00.001+05:30

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

2008-07-25T16:41:00.000+05:30

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

2008-07-25T16:37:00.002+05:30

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

2008-07-21T16:57:00.000+05:30

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

2008-07-17T16:54:00.000+05:30

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

2008-07-17T16:51:00.001+05:30

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

2008-07-17T16:47:00.000+05:30

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

2008-07-17T16:45:00.000+05:30

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

2008-07-17T12:22:00.001+05:30

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

US firms eye green supply-chain initiatives

2008-07-17T12:21:00.000+05:30

There is a growing level of commitment among both small and midsize US firms toward the adoption of applications that would support more environmentally friendly supply-chain initiatives, IDC said in a report today.

IDC is a Framingham firm that provides IT market intelligence.

"While the social responsibility for establishing green initiatives is now generally regarded as the norm for European companies, US firms have been slow to embrace the technologies that would support this effort,"Judy Hodges, manager of IDC's Small and Medium Business Markets: Enterprise Applications research service, said in a statement. "However, in our most recent IDC AppStats Survey,we find that small and midsize manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors in the United States are on the path toward leveraging innovative technologies to support a green supply chain."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Source: boston

P&G to rethink supply chain

2008-07-17T12:19:00.000+05:30

P&G has suggested that it will revisit the design of its supply chain if oil prices remain high. Such a move would represent a reversal of the 'distribution reinvention' which P&G announced last year.

P&G's new head of global supply, Keith Harrison, has said: "A lot of our supply chain design work was really developed and implemented in the 1980s and 1990s, when our capital spending was fairly high as a cost of capacity, and oil was 10 bucks a barrel. I could say that the supply chain design is now upside down. The environment has changed. Transportation cost is going to create an even more distributed sourcing network than we would have had otherwise."

Source by supplychainanalysis.igd.com

OSRAM Sheds Light on Supply Chain With ToolsGroup Solution

2008-07-17T12:16:00.003+05:30

Leading Lighting Manufacturer Turns to Experienced Inventory Optimization Vendor to Optimize Components Strategy.

CAMBRIDGE, MA, -- ToolsGroup, a global provider of demand-driven inventory optimization solutions, announced that OSRAM S.p.A. has contracted to implement the company's Service Optimizer 99+ (SO 99+) solution.

With sales of 4.7 billion Euros in 2007, OSRAM is one of the largest lighting manufacturers in the world. Part of the Siemens AG Group, it has a global presence with 41,000 employees in 150 countries, including 48 production and distribution sites in 17 countries. OSRAM operates in North America as OSRAM Sylvania.

OSRAM will leverage ToolsGroup's SO 99+ solution to optimize the planning processes of raw materials and components managed at its production site in Treviso, Italy.

"Our decision to implement ToolsGroup's SO 99+ solutions was principally motivated by the need to review our optimization strategy for purchased components," said Giuseppe Carrer, coordinator of the Inbound Supply Chain improvement project at Treviso. "In addition to advanced technology and targeted solutions, ToolsGroup offers us a great deal of experience in the field."

"We are proud to be able to provide a company like OSRAM with the right tools for optimizing global service levels and delivering on their operational goals," added Joseph Shamir, CEO of ToolsGroup.

About ToolsGroup

ToolsGroup is an innovation partner for companies who want to achieve outstanding customer-service levels with less global inventory. Using our demand-driven inventory optimization solutions, our customers improve daily forecast accuracy and correctly set safety stocks to achieve up to 99+ percent customer-service levels while significantly cutting inventory. ToolsGroup has more than 150 customers in 31 countries worldwide. For more information on ToolsGroup and its solutions, please visit www.ToolsGroup.com.

Media Contact:
Jonathan Bloom
For ToolsGroup
617-374-4298
Email Contact

Source: ToolsGroup

Business Intelligence Solution for Retail Supply Chain Driven by Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Information

2008-07-15T17:48:00.000+05:30

Digital Movers and Information Solutions (ISI) develop Insight*Point-of-Sale, a completely hosted collaboration solution for retailers and suppliers.

Mashpee, MA (PRWEB) July 15, 2008 -- Digital Movers (www.dmovers.com), a premier provider of outsourced electronic commerce services, and Information Solutions (www.isnetusa.com) a software solution provider to importers of apparel, handbags, and other soft-goods, announced today the joint release of Insight*Point-of-Sale, a web-based business intelligence solution that promotes collaboration between retailers and their supply chain partners.

Using a combination of sophisticated data warehouse design concepts and presentation tools in a completely hosted environment, Insight*Point-of-Sale analyzes POS data provided via EDI transactions and provides retailers and their suppliers with current and historical visibility into the movement of products through the supply chain. Users can query, drill-down and analyze voluminous data in real-time to uncover sales trends, stock-outs, overstocks, missed selling opportunities and a host of relevant data that previously had been difficult or impossible to interrogate intelligently.

Our customers are soft-goods importers and, as such, have to deal with numerous UPCs, colors, styles and sizes. The volume of POS data they were receiving presented significant challenges when it came to collaboration and business intelligence

"Digital Movers has been a proud partner of ISI for many years providing EDI solutions that integrate seamlessly with ISI's world class supply chain/ERP solutions. The offering of Insight*Point-of-Sale is another natural opportunity to match ISI's development expertise with Digital Movers' hosted EDI services," said Ken Konikowski, president, Digital Movers. "Retailers have increasingly made more and more valuable information, including POS data, available to their supply chain via Electronic Data Interchange. The problem is that many companies do not have the applications or the expertise to properly analyze this data and are unable to effectively mine actionable intelligence from the mounds of data. Insight*Point-of Sale is offered in a hosted, outsourced environment so that these companies need only an Internet connection and a web browser to be able to access and analyze this important information and facilitate collaboration."

"Our customers are soft-goods importers and, as such, have to deal with numerous UPCs, colors, styles and sizes. The volume of POS data they were receiving presented significant challenges when it came to collaboration and business intelligence," claimed Jeffrey Clayton, president of Information Solutions. "Our customers have found that thanks to our unique database design they are able to quickly and effectively manage their POS data and, because it is a hosted solution, they require no additional software or hardware. Insight*Point-of-Sale accommodates analysis for both the executive dashboard level with pre-defined web reports and pull-down menus as well as the intense query capability required by analysts."

A web-based demonstration of Insight*Point-of-Sale can be arranged by visiting Digital Movers' web site at http://www.dmovers.com/informationrequest.aspx.

About Digital Movers:
Digital Movers is the premier provider of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) outsourcing services to companies that need to communicate commerce transaction data electronically with their suppliers, customers, transportation and financial partners. For over twenty-five years, Digital Movers has provided expert EDI, XML and Communications processing for companies of all sizes in the retail, healthcare, manufacturing, grocery and transportation verticals.

For additional information, please visit www.dmovers.com or contact Digital Movers at sales@dmovers.com or 888-896-7703.

About Information Solutions:
Since 1982, Information Solutions has been providing software solutions to importers of apparel, handbags, and other soft-goods, enabling them to maximize productivity, optimize efficiency, and increase profitability.

ISI's flagship offering is Envision, a complete Supply Chain Management software solution designed in concert with leaders in the apparel and accessories industry. Envision is a completely integrated application that addresses a company's processing requirements including product inception and sourcing, customer fulfillment, distribution management and financial and executive analysis.

For additional information, please visit www.isnetusa.com or contact Information Solutions at sales@isnetusa.com or 732-346-2500.

Improve the efficiency of your supply chain

2008-07-15T17:46:00.000+05:30

14th & 15th October 2008, Hilton London Metropole

Implement demand-driven supply strategies to improve the efficiency of your supply chain and provide an unbeatable service to your customers

DDSC 08 will take place in London this October and provides the strategies you need to implement an effective pull-supply chain. This event has been produced by the Extended Supply Chain team following research undertaken with conference delegates and experts in the supply chain arena.

Business advantage has recently been gained through the use of Total Quality Management, technological advances & Lean Manufacturing methods - what's next? Industry has shifted from the factory-centric world, where the manufactures have the power to a customer-centric world where manufacturers must align themselves and their activities with the conditions of the global marketplace. Is your supply chain ready for this?

In today's competitive environment, product features and price have to obey the requirements of the market and product quality is no longer the major differentiator. Companies must now compete on the performance and quality of their delivery service, and demand driven supply chains are increasingly being utilised to go beyond customer requirements in efficiency and accuracy of supply.

If you are involved in the supply of a product where the customer's requirements matter, whether you are delivering a physical, infrastructural or electronic product, then you will benefit from attending the DDSC 08.
Event experts include:

Chris Dyson, Head of Supply Chain, Nokia Siemens will share his experiences of connecting customers to the back end to maximise supply chain excellence
Ensuring top down commitment from the boardroom to demand creation and supply capability team-working for Aidan Murphy, Managing Director, Supply Chain Bulmers Ireland

AMR Research will explain the role that globalisation, multi-channel distribution and increased competition are playing in driving forward demand driven supply chains

To find out more or reserve your place visit our website - www.ddsc2008.com - call +44 (0) 20 7970 4770 or email ddsc@centaur.co.uk Preferential rates for this event end on the 31st July 08, so get in touch soon.

Source by mhwmagazine.co.uk

Significance Of SCM For SMEs

2008-07-15T11:44:00.001+05:30

Supply chain management (SCM) is a critical element in today’s highly complex and competitive business environment. It has direct influence on key issues like cost to market, time to market, responsiveness to changing customer demands and market dynamics and – in fact – on the overall business.

The SCM market in India, however, is still to mature and get organised. The process seems to have started but it has a long way to go.

To a great extent, due to the huge resources at their disposal, large enterprises have learnt to leverage SCM to their advantage.

Not surprisingly, most of the solutions and services available in the market tend to focus on the big players – leaving out SMEs who anyways start with a disadvantage due to their inherent resource constraints. Consequently, SMEs have been rather slow (and at times reluctant) to adopt and adapt SCM to their businesses.

However, various factors related to globalisation have now rendered implementation of SCM an imperative even for the SMEs. Mr Rajesh, MD, Rajathi Group highlights the relevance. He says, “The need for SCM is more than ever before because of the challenges unleashed on the competitiveness of the Indian industry by deregulation and globalisation.”

True, competition has now acquired a cross-border dimension and cost will play a key role with regards to competitiveness. “Effective and efficient SCM can help Indian SMEs to reduce their cost and compete aggressively in the international markets,” states Dr K Rangarajan, Head, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (Kolkata).

The mammoth challenge for SMEs is to maintain the balance between demand and supply and, while doing so, provide the best possible products or services at the lowest possible cost. SMEs, obviously, do not have enough resources to employ at various stages of the chain. Hence, they often concentrate on individual components for optimising their internal operations.

But this is just a starting point and is never enough in the long run. The need is to optimise the supply chain in its totality and derive the highest possible value from it. “The objective of every supply chain is to maximise the overall value generated by an enterprise. It consists of all stages involved, directly or indirectly, in fulfilling a customer request,” remarks Mr Nikhil Shah, Executive Director, Elbee Express Pvt Ltd.

SCM is an ongoing process that involves precision in demand forecasting, inventory optimisation, reduction in warehouse costs and efficient as well as cost-effective handling of both incoming and outgoing stocks.

“Effective SCM brings down operating costs by a reduction in cost leakages like inventory pile-ups and reverse logistics, thereby ensuring a better planned environment wherein the production and supply sides are better synchronised and optimised,” says Mr Nikhil Sen, Director, Rosebys.

Thus, SCM is really about enhancing the efficiencies of the supply chain right from the planning stage to the execution stage while coordinating with diverse partners located at different locations. “As Indian SMEs go global it becomes even more imperative that their supply chains are linked with their global suppliers as well as vendors,” adds Mr Shah.

Efficient SCM needs an integrated approach; Indian SMEs need to start identifying and addressing various factors of their businesses so that they can enhance their supply chains accordingly. “An essential first step in the process is to assess the current supply chain capability and then linking that strategy to deliver bottom line results through SCM, competitiveness, order fulfilment, inventory management, etc,” says Mr Rajesh.

A good system will integrate not only information and processes but also people and technology. This is crucial if SMEs want to advance their market position. “An integrated SCM system can act as a powerful differentiator to significantly improve the competitiveness of the Indian SMEs,” says Mr Chittilappily, MD, V-Guard Industries.

As SMEs are gradually realising the significance of having an effective control over their supply chains, the SCM market in the country too is evolving in response. While the IT sector is gearing up to tap the growth, third party players, both at the level of consultation as well as implementation, are emerging on the landscape.

“SMEs are now increasingly relying on 3PL (Third Party Logistics) specialists to manage their entire supply chains, from procurement of raw materials to distribution of goods, in the domestic market as well as exports, so that they can focus on their core competencies,” explains Mr K Prabhakar, President and CEO, XPS.

It does make more sense to rely on specialists and to outsource it ‘to professional supply chain service providers that are well versed in the latest technologies and processes and have the cost benefit of economies of scale which they can pass on to the SMEs’ as Mr Shah says.

Although certain factors related to SCM are common to all industries, each industry vertical has its unique set of issues. Naturally, SCM requirement and implementation would differ from vertical to vertical. Mr Sivaram, Executive Director, Royal Classic Group, brings in the perspective from the apparel sector.

He says, “Being a fashion oriented business, our merchandise always has a limited shelf space and hence SCM has to be very effective. The co-ordination from design forecasting, conceptualising, samples production, bulk production, warehouse management & maintenance, effective distribution network are key activities involved in the process...” Similarly, other industries like auto-components, pharma, gems & jewellery, retail, etc. would have their distinctive SCM needs.

Moreover, each of these sectors is going through a different phase and hence its needs would change accordingly. The point is – SMEs from each industry would have to go for SCM solutions that are well-suited for their industry as well as their individual requirements and not blindly follow any trend.

Being small (or mid-sized) isn’t always bad; it has its advantages. As Mr Shah says, “SMEs have an advantage over their larger competitors as their smaller size gives them less bureaucracy to change and greater agility to respond.” Due to their leaner operations they are well-positioned to implement strategic changes quicker. This agility must be used to exploit business opportunities.

“However they have to do their homework on issues like getting the right team, dealing with lower volumes in the initial stages, keeping firm process documentation in position etc,” says Mr Ramkumar, Executive Director, Gemini Communication Ltd.

Globalisation has not just thrown up new challenges but has also opened up new opportunities. Likewise, just as SMEs have certain inherent limitations, they also have definite intrinsic strengths. SCM is all about aligning your strengths to take advantage of the opportunities while overcoming weaknesses and challenges. SMEs can definitely do it.

Source by indiatimes

Food Manufacturer to Use RFID to Increase Supply Chain Safety

2008-07-14T10:57:00.000+05:30

Matiq, the information technology subsidiary of Nortura, Norway's largest food supplier ,has joined with IBM to use radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to track and trace poultry and meat products from the farm, through the supply chain, to supermarket shelves. Currently the food manufacturing industry is facing both government regulations and industry requirements for quality and traceability.

The tracking solution will help ensure that meat and poultry products are kept in optimal condition throughout the supply chain. The system calls for product packaging to be tagged with RFID chips to help ensure that products are kept in optimal condition.

Norwegian suppliers and supermarkets use software that complies with GS1 EPCglobal's Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS) standard -- which allows sharing of RFID data across and between enterprises.

"Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of food quality, safety, origin and traceability. This creates greater pressure on manufacturers to keep track of every component in the manufacturing process, in order to ensure that their products are safe for the consumer," said Are Bergquist, CEO of Matiq.

At the core of the system will be IBM's WebSphere RFID Information Center, software for enterprises seeking to share product movement information with trading partners which are also using EPCIS compliant solutions.

Source by industryweek.com

Church’s Chicken Enjoys Supply Chain Efficiency, Low TCO with ArrowStream OnDemand

2008-07-14T10:55:00.000+05:30

CHICAGO - Arrowstream, a leading provider of supply chain management and logistics services for the foodservice industry, announced that it is working with Church’s Chicken to help the leading fast food chain achieve growth objectives. Church’s has more than 1,600 locations worldwide in 19 countries and sales exceeding $1 billion.

Church’s Chicken sought a new solution to manage the purchasing process for its volume of stores and 12 distribution centers, because the company desired technology that would enable it to automate critical purchasing actions such as invoice management at the restaurant level.

The company required a solution that would increase efficiencies, could be quickly utilized, would integrate readily with Church’s distributors’ systems, and would also require little to no initial investment in hardware and software.

Church’s found ArrowStream OnDemand to be the right solution that delivered fully-integrated and automated purchasing management with low total cost of ownership.

“ArrowStream was unique for three reasons. First, it allowed us to get the system running quickly, with no investment in hardware and software,” said Alan Stukalsky, CIO, Church’s Chicken. “It offered complete visibility from the supplier to the backdoor of the store and includes logistics information. And it synchronized our distributors’ data with our own.”

To effectively capture share of increasing consumer demand, Church’s has plans to expand its menu and its presence by growing the chain by almost a thousand new restaurants by 2010.

IMPROVE EFFICIENCY FOR CONSUMER AND FRANCHISE SATISFACTION

Church’s identified invoice management as an area that could quickly deliver efficiencies with ArrowStream OnDemand. Managers at each of Church’s 275 U.S. stores were spending about one and one-half hours processing invoices for each of the twice-weekly distribution deliveries.

“With the new automated system, it now takes the average manager just five minutes to enter in each invoice, offering time savings of about 500 man hours per week.” said David Taylor, director of restaurant systems for Church’s Chicken. “This allows restaurant managers to spend more time on customer service, which ultimately improves customer satisfaction and store profitability.”

These new efficiencies, according to Stukalsky, are also having an unintended benefit by creating goodwill throughout the franchise network and contributing to franchisee’s greater satisfaction with the organization’s quality.

ATTAIN FAST START UP AND INTEGRATION WITH DISTRIBUTOR SYSTEMS

ArrowStream OnDemand integrates distributor data with its other chain operator customers, enabling a rapid start-up of the system that was fully synchronized with Church’s distributors.

“ArrowStream possesses such broad expertise and relationships with distributors that we were able to begin to reap benefits immediately,” said Stukalsky.

“To gain optimal visibility from the supplier to the back door of the store, we sought a system that would readily link distributor information to our systems,” he continued. “And if a franchisee wishes to add suppliers, we can rapidly accommodate them and integrate that distributor into the system.”

AUTOMATE PURCHASING PROCESSES WITH LOW TCO

“ArrowStream OnDemand requires no initial investment in hardware and software, unlike other software application providers,” explained Stukalsky. For companies like Church’s that are trying to control overhead, this is a profitable benefit.

Stukalsky believes that low cost of ownership is also enabling Church’s to redirect resources to channels that deliver more direct value to its customers.

SUPPORT GROWTH OBJECTIVES WITH SCALABLE APPLICATIONS

As Church’s continues on its steep growth trajectory, ArrowStream OnDemand is able to rapidly scale to meet Church’s needs in functionality and scope.

“We are working with ArrowStream to adopt software applications that will continue to give us greater visibility of product movement and pricing, and help us automate limited time offer processes,” said Stukalsky.

“We have aggressive growth targets, and with ArrowSteam OnDemand, our software can easily grow with us,” said Stukalsky. “The system is fully scalable to adapt to the chain operator’s needs in terms of function and capacity,” he explained. “With ArrowStream, I have access to more resources than I could possibly gather on my own, and I have a team that is always on the cutting edge of supply chain and logistics solutions,” said Stukalsky.

###

About ArrowStream

ArrowStream has helped chain operators and distributors in the food service industry to more effectively manage their supply chain and reduce logistics costs by an average of 20 percent. ArrowStream OnDemand is a software suite that gives chain operators and manufacturers tools to synchronize and manage their supply chain data, thereby enabling panoramic visibility into the supply chain. This software suite has a lower total cost of ownership that is proven to save time and improve decision-making regarding product supply, pricing, and LTO promotion management. ArrowStream’s management team, with more than 60 years of experience in the food service, software, and logistics industries, developed an innovative logistics management network that optimizes each customer’s inventory replenishment and routing, and substantially reduces transportation costs. To learn more, visit www.ArrowStream.com.

View Company Website: http://www.arrowstream.com

PCC awarded $1.2 million federal grant

2008-07-14T10:52:00.002+05:30

WINTER HAVEN - In recognition of its national leadership role in providing training for high-paying jobs in Florida's supply chain management and logistics industries, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded a $1.2 million grant to Polk Community College's Supply Chain Management Institute, one of eight institutes within PCC's Corporate College division.

PCC was one of only five institutions of higher education in the nation to receive full funding from the DOT through its Transportation Education Development Pilot Program (TEDPP). Other fully funded TEDPP grants were awarded to Penn State University, the University of Idaho, the University of Vermont, and California State University. Partially funded grants went to the University of Baltimore, North Dakota State University and the University of Missouri.

"We are elated and proud to be the only community college in the nation to receive a fully funded federal grant that will enable us to develop, refine, and expand degree and certificate programs offered by PCC's Supply Chain Management Institute," PCC President Eileen Holden said in a news release. "This grant not only reflects favorably on PCC, but also on our industry partners who have collaborated with us in bringing the Institute to fruition."

According to Rob Clancey, director of the PCC Corporate College, PCC will receive $300,000 in each of the next four years and use the funds to expand and fine tune the Supply Chain Management Institute's curriculum, establish a technically advanced training lab featuring new computer hardware and software, and provide scholarship assistance for incumbent workers in the supply chain field who wish to pursue studies at the Institute.

"The grant will also give us much-needed flexibility to add new programs to keep pace with the needs of our private-sector partners and also allow us to share our expertise with other schools throughout the nation," Clancey said, noting that the federal funding will help PCC achieve its goal of molding the Supply Chain Management Institute into a "model for the nation."

Launched last summer, PCC Corporate College's Supply Chain Management Institute evolved from a cooperative effort involving the Florida Banner Center, PCC, and leading firms in Polk County's supply chain and logistics industry. Since its inception, the certificate-granting entity, under the leadership of Director Wayne Kline, has trained hundreds of people for jobs in Polk County's supply chain industry.

Currently, PCC is one of only two community colleges in Florida offering training and educational program in Supply Chain Management leading to an associate of science or associate of applied science degree.

"PCC is proud to be meeting the special training needs of one of the fastest growing components of Florida's economy through its Supply Chain Management Institute," Holden said. "The Institute offers a classic example of the great things that can be accomplished when the public and private sectors work together for the common good."

According to the Employ Florida Banner Center, the average annual wage in Florida's logistics and distribution sector is $48,669, as opposed to $36,804 in industry in general. Well-trained workers in this sector can command up to $54 per hour, and the industry needs 11,000 men and women to meet current and future staffing needs.

Source by newschief

How Good Is Your Supply Chain Data Quality? (Part 3)

2008-07-10T10:25:00.000+05:30

Many companies claim that the reason that they do not measure data quality is that it is too hard to do, or that looking at all that data takes resources they do not have or that the volume of data is so large that it is an overwhelming task. A few companies have found a creative way to assess data quality, implementing a Data Cycle Count program where they “cycle” through the data in their system and “count” the number of data errors found. By looking at a sample on a regular basis the task is more manageable.

Companies have been using cycle counts to assess the accuracy of one of their most important assets, inventory, for a very long time. Accuracy of the on hand quantity is important to the success of the company. But cycle counting is more than tracking inventory accuracy; the key purpose of cycle counting is to identify items in error, thus triggering research, identification, and elimination of the cause of the errors. It is this process of continuous improvement that yields benefits.

How do you apply cycle counting to data? Data can be viewed as an asset too, and like inventory assessing, its accuracy is important to understanding if the processes in place are sufficient to control the input and maintenance of data. As in inventory cycle counting, it is the process of error identification and elimination of the cause of the error that yields benefits.

The data cycle count process is simple; you select a data record to audit, you compare it to the field requirements for that data record and then you report out the rate of the errors, perform root cause analysis tracking the errors by type. Then attack the largest error group as an improvement project to fix the source of the error. That is the basic process.

As with inventory cycle counting, deciding what to count and how often to count can vary by company. The same is true for data. Data can be grouped by type, importance, frequency of change, or how prone it is to entry error. However you choose to classify the data assigning an ABC classification will help you manage the selection of the data records to count.

What are the benefits of data cycle counts?

Data cycle counts are a quantitative measurement of data quality, no more gut feel measurements that are prone to second guessing.
Data cycle counts measure accuracy over time, tracking how well improvement efforts are working.
Cycle counting data is a sampling process and is easier to execute than a full data review. The sample accuracy rate can be extended to approximate the error rate for a group of data.
Cycle counting the data encourages an environment of problem solving and continuous improvement through ongoing corrective action.

Data cycle counting is a simple process that any company can implement and get tangible benefits from. Data is a valuable asset and it is time for companies to make the effort to measure data quality. By borrowing from measurement methodologies used in other parts of the business, companies can develop formal processes to measure and track data quality.

Accurate information and the flow of data is critical to today’s extended supply chains; data drives the choices companies make, whether tactical or strategic. It is data that is used in the measurement of processes and outcomes, so if it is not accurate, your performance measure will not be accurate. Yet, few companies measure the quality of their data or appreciate how poor data quality impacts their performance. Include data quality in your performance metrics program; it is easy to do using methods you already have in place and it will drive significant and long-lasting improvement!

Source by scdigest.com

M&S to invest £300 million in revamping supply chain

2008-07-10T10:18:00.002+05:30

Marks & Spencer is to spend £120m to £150m a year for each of the next three years to revamp its in-store trading, supply chain, and distribution systems.

Stuart Rose, Marks & Spencer's chairman, told the retailer's annual general meeting today that the investment was needed to position M&S for the future.

He said a key focus would be to grow online sales to £500m a year by 2010. Online sales had grown 70% in the past year, and had shown strong growth again in the first quarter, he said.

Rose said he expected trading conditions to remain tough for at least two years. M&S would continue to refurbish its stores despite this, and continue to cut input and operational costs.

The expansion of online business was in addition to growing the store space, especially overseas, as this was key to growing profits, he said.

Ian Dyson, Marks & Spencer's financial director, said profits had reached £1bn for the first time, on sales of £9bn. Margins were under pressure, but despite debt rising to £3.1bn, the balance sheet remained strong, and M&S was still able to raise credit relatively cheaply.

Source by computerweekly.com

Christopher Kurtz Joins Alexza Pharmaceuticals as Vice President, Global Supply Chain and Sustainment Engineering

2008-07-10T10:13:00.001+05:30

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., July 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALXA) announced today that Christopher Kurtz has joined the company as Vice President, Global Supply Chain and Sustainment Engineering. He will have primary responsibilities in the development and execution of Alexza’s global supply chain strategy to support the commercialization of Alexza’s pipeline of clinical product candidates. Alexza’s lead program, AZ-004 (Staccato(R) loxapine) is in Phase 3 clinical testing for the treatment of acute agitation in schizophrenic or bipolar disorder patients.

Mr. Kurtz was most recently Vice President of Research and Development and Director, Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Development for Novo Nordisk Delivery Technologies, Hayward, California. Prior to his tenure at Novo, Mr. Kurtz held positions as Senior Director, Process Engineering for ALZA Corporation, a division of Johnson and Johnson from January to June 2006. He was previously Director, Operations Engineering and Director Manufacturing Engineering for Nektar Therapeutics, San Carlos, California from January 2001 to January 2006 and also held previous positions at PowderJect Pharmaceuticals, PLC and Monsanto, Inc. Mr. Kurtz holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry from University of Colorado at Boulder.

"We are very pleased to welcome Christopher to Alexza and as a member of our Executive Team," said Michael Simms, Senior Vice President, Operations and Manufacturing. "His broad experience in working with external manufacturing partners to develop, scale-up and launch drug delivery-based products will be instrumental as Alexza rapidly moves toward commercialization of its pipeline."

Alexza Pharmaceuticals is an emerging specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel, proprietary products for the treatment of acute and intermittent conditions. The Company’s technology, the Staccato system, vaporizes unformulated drug to form a condensation aerosol that allows rapid systemic drug delivery through deep lung inhalation. The drug is quickly absorbed through the lungs into the bloodstream, providing speed of therapeutic onset that is comparable to intravenous administration, but with greater ease, patient comfort and convenience.

Alexza has six product candidates in clinical development. Alexza’s lead program, AZ-004 (Staccato loxapine) for the treatment of acute agitation in schizophrenic or bipolar disorder patients, is in Phase 3 testing and has completed the enrollment of its first Phase 3 clinical trial. AZ-001 (Staccato prochlorperazine) for the acute treatment of migraine headaches has completed Phase 2 testing. AZ-104 (Staccato loxapine) for the acute treatment of migraine headaches and AZ-002 (Staccato alprazolam) for the acute treatment of panic attacks associated with panic disorder are in Phase 2 testing. Product candidates in Phase 1 testing are AZ-003 (Staccato fentanyl) for the treatment of breakthrough pain, which is partnered with Endo Pharmaceuticals in North America, and AZ-007 (Staccato zaleplon) for the treatment of insomnia. More information, including this and past press releases from Alexza is available online at http://www.alexza.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding the development of the Company’s product candidates, projected clinical trial enrollment and data reporting timelines, and safety of the Company’s products and technologies. Any statement describing a product candidate or Alexza’s goals, expectations or beliefs is a forward-looking statement, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and should be considered an at-risk statement. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, particularly those inherent in the process of developing and commercializing drugs. The Company’s forward-looking statements also involve assumptions that, if they prove incorrect, would cause its results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These and other risks concerning Alexza’s business are described in additional detail in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, and the Company’s other Periodic and Current Reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Erayo.com launches as global source for independent retailers

2008-07-09T15:38:00.000+05:30

Erayo.com, a b2b global marketplace for retailers and merchandise suppliers, launched recently with more than 3,500 buyers and more than 110 designer-vendors of jewelry, home furnishings and children’s apparel and accessories, the company says.

“Erayo levels the playing field for smaller retailers, so they can compete with big retail chains while maintaining a unique sense of independence and individuality,” says CEO Raffi Topaz. Erayo’s product designers-vendors come from more than 55 countries, the company says.

Based in Tel Aviv, Israel, with a U.S. office in Wilmington, DE, Erayo was co-founded by Topaz, a former vice president of Gilat Satellite Networks; chief operating officer Yoni Zelinger, a former executive of communications technology provider Comverse Inc.; and Eli Campo, who is the executive vice president and general manager of the Israel market for live chat provider Liveperson Inc., and a former senior vice president of engineering and operations for eBay Inc.’s Shopping.com e-marketplace.

Erayo lets buyers and sellers negotiate prices online. Once the buyer completes an online checkout process, Erayo holds the payment until the buyer has received her order, then forwards the payment to the seller. Erayo computes international taxes and duties and charges sellers a commission on each transaction ranging from 15% to 25%. Sellers handle their own inventory and shipping. In a “My Erayo” section of Erayo.com available to each buyer and seller, Erayo users can track deliveries and payment status.

Erayo provides buyers with a “best price” guarantee that beats any lower prices buyers find in other markets. It also lets buyers and sellers post comments about each other regarding their reliability and the value of a seller’s products, and it provides sellers with statistics on product sales in their markets.

“One of the biggest challenges we have is finding new and unusual pieces that customers won’t find in any big department store,” says Laura Macris, co-owner of the Crush Boutique in Boston. “My business partner and I attend U.S. accessories trade shows a few times a year, but until Erayo, we didn’t have the manpower or resources to source internationally.”

Source by internetretailer.com

Cardinal Health Formalizes Its Restructuring

2008-07-09T15:13:00.000+05:30

Cardinal Health Inc. is formalizing its operations into two segments -- health-care supply-chain services, and clinical and medical products -- and in doing so will cut about 600 jobs, or roughly 1.5% of its work force.

The company also disclosed a review of several operations, including its outsourced-hospital-pharmacy-management services, which could lead to their sale.

Cardinal Health had already segmented its operations broadly into two units, with two segments in each of them. Tuesday's announcement formalizes "the organization we began to put in place 18 months ago and will make us ...

More Info

Are China Manufacturers Simply Low-Cost Producers – or Serious Global Competitive Threats?

2008-07-09T10:01:00.000+05:30

While China has obviously seen exceptional growth as a source of finished goods and component supply for Western and Japanese corporations, are Chinese companies strong threats to those same companies in terms of global competition down the road?

The answer seems clearly to be Yes, but many Western companies appear not to take the potential competitive challenge too seriously.

A recent survey of over 1000 companies by McKinsey, for example, found that 41% of executives believe overall Chinese manufacturers are “weaker” than competitors from most other countries.

McKinsey notes that “Besides lower prices, companies in China have little to offer global markets, say respondents, who particularly dismiss Chinese product quality, marketing skills, and brand strength. From the Chinese perspective, the results suggest that low costs will go only so far and that moving up the value chain is more important than ever.”

The perception that Chinese companies are laggards, McKinsey says, might explain why many executives report mounting a muted business response to Chinese competitors at best, viewing manufacturers as a low-cost source of supply and little else.

But is that view a smart one?

Chinese Dragons are Coming after Western Business

In their recent book “Dragons at Your Door: How Chinese Cost Innovation is Disrupting Global Competition,” authors Peter Williamson and Ming Zeng eloquently described how a new generation of Chinese competitors is using total “cost innovation” in product design and the supply chain – not just low labor costs – to gain competitive advantage and growing market share in a number of markets and industries. (See The Supply Chain and China's Dragons.)

(Global Supply Chain and Logistics Article - Continued Below)

Trade Policy Likely to be Key Issue in Presidential Election – with Potentially Large Impact for US Manufacturers

2008-07-09T09:59:00.001+05:30

As is common during almost any slow economy, the issue of trade policy and lost jobs due to “offshoring” is once again being elevated, exacerbated by this being a presidential election year and an undeniable acceleration in recent years of companies moving production from the US to China or other low cost countries.

Not since Ross Perot memorably described the “great sucking sound” he anticipated from the then proposed NAFTA accord during the 1992 presidential race has trade policy had such a high profile.

It is unclear exactly how US policies might be changed under an Obama administration, but the impact potentially could be significant for US manufacturers in any number of ways:

Changes to existing trade policies that will make it more costly to source product from low-cost countries, making some moves offshore impossible or a poor financial decision. That might keep some jobs in the US, but increase costs for business and consumers.
Protection in part for some US manufacturers from global competition.
Potential retaliatory moves by US trading partners that might put a crimp on currently surging US export volumes and, according to some, lower overall world GDP growth.

In general, Republican John McCain is for continuing existing free trade policies. Democrat Obama has been critical of arrangements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), saying it needs to be amended to be more supportive of US interests – but offering little additional specifics on what changes he would propose. One Obama economic advisor reportedly told Canadian officials this spring that the NAFTA talk was just political rhetoric, and wouldn’t result in significant policy changes in practice.

Obama has said he would extend the Trade Adjustment Assistance program – which right now only provides assistance to manufacturing workers that lose jobs due to trade policies, to service workers, such as IT personnel that lose jobs when computer work is sent offshore. He has also said he would end tax breaks and other subsidies to companies that send jobs overseas, and take unclear action, such as tariffs, in cases where foreign governments provide subsidies to their manufacturers, enabling them to sell at lower prices or make more investments.

Source by scdigest.com

Sales and Operations Planning: Enabling Successful Alignment of Business Goals With Supply Chain Tactics

2008-07-09T09:57:00.001+05:30

Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), announced the release of its benchmark report entitled, "Sales and Operations Planning: Aligning Business Goals with Supply Chain Tactics." Aberdeen is continuing its research on the S&OP process, with over 300 respondents taking part in the May 2008 survey dedicated to S&OP. The goal of this year's report was to identify how the S&OP process is helping corporate executives accomplish their overall business strategy. The four broad strategies being considered were: product differentiation, customer service differentiation, cost reduction, and profitability.

The concept of Integrated Business Planning as the end goal of S&OP is highlighted in this report with a specific focus towards areas associated with demand management, response management and scenario planning, among others. The metrics that were benchmarked as an indicator of Best-in-Class performance with respect to the process are Increased Return on Net Assets (RONA), Customer Service Levels, Average Cash Conversion Cycles, and Average Forecast Accuracy at the Product Family Level.

Best-in-Class companies are able to obtain significant competitive differentiation through maturity along different dimensions of process, organization, performance measurement, and knowledge management. For example, Best-in-Class companies are:

--  50% more likely to adopt advanced demand sensing and management
   capabilities
--  More than twice as likely to have the ability to align the S&OP plan
   with the company's financial goals
--  50% more likely to have a full-time S&OP coordinator managing the S&OP
   process
--  Three-times as likely to proactively monitor daily performance against
   S&OP metrics
--  Twice as likely to understand business systems (ERP, advanced
   planning, BI) and utilize them effectively

"Sales and Operations planning processes should be enabled by technologies that have the ability to start at the business planning level and then drill down to supply chain operational metrics," said Nari Viswanathan, research director, Aberdeen. "The S&OP process should be complemented by a strong root cause analysis and execution framework that ensures that the S&OP plan is continuously tracked with respect to the financial goals set forth by the company. In other words, the S&OP lifecycle should precede the financial reporting lifecycle of a company and should be in lock-step."

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: Adexa, Demand Solutions, Kinaxis, Oracle, RiverLogic, and Supply Chain Consultants. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=4905.

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen™ for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.

The launch of Centrino 2 to boost Taiwan supply chain, says paper

2008-07-09T09:55:00.000+05:30

Intel recently issued a notice that its Centrino 2 notebook platform (Montevina) will launch on July 15 in Taiwan. Industry players that form the platform's supply chain in Taiwan are all gearing up in order to fulfill Intel's forecast of a penetration rate of 30-40% by the end of the third quarter, and 50-60% by the end of the year, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.

Nan Ya Printed Circuit Board (NPC), who manufactures flip-chip substrates for Intel already has its capacity fully loaded, while other Centrino 2 partners including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) and Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL) are all ramping up shipments, noted the paper.

With Centrino 2 notebooks likely ship with 2GB memory as the baseline specification, DRAM makers are expecting the new platform to help ease the oversupply pressure in the market, added the paper.

Intel Centrino 2 platform components and partners
Item	Detail	Partners
CPU	45nm Penryn processor	NPC (FC substrates)
Northbridge chipset	GM45 and PM45 (Cantiga)	NPC (FC substrates)
Southbridge chipset	ICH9	ASE and SPIL (packaging and testing)
Memory	DDR2 and DDR3	PSC, ProMOS, Nanya, A-Data and Transcend (DRAM)
Wireless	802.11 a/b/g/n and WiMAX (Echo Peak or Shirley Peak)	TSMC and ASE (foundry) USI and Gemtek (module) Ralink and Realtek (11n chip)
Turbo Memory	2-4GB	PTI (packaging and testing) Foxconn, A-Data and Transcend (module)

Source: Commercial Times, compiled by Digitimes, July 2008

Manufacturing Insights wants to modernize your supply chain

2008-07-09T09:46:00.001+05:30

The last time I spoke to Simon Ellis, he was the supply chain futurist – one of those titles I would kill to get - at Unilever North America (www.unilever.com), a manufacturer of brands as diverse as Slim-Fast and Vaseline.

The other day, I had a chance to speak to Ellis in his new role as supply chain strategy practice director for Manufacturing Insights, an IDC Company. Manufacturing Insights provides strategic business technology and application advice to the manufacturing community.

What got us on the line together was Modernizing your Supply Chain: The Execution Imperative, a new report by Ellis and his colleagues that calls on manufacturers to implement supply chain execution systems that are of the same caliber as their planning systems. To learn more about supply chain management providers, check out Modern’s listing of the Top 20 supply chain management software providers.

The short version of the Manufacturing Insights’ new report is this: Ellis believes that manufacturers have spent a great deal of time and money upgrading their planning capabilities in order to transform themselves into demand-driven enterprises. “For many companies, that was entirely appropriate,” Ellis says. “A lot of companies needed to do that.”

At the same time, many of those same companies forgot that to be successful they have to execute against those plans. “What’s developed is a schism between the demand side of the supply chain, and the ability of the supply side of the equation to act on that demand,” Ellis says. “That’s really problematic as companies pursue low-cost sourcing in China with 90 day lead times.”

Ellis says he wants manufacturers to think about two things as they read the report.

The first is that supply chain execution systems, including warehouse, transportation and manufacturing executions systems have come a long way. “There have been dramatic improvements in the last five years, especially in transportation management systems,” Ellis says. “You really need to compare these new systems to whatever you’re using to see if you’re leaving dollars on the table.”

The second piece is whether or not the demand-driven, or build-to-order, model so highly touted since the e-commerce boom ten years ago, still makes sense for consumer packaged goods manufacturers in today’s economy. “Conceptually, a demand-driven supply chain makes a lot of sense,” says Ellis. “When you think about the supply chain in practical terms, you have factory-utilization and capacity constraints that you just can’t get past. If you’re talking about low volume, high margin products, a build-to-order model works, but I don’t know of any company selling fast-moving, low-margin consumer goods that has been able to make it work.”

While that may sound heretical – haven’t we all been told we have to satisfy a market of one – Ellis uses Dell – the poster child for the build-to-order model – to make his point. “The company is going to produce more preconfigured PCs,” Ellis says, leaving it to the reseller or retailer at the end of the chain to configure the machine to a customer’s requirements.

When Dell shifts gears because of a changing market, it might be time for all of us to take a hard look at how we make and distribute our products.

Let me know what you think about the demand-driven supply chain by posting a comment below or writing me at Robert.Trebilcock@verizon.net .

Elders increases commitment to livestock supply chain

2008-07-08T17:06:00.001+05:30

Elders Rural Services managing director Mike Guerin says Elders will create a Customer Solutions Management unit solely focused on meeting customer demand for Australian meat and livestock.

“As well as servicing Australian agricultural producers, one of the most important core functions performed by Elders Rural Services is the supply of livestock to our processor, feedlot, live export and retail purchasing customers from our producer client base,” Mr Guerin said.

The new Customer Solutions Management unit will be led by Elders’ National Marketing Manager for Meat & Livestock, Hamish Browning, reporting to Elders’ General Manager Meat & Livestock, Jack Gleeson.

Mr Gleeson says the core functions of this Customer Solutions Management business unit are to:

• Develop and deliver improved and targeted service to key livestock purchasing customers.

• Facilitate the introduction of strategic innovations that drive value creation for key purchasing customer businesses.

• Mobilise, influence, and coordinate network supply chain capabilities to meet identified purchasing customer demand requirements.

Source : sl.farmonline.com.au

Quantum Retail Wins 'Supply Chain Excellence' at the 2008 European Retail Solutions Awards

2008-07-08T09:55:00.002+05:30

www.quantumretail.com - Mulberry Marketing Communications Dan Brown / Russell Simmons +44.20.7928.7676 dbrown@mulberrymc.com / rsimmons@mulberrymc.com Quantum Retail has come out top in the 'Supply Chain Excellence' category at the European Retail Solutions Show for its work with leading multi-national fashion retailer, New Look.

Quantum's Q solution has been used by New Look Since October 2007 to manage its

inventory replenishment and allocation processes across its 600 locations. The excellent results yielded by Q have not gone unnoticed by the retail technology industry, a fact reflected at the European Retail Solutions Awards ceremony.

New Look's Group IT & E-Commerce Director, Adrian Thompson, said: "As a fast fashion business with our customers at the core of everything we do, we recognized that Quantum Retail's demand forecast model offered us an opportunity to gain significant competitive advantage," Thompson was also impressed with Q's return on investment: "Q went live within 7 months, and had paid for itself just 5 months later."

Over the last 12 months, New Look has increased its retail space by 20% and diversified into new online and franchised channels. In order to support its expansion and diversification, New Look required a superior replenishment solution to improve management of store/SKU demand and supply. Following an extensive review of the solutions available on the market, Quantum's Q solution was selected.

Spencer Maynard, Head of Stock Optimization at New Look added: "Q has enabled us to proactively manage products by exception, whilst the Q system takes care of the day-to-day decisions. We can now focus our attentions on expanding the business and exploring new routes to market."

The prestigious European Retail Solutions Awards is an annual event focused on recognizing retailers and suppliers for excellence and innovation in retail technology. The awards ceremony was held at Old Billingsgate Market in London, following the second day of the Retail Solutions Show.

Chris Allan, Co-Founder of Quantum Retail was delighted with Quantum's achievement: "We are proud to be acknowledged as the leading retail supply chain technology solution at the European Retail Solutions Awards. We believe our solution is the best way to allocate and replenish goods, and we are glad to see that the retail industry has seen the definitive and tangible benefits of the Q system."

Phil Wrigley, New Look's Chairman, concluded: "The Quantum implementation at New Look has been first class. It has placed the customer at the heart of our stock management, and has delivered impressive financial payback."

About Quantum Retail Technology, Inc.

Quantum Retail Technology, Inc. is a leading provider of software solutions that enable demand driven supply networks. Quantum's flagship solution, Q, allows retailers to optimize inventory availability and supply network performance with low risk and high ROI. Q helps retailers continually achieve the merchandise and financial goal for every item in every location. By leveraging item assortment strategies and goals, Q links the art of merchandising with the science of inventory fulfillment. Q is available as an annual subscription and Quantum Retail offers low-impact pilots to ensure value delivery, alignment of investment to benefits and rapid ROI. Q can be deployed in either hosted or customer deployed environments. Quantum Retail's customers include Guitar Center and New Look. For additional information email info@quantumretail.com or visit www.quantumretail.com

About New Look

New Look has 598 stores in the UK and Eire, and 265 stores in France & Belgium trading under the name Mim. In addition, New Look has 15 New Look branded stores in France and Belgium, and has recently opened franchise stores in Dubai, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

New Look has a volume share of 5.6% in the Women's Outer/Sportswear age 16+ market, and is the 3rd largest retailer by volume in this market. New Look also has a growing market share in Mens & Kidswear.

New Look is now the number 1 retailer of women's shoes in the UK by volume, with a market share of 7.4%. (Source - TNS).

38% of the British female population(1) has purchased an item of Womenswear(2) from New Look in the past year (52 w/e 30th March 2008). This amounts to just under 9.2 million individuals. The average age of shoppers in New Look is 31.

Further information can be found on www.newlook.co.uk and Product and Management photos are available upon request.

(1) aged 12+ years; excluding Northern Ireland

(2) includes Women's Outer/Sports, Nightwear, Underwear, Hosiery, Footwear & Accessories

Quantum's Q software is recognized for its achievements with fast
fashion retailer New Look

Source by pr-inside.com

Squeezing the Most Out of Your Supply Chain

2008-07-08T09:51:00.001+05:30

Many companies are investing copious amounts of time and money on their supply chains as business becomes more complex and global By Jessie Chimni and Ashok Santhanam

Investment in supply chain management (SCM) applications, which topped $6 billion last year and is expected to reach an impressive $7.4 billion by 2010, (according to AMR Research) should never be considered a waste. Still, as companies have piled more products, suppliers and distribution plants into their supply chain scenario and changed replenishment strategies, a slow erosion of effectiveness has followed.

But despite the increasing investments in supply chain effectiveness, many companies are finding that such key metrics as on-time delivery, order fulfillment lead time and supply chain response tend to slide as time passes.

In fact, it's likely that your supply chain isn't operating at its peak efficiency right now. Supply chain opportunity assessments can help you determine if this may actually be happening at your company. Like an annual doctor's physical provides a snapshot of overall health, a supply chain opportunity assessment will give your company a complete look at the overall state of one of its most critical functions and provide with you a comprehensive list of opportunities for improvement.

Armed with the report from a supply chain opportunity assessment, a company can immediately begin to take a series of actions to help improve its operating efficiency and ensure that the supply chain is structured to meet any growth trends or expected sales increases. An assessment also guarantees that processes and data can be more tightly integrated and shared with partners, helping fulfill the ultimate goal of realigning the supply chain with business and operations strategies.

Though an assessment might sound intimidating, it's a pretty straightforward and proven analysis process that entails a thorough review and examination of a company's existing supply chain processes. It's also a method that's been proven to work across industries and has been used to improve supply chain performance in businesses ranging from consumer packaging to semiconductors to communications devices.

The following is a working framework to consider when planning a comprehensive supply chain assessment.

1) First, consider the scope of an assessment. Will it be limited to a division or business unit or include the entire corporation? Will you look at a subset of supply chain processes or examine the full spectrum, including demand planning, supply planning, production scheduling, supply replenishment and order promising? Once the scope of the assessment is determined, identify the company's existing concerns in areas such as demand and supply planning, production scheduling, inventory planning and order promising. (One key strategy, from the start, is to recruit the right people to work on the assessment, including both the key stakeholders that own the supply chain process and those managers in all applicable business units.)

More Information

Quantum Retail Wins ‘Supply Chain Excellence’ at the 2008 European Retail Solutions Awards

2008-07-08T09:49:00.000+05:30

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Quantum Retail has come out top in the ‘Supply Chain Excellence’ category at the European Retail Solutions Show for its work with leading multi-national fashion retailer, New Look.

Quantum’s Q solution has been used by New Look since October 2007 to manage its inventory replenishment and allocation processes across its 600 locations. The excellent results yielded by Q have not gone unnoticed by the retail technology industry, a fact reflected at the European Retail Solutions Awards ceremony.

New Look’s Group IT & E-Commerce Director, Adrian Thompson, said: “As a fast fashion business with our customers at the core of everything we do, we recognized that Quantum Retail’s demand forecast model offered us an opportunity to gain significant competitive advantage,” Thompson was also impressed with Q’s return on investment: “Q went live within 7 months, and had paid for itself just 5 months later.”

Over the last 12 months, New Look has increased its retail space by 20% and diversified into new online and franchised channels. In order to support its expansion and diversification, New Look required a superior replenishment solution to improve management of store/SKU demand and supply. Following an extensive review of the solutions available on the market, Quantum’s Q solution was selected.

Spencer Maynard, Head of Stock Optimization at New Look added: “Q has enabled us to proactively manage products by exception, whilst the Q system takes care of the day-to-day decisions. We can now focus our attentions on expanding the business and exploring new routes to market.”

The prestigious European Retail Solutions Awards is an annual event focused on recognizing retailers and suppliers for excellence and innovation in retail technology. The awards ceremony was held at Old Billingsgate Market in London, following the second day of the Retail Solutions Show.

Chris Allan, Co-Founder of Quantum Retail was delighted with Quantum’s achievement: “We are proud to be acknowledged as the leading retail supply chain technology solution at the European Retail Solutions Awards. We believe our solution is the best way to allocate and replenish goods, and we are glad to see that the retail industry has seen the definitive and tangible benefits of the Q system.”

Phil Wrigley, New Look’s Chairman, concluded: “The Quantum implementation at New Look has been first class. It has placed the customer at the heart of our stock management, and has delivered impressive financial payback.”

About Quantum Retail Technology, Inc.

Quantum Retail Technology, Inc. is a leading provider of software solutions that enable demand driven supply networks. Quantum’s flagship solution, Q, allows retailers to optimize inventory availability and supply network performance with low risk and high ROI. Q helps retailers continually achieve the merchandise and financial goal for every item in every location. By leveraging item assortment strategies and goals, Q links the art of merchandising with the science of inventory fulfillment. Q is available as an annual subscription and Quantum Retail offers low-impact pilots to ensure value delivery, alignment of investment to benefits and rapid ROI. Q can be deployed in either hosted or customer deployed environments. Quantum Retail’s customers include Guitar Center and New Look. For additional information email info@quantumretail.com or visit www.quantumretail.com

About New Look

New Look has 598 stores in the UK and Eire, and 265 stores in France & Belgium trading under the name Mim. In addition, New Look has 15 New Look branded stores in France and Belgium, and has recently opened franchise stores in Dubai, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

New Look has a volume share of 5.6% in the Women’s Outer/Sportswear age 16+ market, and is the 3rd largest retailer by volume in this market. New Look also has a growing market share in Mens & Kidswear.

New Look is now the number 1 retailer of women’s shoes in the UK by volume, with a market share of 7.4%. (Source – TNS).

38% of the British female population¹ has purchased an item of Womenswear² from New Look in the past year (52 w/e 30th March 2008). This amounts to just under 9.2 million individuals. The average age of shoppers in New Look is 31.

Further information can be found on www.newlook.co.uk and Product and Management photos are available upon request.

¹ aged 12+ years; excluding Northern Ireland

² includes Women’s Outer/Sports, Nightwear, Underwear, Hosiery, Footwear & Accessories

Source by Businesswire

Tea e-auction to streamline supply chain

2008-07-08T09:47:00.000+05:30

The e-auction system for tea, to be introduced in the middle of November, will streamline the supply chain.

Union minister of state for commerce and power, Jairam Ramesh said that the industry was suffering from a colonial supply chain and the e-auction would do away with one or two layers. He was speaking at the annual general meeting of the Calcutta Tea Traders Association (CTTA).

With the 5-6 layers in the supply chain—from bush to cup—only 40 per cent of the consumer price was coming back to the producer whereas in the case of milk it was as high as 85 per cent.

Basudeb Banerjee, chairman, Tea Board of India said, the e-auctions was all the regulatory authority from its side could do to help deal with inefficiencies in the system. A part of it could also be facilitated by consolidation in the industry.

Azem Monem, chairman, CTTA said, NSE.IT was expected to demonstrate the operating software for e-auction in September 2008 and would commence training of the users in September-October 2008.

He said, if the e-auctions were user-friendly, reduced transaction costs and allowed to sell more lots per minute, cut down on holding periods, addressed small and large buyers' needs and most importantly achieved a fair price discovery then more teas could be attracted through this auction system.

At present, 143 million kg of tea were sold at the Kolkata auctions and 153 million kg at Guwahati auctions, which accounts for 15 per cent of Indian tea production.

Ramesh said, last August e-auctions for cardamom in Tamil Nadu and Kerala were introduced and it had resulted in better realisations to the tune of 30-50 per cent.
Tobacco was unveiled 3-4 weeks back and the ministry was now planning to extend it to chillies.

Basudeb Banerjee said, A F Ferguson had been appointed to develop a business model for the a-auctions in tea while NSE would develop the settlement system. The entire system would be funded by the Tea Board for the first three years.

Source by Business Standarad

SSAB steels itself for supply chain success

2008-07-08T09:45:00.000+05:30

SSAB’s steel plate division says it is upgrading its use of i2’s supply chain solutions and migrating to the i2 Agile Business Process Platform to improve efficiency and supply chain visibility.

Mats Carlsson, quality, planning and service manager at SSAB, explains that the company has been using i2 for forecasting, planning and order management, but that migrating to the new platform will further improve ease of use, as well as business process and workflow management.

“With this upgrade, SSAB Plate Division will ensure stability on a very important part in our order fulfilment process and also gain some advantages of new functionality,” he adds.

That’s because i2’s Agile Business Process Platform has better supply chain data management, staging and integration, an enhanced studio for development, testing and deployment, and an expanded collection of the company’s best practices and supply chain workflows.

i2 distributor ROCE Partners is the prime contractor.

Source by mcsolutions.co.uk

When expenses squeeze a company's bottom line, assistance is vital

2008-07-07T11:19:00.001+05:30

Six paradigms to consider before outsourcing to 3PLsJohn Fitzgerald, vice-president of global sales and marketing for SEKO, a US global provider of supply chain solutions, gives his opinion on the outsourcing of supply chain servicesOutsourcing of supply chain services is still increasing despite the weakened US eco-nomy, but the decision for a company to outsource to third party logistics providers is not an all or nothing proposition, and requires an in-depth evaluation of the entire supply chain process.In today's dynamic global business environment with enhanced technologies and vastly extended supply chains, companies are often confused by the many logistics options available to them. Before making a decision on how to best implement a supply chain management process, companies should evaluate their own cultural alignment, core competencies and business capabilities.A company's cultural alignment and cross-departmental capabilities, especially as they relate to technology, will provide the factors in determining whether it should keep supply chain management services in-house, outsource them to a third party logistics provider, or employ a combination of both.John Fitzgerald of SEKO suggests six paradigms that companies should abide by when making an outsourcing decision: Determine the state of your warehouse management system: How state-of-the art is the WMS system you have in place? If your company is consistently out-of-stock with finished products for your customers, your in-house system probably does not have the IT capabilities to avoid poor lead times and missed shipments for your customers. You need to outsource or lose customers. If, on the other hand, your company has the wherewithal to provide the proper implementation of an enhanced and robust IT infrastructure, you may be able to realise cost-savings and efficiencies by avoiding the need to outsource your logistics functions. Take a good look at your production facilities: If you find that your production facilities are down for long periods of time and your logistics operations are not flexible enough to meet the requirements of after-hours deliveries and expedited service, you may have no choice but to pay the extra costs by outsourcing your logistics process on top of paying for large overhead for an inflexible logistics operation. Evaluate your delivery date success: If the targeted dates for your time-sensitive product launches are not consistently being met, it is a good indication your internal staffing and facility capacity cannot keep up with your customer demand. Your company probably requires the assistance of a 3PL. Assess your overhead and fixed logistics costs: If these expenses are squeezing your bottom line, you may realise virtually instant savings by consolidating your warehouse operations with a "shared" facility operated by a 3PL. This can enable you to move fixed costs to a variable expense, which provides flexibility in responding to market dynamics.Examine your company's IT capabilities: If your in-house technology is unable to adapt to your growing supply chain needs, you should consider outsourcing your company's logistics data and integrating it with that of a 3PL that specialises in customised supply chain solutions. Rather than waiting years for a new system to be developed internally, you may find that outsourcing both the technology and logistics process to a suitable 3PL will realise cost savings, while expediting the supply chain process. Evaluate your company's Cus-toms compliance readiness: If your company is unable to develop compliance and cost goals, formal policies, training programmes, internal revenues and supplier compliance programmes, the selection of a suitable 3PL to provide the required skill sets to establish a process-based compliance function is critical.Ultimately, following an in-depth evaluation of the entire supply chain process, many companies find that including a mix of in-house and outsourced logistics functions may provide the best solution for them.In a global economy, where there is no set criterion for supply chain success, companies have to carefully analyse their requirements and determine what logistics processes are best suited to meeting their specific and unique global distribution needs.

Source by cargonewsasia.com

Facing Reality: Is Your Business Rationalizing Away Updated Technology Infrastructure?

2008-07-07T11:17:00.001+05:30

A WMS system can provide the cornerstone for a company's supply chain, delivering inventory visibility, on time and complete orders, reduced inventory costs and employee efficiency.By Chris Goldsmith, Director of Product Strategy, HighJump Software
July 7, 2008 -- In a business environment that is constantly changing and growing increasingly complex, small to medium businesses (SMBs) know that to remain viable, they must adopt new technology. However, there is often a disconnect between acceptance and adoption. Is your SMB effectively leveraging technology to address the reality of your competitive environment, or are you rationalizing reasons not to adopt?
As you will see below, a WMS system can provide a rational first building block in developing a robust technology infrastructure for your supply chain. But first, here are two trends affecting adoption in SMBs:
Innovation and Adaptability
Innovation and adaptability are both key factors in keeping up with technology trends. For many SMBs, goods movement and logistics is riddled with inefficiencies due to lack of investment in technology. Legacy applications are showing their age, and oftentimes require massive costs to maintain. These inefficiencies are compounded by the fact that many companies' supply chains are growing more complicated as they explore remote sourcing of raw materials and outsourcing of processes to remain cost-competitive.
Organizational and technology adaptability is important because today's best practice will easily be tomorrow's primitive practices. The rate of change in distribution models continues to accelerate as companies move from push to pull to flow through to lean. Unfortunately, as a SMB, your company is probably not the biggest gorilla on the block and as a result is subject to requirements dictated by the much larger companies in your supply chain (e.g., label formats, RFID compliance, packaging, etc.). This does not even include government regulations such as increasing track and trace requirements throughout the entire supply chain. Your company will need to react to these edicts too, but with fewer resources than your larger brethren.
Competition
Adding a sense of urgency to the trends of innovation and adaptability is increasing competition. As the pace of globalization continues to increase, more and more international companies are competing in your local markets. While these companies do not have your local market knowledge, they bring with them a scale and plethora of best practices that will make them formidable competitors. In addition, barriers to entry in many industries have been lessened. Now a company with a little seed capital can set up a call center in India, source product from China, sell products over the Internet, and take away your customers. With the advances in technology and communication it is very easy to start a global company and address a profitable market. Bottom line: more companies are entering your market and threatening your position.
The results of these trends are making it nearly impossible for SMBs to deliver goods effectively without making strategic technology investments in their supply chains. Still, no matter how strong the justification for modernizing your supply chain and WMS system, there are always going to be reasons for resisting and ignoring change until it is too late. Here are some reasons I've heard:
We need a new system, but cannot afford a long and expensive implementation cycle
We do not necessarily need a complex system today, but we want a system that will grow with us
We want a system with fast employee adoption, and many systems appear too complex
We want a vendor that can share industry best practices
We want a vendor that will be there in the future. We don't want to be restricted to vendors running/developing the system out of their garage
Maybe you have heard similar statements in your company. Many of these assertions assume that SMBs have to deal with SMB software companies. However, as the supply chain is maturing, so are WMS software companies. More vendors are specifically building solutions targeted to smaller companies, including:
Right-sized feature sets
Flexible pricing and delivery models (subscription and/or hosted)
Quick implementation methodologies
Vendors recognize that SMBs have different requirements and different price points for adopting new technology and are actively bringing solutions to market to address these requirements.
Why the Time is Now
The days when only Fortune 500 companies needed a WMS solution have passed. Now any SMB should strongly consider a packaged warehouse management solution. A WMS system can provide the cornerstone for a company's supply chain, delivering inventory visibility, on time and complete orders, reduced inventory costs and employee efficiency.
Updating the technology infrastructure in your supply chain is not a light undertaking, but with the realities at hand, vendors are offering solutions specifically targeted toward smaller businesses with features and functions to make them productive from day one. For many, WMS is the logical first step toward gaining efficiency and keeping pace with the competition. How much longer can your SMB manage this complexity with a paper-based system or legacy application that has been patched together over the years? It's time to face reality: whether your SMB makes an investment in technology infrastructure or not, your competitors surely will.
Chris Goldsmith is Director of Product Strategy at HighJump Software which is a provider of supply chain execution solutions that streamline the flow of inventory and information from source through consumption. www.highjump.com
Source by industryweek.com

Problems must be monitored throughout food supply chain

2008-07-07T09:37:00.002+05:30

Health experts have been warning Americans to limit the processed, "fast" foods we eat because of our country's near-epidemic of obesity, diabetes and other conditions caused by poor diet.

But the swing to eating more fresh foods, even organic produce, has been given pause in recent years as potentially deadly bacteria have cropped up in beef, spinach and, most recently tomatoes.

Carefree eating has, by necessity, become a thing of the past.

The outbreak of E. coli in spinach in 2006 killed five people and sickened hundreds. The outbreak of salmonella in round and plum tomatoes has made 552 Americans in 32 states and the District of Columbia ill so far, with the number expected to rise, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The earliest known salmonella victim got sick April 10, and the latest on June 5, the CDC says. While government officials believe the tainted tomatoes came from Mexico and possibly central Florida, the investigation is continuing. The fact is that such a common bacteria is hard to trace to its source, because there are so many ways it can enter the food chain.

Rooting out pathogens is a major concern, and this editorial page has previously called for greatly expanding the federal food inspection system in the United States. Spurred by public outrage over tainted products from China, the Bush administration has finally agreed to ramp up the Food and Drug Administration, a hopeful sign.

But the tomato problem illustrates the difficult path ahead. Just when health officials thought the outbreak was subsiding, more than 200 new cases cropped up. It is a significant change from the spinach outbreak, probably because about 50 percent of Americans regularly eat tomatoes, compared to only 4 percent who eat spinach. Still, the oversight of our food supply must improve and range from before the crop is planted until it reaches the supermarket shelf.

The burden is not all on the federal government. Farmers and their suppliers should take a hard look at their practices. While not certain, it is a strong possibility that salmonella, which begins in the intestines of animals, made its way into the tomatoes through fertilizer made from livestock waste. Even organically produced manure can carry salmonella and other pathogens from livestock.

More farmers may have to turn to plant compost, for example, to avoid future problems. Meanwhile, processors and distributors of farm products should examine safety standards, as well. Food can become tainted from substances in the water used to clean it. Lastly, we as consumers have the ultimate responsibility for our health and safety. In many cases, foodborne illnesses can be avoided by heeding safe practices.

All fresh produce should be washed (regardless of the "triple-washed" promise on the package), and safe handling and cooking directions followed for meat, dairy and produce, including washing of food-preparation surfaces so that bacteria can't be spread to other foods, as well. In the current salmonella outbreak, washing tomatoes is not a sure-fire protection, the CDC says, but cooking the tomatoes is.

It's true that most of us are busy people who feel we have little time to pore over food labels and food preparation. But the threat of illness -- and worse -- is ever-present in our food supply. We must follow some common-sense practices, or ignore them at our peril.

Source by bucyrustelegraphforum.com

NHS Supply Chain extends iSOFT contract

2008-07-05T11:36:00.002+05:30

NHS Supply Chain has extended iSOFT's contract to host its e-commerce and logistics applications until 2010, the IT provider has announced.

The contract is an extension of a ten-year partnership that began with NHS Supply Chain’s predecessor NHS Logistics.

The solution provided by iSOFT, which is part of the IBA Health Group, includes a fully hosted management service and a dual data centre operation. Applications are run in tandem at two separate data centres to safeguard against potential disasters.

Warehouse and management distributions applications are developed and supported by IBA subsidiary iB solutions under a separate contract.

Paul Richards, managing director of iSOFT UK and Ireland, said: “The long-standing relationship with NHS Supply Chain is built on a true partnership in which we constantly review and develop our service model with the customer to ensure we continually meet its evolving business requirements.”

NHS Supply Chain delivers equipment and supplies to 600 NHS hospitals, GP surgeries and other healthcare organisations from six regional distribution centres, as well as providing an online ordering facility and other e-commerce services.

Source: hesmagazine.com

Quantum Retail Wins ‘Supply Chain Excellence' At The 2008 European Retail Solutions Awards

2008-07-05T11:34:00.001+05:30

Quantum Retail has come out top in the ‘Supply Chain Excellence' category at the European Retail Solutions Show for its work with leading multi-national fashion retailer, New Look.

Quantum's Q solution has been used by New Look since October 2007 to manage its inventory replenishment and allocation processes across its 600 locations. The excellent results yielded by Q have not gone unnoticed by the retail technology industry, a fact reflected at the European Retail Solutions Awards ceremony.

New Look's Group IT & E-Commerce Director, Adrian Thompson, said: "As a fast fashion business with our customers at the core of everything we do, we recognized that Quantum Retail's demand forecast model offered us an opportunity to gain significant competitive advantage," Thompson was also impressed with Q's return on investment: "Q went live within 7 months, and had paid for itself just 5 months later."

Spencer Maynard, Head of Stock Optimization at New Look added: "Q has enabled us to proactively manage products by exception, whilst the Q system takes care of the day-to-day decisions. We can now focus our attentions on expanding the business and exploring new routes to market."

Chris Allan, Co-Founder of Quantum Retail was delighted with Quantum's achievement: "We are proud to be acknowledged as the leading retail supply chain technology solution at the European Retail Solutions Awards. We believe our solution is the best way to allocate and replenish goods, and we are glad to see that the retail industry has seen the definitive and tangible benefits of the Q system."

Phil Wrigley, New Look's Chairman, concluded: "The Quantum implementation at New Look has been first class. It has placed the customer at the heart of our stock management, and has delivered impressive financial payback."

About Quantum Retail Technology, Inc.
Quantum Retail Technology, Inc. is a leading provider of software solutions that enable demand driven supply networks. Quantum's flagship solution, Q, allows retailers to optimize inventory availability and supply network performance with low risk and high ROI. Q helps retailers continually achieve the merchandise and financial goal for every item in every location. By leveraging item assortment strategies and goals, Q links the art of merchandising with the science of inventory fulfillment. Q is available as an annual subscription and Quantum Retail offers low-impact pilots to ensure value delivery, alignment of investment to benefits and rapid ROI. Q can be deployed in either hosted or customer deployed environments. Quantum Retail's customers include Guitar Center and New Look. For additional information email visit www.quantumretail.com

About New Look
New Look has 598 stores in the UK and Eire, and 265 stores in France & Belgium trading under the name Mim. In addition, New Look has 15 New Look branded stores in France and Belgium, and has recently opened franchise stores in Dubai, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. New Look has a volume share of 5.6% in the Women's Outer/Sportswear age 16+ market, and is the 3rd largest retailer by volume in this market. New Look also has a growing market share in Mens & Kidswear. New Look is now the number 1 retailer of women's shoes in the UK by volume, with a market share of 7.4%. (Source – TNS). 38% of the British female population* has purchased an item of Womenswear** from New Look in the past year (52 w/e 30th March 2008). This amounts to just under 9.2 million individuals. The average age of shoppers in New Look is 31. Further information can be found on www.newlook.co.uk and Product and Management photos are available upon request.

SOURCE:Quantum Retail Technology, Inc.

Supply chain managers spending too long on compliance

2008-07-05T11:32:00.001+05:30

Supply chain managers spend up to 52 days per year simply keeping abreast of, and complying with, supply chain regulation and legislation, according to a report by ERP conglomerate Infor. Its survey, of more than 100 UK supply chain professionals in manufacturing companies, finds 84% in that league, while the remaining 16% suggest they have to spend even longer. More than half (58%) claim to be either concerned or very concerned about operating in an increasingly regulated environment. However, despite spending significant resources on compliance, 30% admit they do not have a risk management strategy for their supply chains – leaving them wide open to serious operational problems and financial penalties. “Supply chains are increasingly complicated, and the fact that those responsible are spending up to 52 working days a year on compliance alone is a serious concern,” says Andrew Kinder, director, industry and product marketing, supply chain management, at Infor. “With the need to dedicate 20% of their working time to supply chain compliance, it’s little wonder that professionals struggle to find time to unlock cost savings, optimise productivity and add value to the business.” He insists that emerging supply chain regulations make a risk management strategy more important than ever. “Organisations are well practiced at deploying risk management strategies for their data centres and mission critical applications, such as order taking and dispatch functions. However they often leave supply chains, which carry millions of pounds worth of assets, exposed,” he observes. “Failure to comply with legislative requirements can be among the most expensive of risks, with financial penalties and damage to reputation posing real threats. These findings demonstrate that supply chain managers need to ensure that supply chain risk management becomes a formal consideration.”

Author Brian Tinham

Source by mcsolutions.co.uk

'Oswaldtwistle dealer was high up in supply chain'

2008-07-05T10:19:00.000+05:30

AN ALLEGED dealer accused of being involved in drugs sales in Oswaldtwistle was ‘high up’ in the chain of supply, a court was told.

Mumtaz Khan, 51, was said to have provided a man named Kevin Barsky with amphetamine which was then sold to undercover cops, Burnley Crown Court heard.

And the jury was told Khan had a large amount of the drug stashed at his house in the town when police searched it.

Three undercover officers had been based in Oswaldtwistle trying to catch dealers out and used video and audio tapes, the court heard.

The jury was told when Khan, who operated from his home on Springhill Road, was arrested he denied being involved in supplying drugs and made no comment when charged.

The defendant has pleaded not guilty to being concerned in making an offer to supply 595 grammes of amphetamine on September 20 2005, being concerned in supplying 508 grammes of the drug on Sept 30 and possessing 531 grammes of amphetamine with intent to supply on April 19 2006.

David Temkin, prosecuting, told the jury the defendant was high up in the chain of supply.

Mr Temkin said Khan held a large amount of amphetamine and would supply to dealers lower down the chain.

That dealer would then supply others further down the chain, Mr Temkin said.

He added: "The prosecution say this defendant was an essential part of the whole criminal enterprise."

In 2005, police set up an undercover operation into the supply of illegal drugs in and around Oswaldtwistle.

It had proved successful and led to a number of prosecutions, Mr Temkin said.

Mr Temkin told the jury that the undercover officers moved into the area and were able to get important information about drugs sale and use.

Two officers were in Oswaldtwistle and in early September Barsky approached Shaun, asking if he would be interested in buying amphetamine.

A sample of the drug was provided to the officers, the officers contacted the third undercover officer and it was decided Barsky would provide half a kilo.

He was to get £950 for the deal set for September 20.

The prosecutor said in the mid afternoon Barsky went to the officer’s address in Oswaldtwistle and the three officers asked about the supply of more amphetamine. Barsky made a call to his supplier, allegedly the defendant.

Ten days later Kevin Barsky went to an officer’s house, there was a further discussion about supply and Barsky left and returned with amphetamine.

Mr Temkin said :"The prosecution say this amphetamine came from the defendant.

"Some police officers saw Kevin Barsky making the short journey on foot to Springhill Road. He made that journey several times.”

Source by lancashiretelegraph.co.uk

DSI Launches the Supply Chain Development Award 2008

2008-07-05T10:17:00.000+05:30

FAIRFAX, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In 2002, Michael R. Aevermann created DSI (Distribution & Services, Inc.), a company offering food supply chain services to the onboard industry, and has ever since turned it into a fast growing business, thanks to the support of his customers, employees, suppliers and trade community.

Today, in 2008, with more than 20 years of relationships, ventures and successes, it’s “pay-it-forward” time for Michael R. Aevermann and DSI; time to contribute back to a community they like and owe so much.

Through the DSI Supply Chain Development Award, DSI is happy to distinguish a new leader in supply chain, revealing vision, agility, focus, fortitude and determination, and help the recipient seize future opportunities in the 2008 fast moving onboard service industry. The DSI Supply Chain Development Award is launched with the support of the International Flight Services Association Foundation. It provides the opportunity for an individual involved in onboard food supply chain to further their education. The amount of the award is $4,000USD, which includes tuition, living expenses, books and associated costs.

Candidates for the DSI Supply Chain Development Award must complete an application which is available via the IFSA web site at www.ifsanet.com by August 30th, 2008. The recipient of the Award will be notified early September 2008 and will be invited to attend the IFSA Annual Conference September 13-16, 2008 in Orlando, Florida.

For all information about the award, application, award considerations and programs: www.ifsanet.com.

Applications must be sent by mail at

IFSA Foundation/ DSI Supply Chain development Award

Attn: Traci Gibson

1100 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 300

Atlanta, GA 30342

About DSI

360° Food Supply Chain.

Created in 2002, by Michael R. Aevermann, DSI is a fast growing private company, fully committed to delivering global supply chain services to each of its customers. Its dedicated team of food supply chain operational experts has developed close partnerships with the travel and hospitality industries, providing them with reliable tailor made services through a unique 360° knowledge and approach. DSI 360° food supply services cover every aspect of the food supply chain, from menu design to inventory management, including worldwide sourcing, centralized purchasing, import/export, warehousing, transportation, forecasting and reporting.

News Release Canada, US Sign Mutual Recognition Arrangement Covering Supply Chain Security Programs, PIP and C-TPAT

2008-07-05T10:13:00.000+05:30

(Ottawa: July 3, 2008) -- On balance, the Canadian Trucking Alliance is giving the thumbs up to an announcement from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that they have signed a mutual recognition arrangement covering the departments’ respective supply chain security programs -- Partners in Protection (PIP) and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). The June 28^th signing follows months of discussion between CBSA and business groups, including CTA, on ways to bring PIP into line with the more stringent C-TPAT program in the US.

Carriers who were members of the PIP program before June 30^th, 2008, will have six months to re-apply to the re-vamped program. They will be required to complete a security profile, which will be reviewed by CBSA. A follow-up site validation may be required, but CBSA has indicated that this step may not be undertaken if a C-TPAT validation has been carried out within the past two years. Ultimately carriers will be required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with CBSA that sets out the roles and responsibilities of the respective parties.

“If a carrier is already a C-TPAT member, this should be a relatively straightforward exercise, and they will continue to receive the benefits these programs provide, such as access to FAST lanes at busy international crossings”, says CTA Chief Executive Officer David Bradley. “I’m also pleased to see that CBSA listened to CTA and others in the business community and significantly revised an initial suspend/cancel policy that would have literally driven carriers out of the program. I am confident that the trucking industry, the single largest industry sector in PIP, will be able to comply with these tougher new requirements.”

However, Bradley admits that he “remains disappointed that CBSA and CBP have fallen short of the goal of full mutual recognition – that is, a situation where a carrier need only apply to PIP or C-TPAT, but not both. But we have at least taken an important step forward, and I’m hopeful that we will get there eventually.”

Source by cantruck.com

Infor Streamlines Collection Design Processes for Celio

2008-07-03T12:12:00.000+05:30

Infor Streamlines Collection Design Processes for Celio

Celio Deploys Infor PLM Runtime to Reduce Development Cycles and Boost Productivity

ATLANTA -- July 1, 2008 -- Infor today announced that Celio, the high street fashion house, has deployed its Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution to streamline the development cycle of new product launches.

The implementation of Infor PLM Runtime will help increase productivity and speed-to-market at all stages of garment design for annual collections, in addition to regular new product introductions throughout the year.

“The project commenced late 2006 following our design department’s desire to streamline the new product development process. We wanted the company’s departments, suppliers and subcontractors to share and maintain information at all stages of the design process within a single product data management (PDM) database,” explains Francois Messager, director of organization & information systems at the Celio Group.

“After conducting extensive research on potential vendors and then holding user trials, Infor’s PLM solution was selected in Q1 2007. It was integral that we could deploy a comprehensive, standard version of the solution immediately without the need for bespoke developments.

“Infor PLM Runtime has already helped us adapt our working processes to become more collaborative and transparent in the way we work both internally, and with members of our extended supply chain. All of our designers now have secure access to the PDM database. This provides a single data source for drawings, forms, schedules and technical change orders. In addition to generating time and cost savings, the PLM system plays a vital role in terms of improving quality and speed-to-market by creating new products right first time, without expensive design faults.”

The solution has now been rolled-out across Celio’s different product groups. The fashion house has recently commenced working with Infor on a new project to develop and automate system interfaces. This will provide better visibility by linking Infor PLM Runtime with Celio’s incumbent systems for enterprise resource planning and supply chain management.

“In addition to the technical specifications of the PLM solution, Infor’s deep domain expertise within the fashion industry has also proved crucial to the success of these projects,” Messager concluded.

For more information about Infor PLM Runtime, please visit http://www.infor.com/product_summary/plm/runtime/.

About Celio

Founded in 1985, Celio has risen to become a leading brand in the men’s ready to wear fashion market. The brand is represented in more than 40 countries with over 600 points of sale across the globe. A specialist in sports and casual wear, the Celio brand offers masculine yet relaxed fashion together with its new city-wear range, Celio Club. Its refined and discrete style places an emphasis on quality, colour variety and cut.

About Infor

Infor delivers business-specific software to enterprising organizations. With experience built in, Infor’s solutions enable businesses of all sizes to be more enterprising and adapt to the rapid changes of a global marketplace. With more than 70,000 customers, Infor is changing what businesses expect from an enterprise software provider. For additional information, visit www.infor.com.

MicroHR Manual - A Compact, Versatile Czerny-Turner Spectrometer International journal from Optical Society of Japan Email to Friend Back One USD

2008-07-03T10:49:00.000+05:30

The U.S. Display Consortium (USDC), a public/private partnership chartered with developing the flat panel display and flexible electronics supply chain, today announced a cost-shared contract award with Applied Materials, Inc. to develop metal-oxide films for next-generation thin-film transistors (TFTs). Oregon State University (OSU), a pioneer in transparent electronics, will work with Applied's Display Business Group-AKT, in this USDC-sponsored program, bringing together the U.S. government, private industry and university research to enable critical innovations for future display technology.

The R&D program will address two main challenges for future displays—to significantly improve device performance and reduce display cost per area. New metal-oxide films are one of the promising disruptive technologies for next-generation panels since they have higher electron mobility and the potential to reduce costs through lower temperature processing. Metal oxide films are also expected to be used for fabricating flexible displays and backplanes for OLED applications.

“The exponential growth of the display industry has been driven by continuous improvements in performance and cost,” stated Gilad Almogy, group vice president and general manager of Applied Materials’ Display and Thin Film Solar Products Group. “Applied has always been an industry leader and an enabler of emerging thin-film semiconductor technologies. I am happy to launch this new development program expanding our technology portfolio, which is expected to further contribute to the growing applications for digital information displays.”

“USDC is pleased to have the team of Applied Materials and OSU working together to resolve fundamental issues in the manufacturing of displays,” commented Dr. Mark Hartney, USDC’s chief technology officer. “This is a very strong partnership, bringing together OSU’s leading–edge R&D in transparent electronics and AKT/Applied Materials’ world-class technology development capability.”

“I congratulate Applied Materials in receiving this competitively-bid contract award from USDC to provide solutions for the manufacture of displays and other innovative products,” said Representative Mike Honda (CA, 15th District). “This award represents exciting R&D being conducted in Silicon Valley for emerging display applications. Applied Materials has an exceptional history of developing technology that strengthens California’s economic base.”

The USDC program is expected to take a year to complete. Additional support will be provided by the U.S. Army’s Flexible Display Center at Arizona State University.

Source by azooptics.com

Companies Need to Re-Architect Supply Chain Application Portfolios, Forrester Research Says

2008-07-03T10:47:00.000+05:30

Globalization and Aging Internal Systems Among the Factors Driving New Supply Chain Solutions; Keys to Getting New Projects Approved

No one denies that the business and supply chain worlds are changing rapidly, with an incredible array of new forces and pressures on supply chain and logistics professionals. (See The New Supply Chain Perfect Storm.)

Common sense says that with these rapid changes in the environment and market conditions, a company’s existing supply chain and logistics software applications – which were likely deployed in far different times, and perhaps for business drives that have changed dramatically – may need to be retooled.

That’s certainly the position of Patrick Connaughton, an analyst at Forrester Research. In a recent research report, Connaughton says that “Saddled with inflexible and heavily customized legacy systems, countless supply chain operations are urgently in need of a large-scale IT modernization and transformation effort. Some have flat out reached a point where they can no longer compete or expand globally without a complete rip and replace of their systems.”

Of course, companies facing this reality may be tempted to think they can “outsource” their way out of the dilemma, but that is an unlikely route to solving the problem, Connaughton argues. The systems of “logistics service providers are often just as archaic,” he believes.

Despite this scenario, relatively few companies have major supply chain software upgrades planned. According to a recent Forrester survey, about 11% of companies were planning any major supply chain technology upgrade in 2008.

“That leaves the remaining majority doubling down on legacy investments, essentially bringing new innovation to a standstill,” Connaughton adds. Part of the challenge is that in recent years, concern about rising IT costs, combined with a slowing economy, means companies are putting any new software initiative under “detailed scrutiny,” Connaughton says.

Source by scdigest.com

Rapid globalisation is stretching the supply chain

2008-07-02T15:35:00.000+05:30

Supply chains are losing flexibility due to rapid globalisation, causing major concern to more than 60 per cent of companies surveyed in sixth annual Global Supply Chain Trends Survey published by PRTM.

The study aims to offer insight into how leaders are responding to the challenges of globalising their supply chain operations.

PRTM spoke to more than 300 global manufacturing and service companies compiling information between December 2007 and February 2008.

More than half of participants said they do not have the internal capabilities to adequately manage their external partners. However, in spite of these challenges more than 50 per cent said they plan to move all manufacturing operations outside their home country by 2010. During the same period off-shoring of product development is expected to almost double.

The research found that 96 per cent of participating companies were not currently able to fully achieve the planned benefits of globalisation.

Average reported benefits include an 18 per cent reduction in material costs and a 26 per cent decrease in labour costs.

Management costs proved to be the hardest to reduce with only eight per cent of participants reporting lower costs in this area. More than 40 per cent of companies, however, made no benefit at all or saw an increase in management costs.

Gordon Colborn, lead director for PRTM’s UK business, said: “This is an indication of how difficult it is to globalise without having a solid operational strategy in place, and a tactical framework against which to execute.

“Even companies with significant collaboration experience are struggling to develop and cultivate the right management skills to deal with the complexity resulting from working with multiple partners around the world.”

The study also found that by 2010 the need for greater supply chain flexibility will have overtaken product quality and customer service as the major factor for improving supply chain strategy.

In addition, the survey revealed that the majority of companies are only turning to more environmentally friendly solutions in order to comply with legislation.

Colborn added: “These findings should be of concern to any company planning to move operations to a new geography without a corresponding plan to address the resulting supply chain impact.

“The survey highlights that many companies will be unable to make the changes required to deliver their strategic objectives if they fail to evolve and develop the necessary skills and competencies to manage the complexities of global supply chains. If they are not careful, they will lose the ability to design and implement strategies that deliver competitive advantage and better business performance.”

Source by supplychainstandard.com

Study Shows Barrier to Green Supply Chain Initiatives

2008-07-02T14:21:00.000+05:30

Companies striving to "green" their supply chains are most constrained by the inability to justify cost of implementation, according to "The Green Supply Chain Study," a new survey jointly conducted by CSC, Manhattan Associates, IBM and Supply Chain Management Review magazine.

The study focuses on the most important environmental issues faced by supply chain professionals; outlines the supply chain green initiatives currently implemented or planned in manufacturing, warehousing and distribution; gauges the level of green collaboration with extended supply chain partners; and highlights the greatest challenges for implementing sustainable business practices.

The survey revealed that 78 percent of the 250 supply chain executives who responded are either currently implementing or evaluating sustainable supply chain initiatives. Of those evaluating, close to two-thirds report the greatest barriers their organizations face with regard to establishing these business practices is cost justification. Of those currently implementing a program, 40 percent have not established a method to measure return on investment.

"CSC helped conduct this study to give supply chain executives a view into what strategic green supply chain initiatives are being implemented or planned by their peers and to help them better understand the impact of their efforts," said Brad Barton, a partner and managing director in CSC's Global Business Solutions group. "The results speak for themselves. Companies clearly need an effective method to identify and quantify high-impact areas throughout their supply chain and ensure their investments are green -- especially in cases where these efforts also drive improved profitability."

According to the survey, more than 50 percent of the respondents said they have a documented plan at the corporate level, and about the same number said their company has a senior executive, often a vice president, dedicated to this effort. Nearly two-thirds said waste disposal and recycling were the most important environmental issues to address.

"This study reveals the importance that companies place on reducing environmental impact by executing strategies that optimize efficiency in their supply chain processes," said Eddie Capel, executive vice president, Product Management and Customer Support, for Manhattan Associates.

Many of the supply chain and logistics executives surveyed are involved in at least one sustainability-related group. The study indicates that more than a third are involved in the EPA's SmartWay Transport program, and one-quarter of respondents report that their organizations are actively involved in the Green Suppliers Network and/or Carbon Disclosure Project.

((Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com))

((Distributed via M2 Communications Ltd - http://www.m2.com))

http://www.10meters.com

'Supply chain excellence' often misunderstood

2008-07-02T14:20:00.000+05:30

We are chairing a discussion panel at the upcoming Supply Chain Asia Forum in Singapore on July 9 and 10 (http://www.supplychainasia.com ) that will focus on the topic: "Supply Chain Excellence: The most misquoted concept in SCM?" It is an intriguing topic, indeed. But is the issue misquoted or misunderstood, due to lack of clarity?

There is, of course, a raft of ways to define what one means by any given term, including this "Supply Chain Excellence".

Certainly, in our professional work, we spend a lot of time clarifying what we mean by certain terms, performance measures or concepts. Also, for another example, we have written here in the past about the achievements of the Supply Chain Council in defining their Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) Model, which is very specific about their views of excellence in processes and measures. There are many such references available to all of us.

The one reference that we use as the central part of our practice is the Oliver Wight Class A Checklist for Business Excellence, Sixth Edition. In this, the many aspects of how excellent organisations operate are very clearly and concisely documented in a practical format for people to use as a reference. For example, what are the essential elements of an excellent Sales and Operations Planning process? How do we know when we are truly "excellent"?

The Checklist documents the many elements of the Integrated Business Model, thus covering the best means of managing the following processes:

1. managing the strategic planning process;

2. managing and leading people;

3. driving business improvement;

4. integrated business management (sales & operations planning);

5. managing products and services;

6. managing demand;

7. managing the supply chain;

8. managing internal supply;

9. managing external supply.

We will write more about "excellence" in each of these nine areas next week, but we acknowledge that, on seeing this list of chapters in the Checklist, a likely reaction of many will be that the scope is more broad than just supply chain management. So, that takes us back to definitions and being clear, doesn't it?

We would counter that the characteristics of an excellent supply chain depends on what the organisation needs to execute its strategy. For example, are you striving to serve one or two particular segments of a customer/market base? Or, is the strategy ill defined or lacking focus and you are still trying to be all things to all people? In this way, managing your strategic planning process certainly has a very direct effect on the notion of Supply Chain Excellence.

One key basis for strategy, the appropriate value proposition for your organisation, as presented in The Discipline of Market Leaders by Treacy and Wiersema, has everything to do with defining what would be supply chain excellence for an organisation and its relationship with customers. What are you intending to do for and what do you promise to your customers with respect to products and services? Are they looking to you for lowest price and they are willing to allow extra time to get that or are they actually thinking that they are paying premium price because quick response is important to them? Are you clear in your proposition to them? Either of those approaches can be "excellent" if they are honouring your promise.

Decisions you make about your value proposition have an obvious effect on the sort of supply chain you need and how you deliver on your promises. Do you intend for customers to say about you, "Great prices and quality" as opposed to "Premium priced, but worth it"? The former will dictate one particular means of supply chain execution (perhaps sound, lean execution with no options offered) as compared to the latter (probably with latitude to offer more customised responses).

So, back to our initial question about supply chain excellence and whether or not it is a greatly misquoted concept. We see that basic notion of quoting or misquoting depends on clarity of thought.

Indeed, as Treacy and Wiersema said, the progress of strategic planning in the past couple of decades, including business process re-engineering and making things work better is about how to run a good race. The discipline in determining your value proposition is about choosing which race to run.

As we said above, next week we will elaborate on what we think "excellence" means as per the Oliver Wight Checklist for Business Excellence.

Weekly Link is co-ordinated by Barry Elliott and Chris Catto-Smith CMC of the Institute of Management Consultants Thailand. It is intended to be an interactive forum for industry professionals; we welcome all input, questions, feedback and news at: BElliott@OliverWight-AP.com, cattoc@cmcthailand.org

Source by bangkokpost.com

Business is booming for SA supply chain

2008-05-26T10:28:00.002+05:30

Despite the tendency of the media and the SA public to focus on the negative, large-scale infrastructure projects continue to forge ahead and investment continues to flow.

For those in the supply chain industry, this means an abundance of opportunities as a real enabler of economic growth.

“These are exciting times for those in the supply chain game,” said John van Wyk, director of sales and marketing at Barloworld Logistics. “We may be a small contributor to global GDP, but Africa is going through a rebirth and the forward-thinking players have great opportunities for trade.”

Barloworld Logistics has produced its 2008 supplychainforesight report, which focused on supply chain capability of local companies and the level of complexity their supply chains face. The report found a significant correlation between supply chain reform and business success. Most often, reform involved a re-evaluation of supplier and customer relationships in facing up to growth and globalisation imperatives.

“The companies that mastered complexity were usually early adopters who identified the pockets of opportunity that exist for those operating out of Africa. Those who built up supply chains early have benefited. For latecomers, there are choices — accept a move to complexity and invest in skills, or focus on being strong locally in their own markets. Playing globally requires investing in greater capability to avoid marginalisation,” said Van Wyk.

“The perennial challenge is forecasting and planning, and the better players excel in this area. Companies that plan properly are best placed to take advantage of market conditions, instead of being reactive. The reality is that too many companies focus on operational performance only,” he added. — Brendan Peacock

Source: thetimes

Juggle that carbon: IBM releases a tool for managing the impact of corporate supply chains

2008-05-24T10:19:00.000+05:30

The services team at IBM Global Business Services has developed a software application for helping companies collect, analyze and manage the impact of their supply chains when it comes to carbon footprints.

Called the Carbon Tradeoff Modeler, the application does things like help an executive understand and balance the tradeoff between adopting a carbon emissions reduction effort and supply-chain metrics such as the ability to deliver products on time. A module called the Carbon Management Analysis Tool points out where emissions and costs can be achieved simultaneously.

Among the factors that the software can follow are packaging options, alternative operations ideas, alternative methods of transportation and fuels, and overall sourcing policies. So, if your company is thinking about switching lot sizes, you can test what impact that might have on transportation requirements and associated emissions.

Here’s the whole skinnyon the software, in IBM’s words.

IBM has also provided the link for a white paper on ideas for carbon management practices (Mastering Carbon Management: Balancing Tradeoffs to Optimize Supply Chain Efficiencies), which can be found here.

Also wanted to mention a couple of other new technologies from IBM that were announced a few weeks back during its IBM Business Partner Leadership Conference. They include an update to the IBM Systems Director Active Energy Manager, which (as it might sound) keeps tabs on power consumption in data center and lets IT managers make adjustments to affect usage levels. The software works with sensor technology from SynapSense, which I’ve written about a couple of times.

The other thing worth taking a look at is an energy-efficiency benchmark tool that wasn’t developed by IBM but that it recommends businesses use to compare their power profile with other companies. The tool (produced by The Bathwick Group) can be found at this link.

3Com Names Veteran Executives to Lead Human Resources and Global Supply Chain Operations

2008-05-23T10:26:00.000+05:30

Eileen Nelson named SVP of HR and Tony Wang VP of Worldwide Supply Chain; Appointments Will Help 3Com Accelerate Global Business Plan

MARLBOROUGH, Mass. - 3Com Corporation (NASDAQ: COMS) today announced the appointment of two new senior executives to help accelerate the company’s global business plan. Eileen Nelson has been named Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Tony Wang is the company’s new Vice President, Worldwide Supply Chain.

Nelson, who reports to President and COO Ron Sege, is responsible for 3Com’s worldwide human resources organization. She will work with the 3Com’s China-based operations to drive consistency in the company’s global HR programs.

“We are very fortunate to have Eileen join 3Com,” said Sege. “With more than 25 years working in HR, she will be a tremendous asset in instilling a one-company culture. One of Eileen’s key areas of focus is to identify and recruit highly qualified people – particularly in sales and service so we can accelerate our strategy of building a growing and profitable global networking leader.”

Nelson comes to 3Com from Tropos Networks, where she had been Vice President of Human Resources since 2005. Previously, she was Senior Vice President of Human Resources for eBay. Earlier in her career Nelson held increasingly senior HR positions for several leading technology companies. She is based in the United States.

Tony Wang brings 30 years of networking industry supply chain experience to 3Com. Based in Hangzhou, China, the center of 3Com’s strong presence in the Asia-Pacific region, Wang reports to 3Com Executive Vice President Dr. Shusheng Zheng.

Tony’s key focus is to integrate the company’s two supply chains – one in China and one U.S.-based – into a single, highly efficient global organization to deliver enterprise products that lead the industry in innovation, performance and value proposition. Establishing a worldwide supply chain will help the company reduce costs and improve operational efficiency.

Wang joins 3Com after 9 years with Nortel, where most recently he was managing director of Guangdong Nortel, a joint venture between Nortel and several Chinese networking companies. Wang managed the company’s manufacturing operations. Previously, he spent more than 20 years with networking company Alcatel in China and Taiwan, rising to General Manager of Alcatel Business Systems.

Corporate Governance

3Com’s Compensation Committee granted Ms. Nelson options to purchase 300,000 shares of 3Com’s common stock, and 75,000 shares of restricted common stock, under NASDAQ’s "inducement" exception. Per company policy, these grants are made, and the exercise price of the stock options will be determined, on the first Tuesday of the month following the month in which Ms. Nelson commences employment with 3Com. The options have a term of seven years, vest in equal annual installments over four years, and were granted under a Stand Alone Stock Option Agreement with Ms. Nelson. The restricted stock vests in equal annual installments over three years and was granted under Stand Alone Restricted Stock Agreement with Ms. Nelson.

Safe Harbor

This release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including forward-looking statements regarding executive transition, growth goals and future strategies. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, risks relating to our ability to profitably grow the company and other risks detailed in our filings with the SEC, including those discussed in our quarterly report filed with the SEC on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended February 29, 2008. 3Com Corporation does not intend, and disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking information contained in this release or with respect to the announcements described herein.

About 3Com Corporation

3Com Corporation (NASDAQ: COMS) is a leading provider of secure, converged voice and data networking solutions for enterprises of all sizes. 3Com offers a broad line of innovative products backed by world class sales, service and support, which excel at delivering business value for its customers. 3Com also includes H3C Technologies Co., Limited (H3C), a China-based provider of network infrastructure products. H3C brings high-performance, cost-effective product development and a strong footprint in one of the world’s most dynamic markets. H3C holds the #1 market share position in China for enterprise stackable switch ports and router units, according to leading IT market research and advisory firm IDC. 3Com also is the clear #2 vendor worldwide in total Ethernet switching port shipments, enterprise router units, and small- and medium-business (SMB) switching. Through its TippingPoint division, 3Com is a leading provider of network-based intrusion prevention systems that deliver in-depth application protection, infrastructure protection, and performance protection. For further information, please visit www.3com.com, or the press site www.3com.com/pressbox.

Source: (BUSINESS WIRE)

First Solar Announces Executive Management Appointments

2008-05-15T23:20:00.001+05:30

Ken Schultz Assumes New Position as Executive Vice President, Advanced Development John Carrington Joins First Solar as Executive Vice President, Global Marketing & Business Development Jim Miller Joins First Solar as Executive Vice President, Product & Global Supply Chain Management

TEMPE, Ariz., -- First Solar - announces the appointment of Ken Schultz, John Carrington and Jim Miller into new executive management positions. Ken Schultz has been appointed as Executive Vice President, Advanced Development, John Carrington as Executive Vice President, Global Marketing & Business Development and Jim Miller as Executive Vice President, Product & Global Supply Chain Management.

Mr. Schultz has led First Solar's marketing and business development efforts for more than 5 years and will now move First Solar forward in the newly created position of Executive Vice President, Advanced Development. In his new role, Mr. Shultz will drive innovation and commercialization of new products.

Mr. Carrington has joined First Solar in the role of Executive Vice President, Global Marketing & Business Development, the position most recently held by Mr. Schultz. Mr. Carrington will direct First Solar's global sales and marketing function, including targeted expansions in Europe and the launch of First Solar's entry in the United States.

He brings extensive global marketing experience from his leadership positions with General Electric spanning more than 15 years. Mr. Carrington most recently served as general manager and chief marketing officer of General Electric Plastics (recently sold and re-named SABIC Innovative Plastics). While at GE, he also served as General Manager of automotive marketing in Tokyo, Japan; Pacific Marketing Director in Tokyo; and Commercial Director for GE's Noryl resin business in Selkirk, New York.

Mr. Miller has joined First Solar in the role of Executive Vice President, Product & Global Supply Chain Management. He oversees product management and supply chain activities including material sourcing, product management, and logistics for product delivery and take-back as part of First Solar's end of life module collection and recycling program. Mr. Miller has in-depth supply chain and product management experience, most recently at Cisco Systems as Vice President of Product Operations and as Vice President, Global Supply Chain Management. Prior to Cisco, Mr. Miller was with Amazon.com as Vice President of Global Supply Chain. He has also had management positions at Intel, Teledesic and IBM.

About First Solar

First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq:FSLR) manufactures solar modules with an advanced thin film semiconductor process that significantly lowers solar electricity costs. By enabling clean renewable electricity at affordable prices, First Solar provides an economic alternative to peak conventional electricity and the related fossil fuel dependence, greenhouse gas emissions and peak time grid constraints. For more information about First Solar, please visit www.firstsolar.com.

The First Solar, Inc. logo is available at http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=3052

For First Solar Investors

This release contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements in this release do not constitute guarantees of future performance. Those statements involve a number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, including risks associated with the company's business involving the company's products, their development and distribution, economic and competitive factors and the company's key strategic relationships and other risks detailed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. First Solar assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release or with respect to the announcements described herein.

This news release was distributed by PrimeNewswire, www.primenewswire.com

SOURCE: First Solar, Inc.

Exostar's Trusted Workspace Lauded by Supply Chain Experts

2008-05-15T23:18:00.000+05:30

Wins Elite Awards for Enabling the Aerospace & Defense Community to Share Critical Information HERNDON, Va., May 15

HERNDON, Va., May 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Exostar, the leading provider of secure multi-enterprise collaboration solutions to the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry, is named a START-IT "Hot Company" and one of 125 most influential manufacturing technology providers for the second year in a row. The wins honor Exostar's Trusted Workspace for enabling secure information sharing, visibility and business process integration across global supply chains.

"In today's highly competitive industry, extended supply chain visibility and process efficiency are critical to reduce program risk, cost and information lag-time," said Peter Scott, vice president of supply chain solutions at Exostar. "As the platform trusted by 85 of the top 100 global A&D manufacturers in the aerospace and defense community for sharing business critical information, Exostar is committed to meeting the industry's expanding needs through 2008 and beyond."

Exostar's Trusted Workspace is a secure, neutral hub where organizations can collaborate with external parties without the cost and risk of creating and maintaining multiple, unilateral connections. The Trusted Workspace offers real-time connectivity and access to a secure global community of more than 40,000 enabled trading partners; single sign-on and high quality digital credentials; and a full suite of hosted business applications that support the end-to-end product lifecycle -- from sourcing to award, through design and development, to supply chain execution and aftermarket support.

Trusted Workspace Drives 2007 Growth

Exostar continues to achieve record-setting growth with strong demand for its information sharing, supply chain process integration and collaboration capabilities. The company's momentum is reflected by several milestones in 2007:

-- Successful migration of 30,000 organizations and 45,000 users to the
new Supply Chain Platform, which enables more than one million
transactions each month
-- Managed the successful migration of 125 of Boeing's highest-volume
suppliers from legacy EDI connections to Exostar's Supply Chain
Platform
-- 6,000 new trading partners were added to Exostar's Trusted Workspace
network in 2007, making it the largest on-line community serving A&D
and related market segments

About Exostar

Exostar's Trusted Workspace powers secure multi-enterprise information sharing, collaboration and business process integration throughout the extended value chain. Exostar was founded in 2000 to support the complex trading needs of the world's largest aerospace and defense companies, including BAE SYSTEMS, The Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin Corp., Raytheon Co. and Rolls-Royce. Exostar's identity assurance products and on-demand business applications reduce risk, improve agility and strengthen trading partner relationships and profitability for over 40,000 companies worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.exostar.com.

Media contact:
Lesley Cannata
Corporate Ink Public Relations
(617) 969-9192
lcannata@corporateink.com

SOURCE Exostar

Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management Provides a Concise, Global Approach to Logistics and Supply Chain Management

2008-05-12T23:26:00.000+05:30

DUBLIN, Ireland - Research and Markets has announced the addition of “Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management” to their offering.

Written by two highly experienced authors, this new text provides a concise, global approach to logistics and supply chain management. Featuring both a practical element, enabling the reader to ‘do’ logistics (select carriers, identify routes, structure warehouses, etc.) and a strategic element (understand the role of logistics and supply chain management in the wider business context), the book also uses a good range of international case material to illustrate key concepts and extend learning.

Contents:PrefaceAbout the AuthorsPart 1 - Logistics and Supply Chain Context1. Introduction2. Globalisation and International Trade3. Supply Chain StrategiesCase Studies:DellMedical Devices CompanyPart 2 - Logistics and Supply Chain Operations4. Logistics Service Providers5. Procurement and Outsourcing6. Inventory Management (Chuda Basnet and Paul Childerhouse,   University of Waikato)7. Warehousing and Materials Handling8. Transport in Supply Chains9. Information Flows & Technology10. Resource Flows & Finance (Mike Tayles, The University of Hull)11. Measuring and Managing Logistics Performance (Noel McGlynn,    Microsoft)Case Studies:DHLGategourmetHBOSEADSPart 3 - Supply Chain Designs12. Risk, Resilience, Robustness, Responsiveness, Reliability (Helen    Peck, Cranfield University)13. Integration and Collaboration14. Sustainability15. New Supply Chain DesignsCase StudiesHumanitarian aid supply chains'Pharmaceutical SCMDubaiMorning 365Bowersox article

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c91118

Driving Compliance and Ethics into Global Supply Chains

2008-05-12T23:24:00.000+05:30

Waltham, MA — Integrity Interactive Corporation has released what it is calling the first and only Web-based service that lets a company drive its code of ethics into its global supply chain, offering a solution to help companies mitigate risk to their financial health and reputation and to their customers

The Ethics Issue

Over the past year, a number of leading corporations grabbed headlines with business scandals resulting from serious ethics and compliance breaches in their supply chains. Mattel, with its issues around lead paint in toys, is just one of the most recent examples.

Too often, supply chain scandals result in costly recalls and brand damage. But suppliers and vendors (including OEM manufacturers, parts and components suppliers, ingredient providers, re-sellers, distributors, service and support partners, and 1099 contractors) can't meet standards and expectations that haven't been set.

In fact, an Integrity Interactive survey of Global 2000 companies late last year found that a stunning 78 percent of companies do not include suppliers in their company's primary code of conduct. This same study revealed that nearly 58 percent of companies surveyed were not sure if their company regularly assessed ethics risks in the supply chain.

Identifying Rogue Suppliers

Integrity Interactive delivers a company's code of ethics to suppliers in a password-protected Web site, collects certifications and reports the results back to the initiating company. The service is free to the initiating company. Suppliers pay a nominal documentation fee but pay nothing to view or download standards of ethical conduct.

The new Supplier Certify service aims to help companies identify rogue suppliers before they get a chance to cause major problems or scandals. Three companies — Ryder Systems Inc., H.J. Heinz and bioMérieux Inc. — have already begun the process of driving ethics into their supply chain in partnership with Integrity.

More Info

Global Competition Fosters Supply Chain Education Partnerships

2008-05-12T23:21:00.001+05:30

Most business schools simply have not provided a meaningful emphasis on advanced supply chain strategies whereas the need for managers who are savvy in this area has increased exponentially.

By Matthew B. Myers, Ph.D., Director of Global Business, University of Tennessee

May 12, 2008 -- The trend in modern supply chain management, and supply chain education, is to seek educational partnerships to improve both the company's and the university's competitive position. Intuitively, we would assume that such educational partnerships could help improve a firm's efficiency, assist in learning innovative processes, and remain current relative to front-line supply chain thinking. For universities, the benefits of such partnerships range from an institution's ability to use partner firms as 'living laboratories' and provide a platform for leading-edge research. Not to mention a gateway for the hiring of its graduates.

While educational partnerships between businesses and business schools have a long history, supply chain partnerships are rather new to the scene, this due to the fact that multiple firms are often involved and supply chain thought is still in a relatively early stage of development. There are several reasons, however, why this growing trend is critical to both businesses and business schools, and increasingly the most competitive members of both have strong collaborative relationships relative to supply chain education, As we will see, the trend is due to changes in the competitive landscape for companies and educational institutions, and can only be expected to continue for the long term.

Changes in the Educational Landscape

Recent numbers from the Graduate Management Admissions Council, or GMAC, indicate significant shifts in the way in which executives are being educated. First, in the U.S., enrollment for traditional two-year MBA programs (where many managers receive their first exposure to supply chain thought) are decreasing, while in Europe they are still increasing but at a decreasing rate. Conversely, applications to executive MBA programs, where managers can continue to work while pursuing their MBA, are increasing. There are a number of reasons for this shift, including the fact that it is more difficult to cut two years out of your life to attend an MBA program, and the fact that full-time MBA programs are increasing being seen as commodities, with little differentiating factors between them.

Another trend in education is the call for more programs with a specific focus on supply chain education, as opposed to general management principles. The reason for this may seem obvious, in that there has been considerably greater attention given to supply chain efficiencies and effectiveness as the world markets have demanded. However, a more latent reason is that, with the exception of a few institutions worldwide, most colleges of business simply have not provided a meaningful emphasis on advanced supply chain strategies whereas the need for managers who are savvy in this area has increased exponentially.

As a result of these trends, companies worldwide have sought to establish more direct relationships with universities and, to a limited extent, other educational providers to assist in their efforts to educate their workforce in supply chain strategies. The result has been an effective way to strengthen the capabilities of already valuable managers, while at the same time develop a conduit to the most recent research and the best and brightest graduates in supply chain thought.

How Partnerships are Working

Globally, there are a numbers of examples of educational partnerships that are helping both companies and universities compete. There is no standardized format for these arrangements: each partner has a unique set of needs and resources and as a result partnerships take on a wide variety of forms and formalities. One good example of innovative educational alliances is at my own institution, the University of Tennessee, where our Supply Chain Forum has over 35 partner firms that come together twice a year for roundtable discussions and research seminars.

These types of non-traditional educational activities exemplify university learning options that address specific supply chain issues for firms, while at the same times take advantage of potential symbiotic learning activities between the firms themselves. Other companies, or even multiple firms that represent buyer and seller partnerships within the supply chain, often have long-standing relationships with colleges of business for providing 'custom programs' for their employees. In this fashion, firms are better able to focus the learning experience on specific supply chain topics while at the same time expose their managers to the latest in supply chain thinking.

In speaking with companies interested in finding learning opportunities for their supply chain managers, it is clear that they want their employees to be exposed to two things: global issues and the benefits from being exposed to ideas from other managers, especially those working in overseas markets. For this reason, executive education is experiencing a new trend in global supply chain education: universities partnering with colleges of business abroad to develop new curricula in global supply chain management where managers from across the globe come together to learn and share ideas. They understand that, particularly when it comes to supply chains, the world is not flat, and different markets have widely divergent models of supply chain success. As a result, more and more U.S. managers are coming together to study with their Asian and European counterparts, often spending time in overseas locations such as Hong Kong or Budapest in order to better learn how things work there. This sort of focus on global supply chain management reflects the aforementioned educational shift towards specialty programs in graduate programs.

As the global business landscape becomes increasingly competitive and volatile, both businesses and universities will look for partnerships to better understand, and forecast, supply chain problems. A common denominator of future gold standard firms will be educational relationships that fit the specific needs of both the company and their partner institutions of higher learning.

Matthew B. Myers, Ph.D is the Nestle USA Profession of Marketing and the Director of Global Business at the University of Tennessee.

For over 50 years, University of Tennessee (UT) faculty have played a major role in the supply chain/logistics arena -- conducting innovative research, publishing leading-edge findings, writing industry-standard textbooks, and creating benchmarks for successful corporate supply chain management. Programming is top-ranked in Supply Chain Management Review, U.S. News & World Report, and Journal of Business Logistics. Certification is available. http://SupplyChain.utk.edu www.bus.utk.edu/ivc

News Source: industryweek.com

Garment-maker Esquel calls the Triple-A approach

2008-05-10T22:39:00.000+05:30

Companies can make money while operating in a socially responsible and environmentally friendly way. It just takes what supply chain expert Hau Lee calls the Triple-A approach -having agility, adaptability, and alignment.

At a recent Global Supply Chain Management Forum, Professor Lee of Stanford's Graduate School of Business and an Independent Director of Esquel, described how small to mid-sized companies in China, India, and Israel boosted profits while shrinking waste and pollution and providing a fair workplace for employees.

The April 22 program drew 260 participants to the Business School from foundations, technology firms, think tanks, retail companies, and consumer product makers.

Rather than focus on troubled companies experiencing a manufacturing crisis, such as the recalls of Chinese-made Mattel toys contaminated by lead paint, Lee rolled out some success stories.

“We are talking about supply chains which share risks, gains, and costs, and have a partnership mentality, as opposed to [strictly] a transactional relationship,” Lee said.

He described an irrigation-system producer from Israel that made complex technology available to poor farmers, a business helping small farmers and their middlemen in India get higher prices for crops, and a garment maker in China practicing sustainable manufacturing. “They are small to medium-sized companies,” said Lee, “yet each in its own right has done something special.”

Israel-based Netafim makes irrigation systems that deliver water and fertilizer to crops—an increasingly important function as water grows scarce in many parts of the world.

Source: Fibre2fashion

Nortel Supplier Forum Honors Top Performers

2008-05-09T22:16:00.000+05:30

Nortel(1) (TSX: NT)(NYSE: NT) honored its top performing suppliers and top supplier representatives for 2007 at the 12th annual Nortel Supplier Forum in Richardson, Texas.

"Nortel is focused on our customers and we are increasing quality, speed and productivity in our supply chain to create a competitive advantage," said Joe Flanagan, senior vice president, Global Operations, Nortel. "Nortel's suppliers partner with us to bring value in each of these areas. The annual awards given at our forum recognize the contributions of suppliers who are dedicated to relentless improvement and making business simpler for our customers."

Award winners acknowledged at the Supplier Forum were:

- Diversity Supplier of the Year - Telamon-Corp, Inc.

- Innovation for Services Supplier - Ledefyl

- Innovation for Technology Supplier - JDSU

- Quality & Service - Services Supplier - Manning Global

- Quality & Service - Technology - Spansion

- Supplier of the Year - Renesas

- Supplier Representative of the Year - Joanne Maio, BellMicro

"Our suppliers are helping Nortel better serve our customers through improved competitiveness in service, quality, cost and inventory," said Don McKenna, Nortel's chief procurement officer. "The suppliers and representatives honored for 2007 represent the most outstanding performers and contributors to our global supply chain."

More than 230 people representing 111 of Nortel's Strategic Suppliers attended the two-day forum, which included a 'State of the Business' keynote from Mike Zafirovski, Nortel's president and CEO.

Nortel presented suppliers with its vision for building a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Attendees received updates on Nortel's Global Supply Chain and Quality, Nortel's ongoing Business Transformation and Lean Six Sigma initiatives. Additional presentations focused on Nortel's technology and products including Global Services, Carrier Networks, Metro Ethernet Networks, Enterprise Solutions and Global Procurement.

About Nortel

Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that make the promise of Business Made Simple a reality for our customers. Our next-generation technologies, for both service provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications. Nortel's technologies are designed to help eliminate today's barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people to the information they need, when they need it. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries around the world. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at www.nortel.com. For the latest Nortel news, visit www.nortel.com/news.

RedPrairie Improves Flow of Goods from Manufacturing to Store Shelf with latest E2e(TM) Supply Chain Execution Suite Release

2008-05-08T22:14:00.000+05:30

New release provides synchronized flow of goods, tighter integration between WMS and TMS, advanced recall capabilities and embedded parcel manifesting functionality

MILWAUKEE — RedPrairie Corporation, a world leading consumer driven optimization company, is introducing a new release of its E2e(TM) supply chain execution solution suite. The enhanced solution provides new and upgraded capabilities for better flow of goods, tighter integration between warehouse and transportation management solutions, advanced recall and quality assurance capabilities and new parcel manifesting functionality.

Better facilitation for the flow of goods - The new release offers enhanced functionality to manage diverse distribution environments. Comments Tom Kozenski, RedPrairie(R) Vice President Product Strategy, "Supply chain operations have undergone tremendous changes in today's consumer driven marketplace. Storage warehouses are being retooled as flow-through processing centers where inbound and outbound shipments are synchronized to optimize the inventory flow in a multi-channel order fulfillment operation. This agile movement of goods must be visible and efficient."

Tighter integration between WMS and TMS - Planning and synchronization of the movement of goods is shared between RedPrairie Warehouse Management (WMS) and Transportation Management (TMS) applications. The TMS can plan the sequence in which distribution orders are fulfilled by the WMS based on the most economical shipment plan meeting customer service requirements. The store shipment schedule is used by TMS to optimize routes and ensure that customer delivery agreements are met. The RedPrairie Collaboration Portal(TM) is used by carriers and suppliers to coordinate appointment scheduling within the WMS and TMS.

For inbound processing, the system offers flexible assignment and movement of received inventory for pre-allocated distribution. Tony Brown, SVP Global Supply Chain for J.Crew, says, "Expediting the movement of goods from receiving to outbound shipments is crucial to keeping shelves stocked while reducing handling costs. It's an important part of our distribution strategy at J.Crew."

Improved recall and quality assurance capabilities - With all of the recent publicity on major recalls of everything from children's toys to meats, quality assurance is a critical inbound activity. The RedPrairie release offers enhanced web-based QA / Recall capabilities to enable track-and-trace from the point of origin to the ultimate destination. Paired with RedPrairie's new E2e(TM) Business Process Platform, these capabilities make one-button recalls a reality.

Integrated parcel manifesting - With the new release, RedPrairie has embedded its parcel manifesting system within WMS and TMS to provide certified least-cost shipping by all the major parcel carriers. It handles domestic and international shipments and provides shipment visibility to the customer's door.

"With parcel shipments becoming a larger percentage of transportation spend, it has increased the importance of parcel manifesting applications," says Adrian Gonzalez, Director Logistics Executive Council for ARC Advisory Group. "It is an especially critical factor for sectors such as retail, service parts and direct to consumer."

"This new solution further enables synchronization of the flow of goods and information from manufacturing to the store shelf. The seamless flow is critical in the transformation to demand-driven business operations where real-time collaboration between suppliers, distributors, third party logistics providers and retailers is the foundation for agile supply chain and replenishment processes," says Mike Mayoras, CEO for RedPrairie.

RedPrairie's new version of the supply chain suite is now available in general release and is being implemented at many new client sites. The solution is being demonstrated for attendees of its 11th Annual User Conference, RedShift, held at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami, Florida.

About RedPrairie Corporation

RedPrairie is a world leading consumer driven optimization company. Built on an advanced Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) developed over the past 15 years, the RedPrairie integrated suite of solutions offers on-demand capabilities to over 32,000 sites worldwide for many of the world's largest companies.

RedPrairie's E2e(TM) solutions synchronize people and products throughout the customer buying cycle to ensure goods reach the right place at the right time. At the point of sale, this means consumers have access to desired products and that the store is staffed with the right people to help them make their purchases. In the production cycle, it means suppliers and manufacturers time and synchronize shipments and production based on demand signals from the retailer. And in the back room of the store, it means having the least amount of inventory, solving the "last yard" problem of the retail supply chain.

With 20 global service sites and standard service methods that have been validated over the last 30 years, RedPrairie provides unparalleled service and support. For additional information, call 1.877.733.7724, or access www.RedPrairie.com.

RedPrairie is a registered trademark of RedPrairie Corporation.

E2e is a trademark of RedPrairie Corporation.

Other product and service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners .

Source: centredaily.com/business

Retail Systems Research Announces Results of Survey: Economic Stimulus Act Will Give Retailers Opportunity to Create Brand Loyalty

2008-05-08T22:09:00.000+05:30

Global supply chain optimization provider Manhattan Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ: MANH) and Retail Systems Research (RSR), the only research company run by retailers for the retail industry, today announced results of a joint survey focusing on how retailersare planning to increase profits through President Bush's Economic Stimulus Act, a $168 billion plan designed to inject new life into the economy.

The success of the Economic Stimulus Act lies in part with how consumers actually use the money provided in the rebate, and it seems that consumers are happy to oblige. The National Retail Federation (NRF) conducted a survey of nearly 8,000 consumers the week before the bill was signed into law to find out consumers' spending plans. The survey revealed that 40.6 percent of respondents have allocated their rebates to "purchasing something they would not have otherwise purchased without the help of the rebate check." NRF estimated that this translates into $42.9 billion of unplanned, incremental spending due to the stimulus act.

RSR conducted an online survey of 95 retailers and found that 35 percent plan to capture consumer spending from the stimulus plan. Big box retailers plan to do the most: 78 percent of big box specialty retailers plan to take advantage of the additional consumer spending, along with 55 percent of general merchandise and apparel retailers (mass merchants, department stores).

"Smart retailers can capitalize on the influx of spending by executing promotions to create brand loyalty with consumers," said Terrie O'Hanlon, vice-president and chief marketing officer, Manhattan Associates, the joint issuer of the retail survey. "For example, a promotion allowing consumers to cash rebate checks in-store in exchange for gift cards valued at 10 percent more than the check would show that the retailer cares about the current economic state and wants to help -- creating an emotional connection with the consumer that could last a lifetime."

Of the 35 percent of respondents to the survey, most retailers' plans revolve around advertising: 77 percent plan special promotions. But only 37 percent plan to increase inventory in preparation for those promotions, making re-allocation of current inventory a high priority over the next several months.

"If you can't get more inventory in the categories that seem poised to move, the answer is to re-allocate what you have and what's coming to geographies that are better poised to take advantage of windfall spending," said Nikki Baird, managing partner, RSR Research. "High-end malls or neighborhoods aren't likely to see much of the stimulus package, so it might be worthwhile to reroute inventory away from those locations and closer to neighborhoods that do stand to gain."

Manhattan Associates, joint-issuer of the survey, offers global supply chain optimization software to assist enterprises with optimizing inventory to maximize profits from the Economic Stimulus Act cash injection.

About Retail Systems Research (RSR)

Retail Systems Research was founded by Brian Kilcourse, Paula Rosenblum, Nikki Baird and Steve Rowen, long time retail industry observers and practitioners. RSR provides: insight into business and technology challenges facing the retail industry ecosystem and thought leadership and advice on navigating these challenges for specific companies and the industry at large.

About Manhattan Associates, Inc.

Manhattan Associates continues to deliver on its 17 year heritage of providing global supply chain excellence to more than 1,200 customers worldwide that consider supply chain optimization core to their strategic market leadership. The company's supply chain innovations include: Manhattan SCOPE(TM), a portfolio of software solutions and technology that leverages a Supply Chain Process Platform to help organizations optimize their supply chains from planning through execution; Manhattan ILS(TM), a portfolio of distribution management and transportation management solutions built on Microsoft.NET technology; and Manhattan Carrier Management, a suite of supply chain solutions specifically addressing the needs of the motor carrier industry. For more information, please visit www.manh.com.

Made-from-India.com – Global B2B Portal out of beta

2008-05-07T09:29:00.000+05:30

Made-from-India.com Launches New Global Marketplace for Indian Manufacturer and Exporter

India, 01/03/08 - Made-from-India introduces new services to its online business-to-business (B2B) portal, which provides a professional business platform for the Indian exporters, manufacturers, suppliers and businessmen of any country who are involved into import-export trade. This portal is far more advanced and extensive in terms of its features and not just an online version of any other portals. It aims at qualitative and genuine data, rather than quantitative approach.

Made-from-India firmly believes that today is the age of information and half baked or incomplete information is always as suicidal as wrong information. Here, quality meets both genuineness and seriousness in business, as business always means profit. We have just tried to emerge as a reliable and complete information hub, and for that we are doing every effort to make it most complete one to meet the competitive environment. Our editorial team brings latest industry news, does research and brings out sartorial analysis, articles and highlights, along with brand launches, product catalogues and news features. Adding to the multitude are the Editor blogs, Expert comments and many more to come.

Exclusive services from Made-from-India.com:

v Product Directory (List of manufacturers, suppliers, exporters, global traders)-user can find only quality as we don’t believe in quantity.

v Trade Leads (Post buying and selling leads)- one can realize how it is different

v Virtual Office – an online revolutionary office existed never before.

v News (Keeping you updated with latest happening from niche markets)-be in the competition, be with the latest of the world with analysis.

v General Information (Informational articles, whitepapers and case studies from industry veterans)- many more will be updated under the segment as information is never complete and never stops to become perfect.

v Trade services (professional support and assistance).

Made-from-India ensures that this is one of the most user-friendly portals focusing on multiple areas while catering to the requirements of countless individuals belonging to import-export, in a simple and comprehensive manner. At the same, we always seek your advice for improvement at info@made-from-india.com

About Made-from-India

Made-from-India is an innovative and comprehensive online business-to-business (B2B) portal. It’s not just another B2B portal, but is meant for serious businessman only who care for Costing, Profit, Turn Over, Brand Promotion, Brand Creation, Brand Make Over, Edge Over others, and Growth.

For more details,

Please visit http://www.made-from-india.com/Contents/About_Us/Our_Services/

www.made-from-india.com

MFI TRADE LINKS PVT LTD.

205-214 Advait Complex,

B/S Sandesh Press Road,

Vastrapur, Ahmedabad – 380015

Gujarat, India.

Or, email at info@made-from-india.com

GS1 Standards-Based Global Supply Chain Solution Webinar

2008-05-07T09:23:00.000+05:30

Webinar scheduled for May 8th at 2:00 PM ET.

Great Falls, VA - epcSolutions invites you to a webinar on supply chain management using GEN2 RFID on May 8th at 2:00 PM ET with speakers Kevin Kail, CEO and Chuck Williams, CTO, epcSolutions.
During this webinar, epcSolutions will demonstrate the three supply chain management flows:
• The product flow - GDSN and RFID
• The information flow - B2BN and RFID
• The finances flow - B2BN and RFID
The product flow includes the movement of goods from a supplier to a customer, as well as any customer returns or service needs and leverages the GS1 standards for product information (GDSN). The information flow involves the GS1 standards for Business to Business Networks transmitting orders and updating the status of delivery (EDI). The financial flow consists of credit terms, payment schedules, and consignment and title ownership arrangements.

We will also demonstrate how RFID can be used to enhance supply chain management. Although radio-frequency identification technology can be used in a broad range of applications, the focus is changing now to the supply chain. RFID will have a significant impact on every facet of supply chain management-from the mundane, such as moving goods through loading docks, to the complex, such as managing data as information about goods on hand is collected in real time.

epcSolutions' GS1Net3 is the world's first collaborative platform for global supply chain management. During this webinar we will demonstrate the flow from creating and synchronizing product information, placing orders for product and tagging the product for shipment. By using GS1Net3, this can be accomplished with GTINManager, which manages the product data, DocManager for the management of the documents, and RFIDTagManager, which handles the tagging and shipment of products.
We invite you to join us and to hear about our solutions for the global supply chain.

Please copy and paste www1.gotomeeting.com/register/942232499 into your web browser to register.

Kim Simonalle
epcSolutions
10510 Beach Mill Road
Great Falls, VA 220066
703-757-4470
www.epcsolutions.com
info@epcsolutions.com

About epcSolutions

epcSolutions, Inc. is the leading provider of RFID compliance software to the Wal*Mart and DoD supplier community. epcSolutions' GS1Net3 application suite implements the GS1 System, a series of standards designed to improve supply chain management. The GS1 System includes: BarCodes - Numbering and bar coding; eCom - EDI (Electronic Data Interchange); Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) - data synchronization; EPCglobal - RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). The "Any Asset, One Network" application suite allows users to manage all four asset types found in a typical business: Work in Process, Finished Goods/Inventory, Fixed Assets and People. Visit www.epcsolutions.com orwww.tetragate.com

Online applicant management services from Supply Chain Jobz

2008-05-07T09:16:00.001+05:30

Supply Chain Jobz partners with a number of partners to provide quality jobs to professionals looking to build a career in the supply chain industry. Some of the other industries that can benefit from the services of Supply Chain Jobz are job seekers in manufacturing, logistics, engineering, construction and transport industries.

Some of the recruiters who regularly advertise on Supply Chain Jobz are Asian Tigers K C Dat (S) Pte Ltd, Australian Logistics Council , Banks & Lloyd Shipping Ltd, BPS Global (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Cadbury Schweppes Asia Pacific, CEVA Logistics Singapore Pte Ltd, Hong Kong Logistics Association, Lawson Williams Consulting Group, Michael Page International (Australia), Qatar Airways, Shell, Supply Chain & Logistics Association of Australia, Taipei Computer Association, The Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport (Singapore) and a number of other companies for all over the world.

For job seekers the benefits that Supply Chain Jobz are free daily job alerts, access to niche job types, access to a career resources centre and a host of other services for convenience.

For the recruiters the primary benefits that they will get are applicant short-listing, online applicant management and a vast and searchable resumes database of professionals.

Source: ferret.com.au

Canada Needs to Foster International Supply Chain Trade, CBOC Report Says

2008-05-06T09:14:00.000+05:30

Ottawa – Canada must foster domestic firms’ integration into global supply chains in order to secure a better standard of living for its citizens and to stay competitive, says a new report by the Conference Board of Canada. North American supply chain trade growth has plateaued in recent years, following dramatic increases in the 1990s, says a CBOC report titled 'Stuck in Neutral'. The study argues that governments continue to view trade in outmoded terms of sales of finished goods from one country to another, but the new trans-national nature of corporations means goods and services flow across multiple borders around the globe before a finished product comes to market.

As a result, the paper argues, governments must adopt policies that recognize the new reality and help domestic firms to take advantage of lower cost labour and other efficiencies abroad, something that just isn’t happening to the extent it should, says the board.

“In aggregate the trend suggests that whereas there are rapidly growing opportunities Canadian firms are only taking small advantage of those opportunities,” said Danielle Goldfarb, associate director of the CBOC’s international trade and investment centre.

“After 2000, Canada’s overall trade data show a drop in Canadian companies’ engagement in global and regional supply chains. That did not pick up in any significant way by 2006,” the report says. In the post-free trade agreement era of the 1990s, trade between Canada and its North American partners almost tripled, but tapered off between 2000-2003 and only regained lost ground from 2003-2006, the report says.

“(North America) represented 84 per cent of Canada’s exports and 60 per cent of its imports in 2006 (with inflation removed). Mexico accounts for only a small fraction of this trade,” the report says.

Goldfarb said that when Canada's trade with North America is removed from the equation, it becomes clear that Canada has become somewhat more integrated in other regions' supply chains. But while Canadian firms have increased their trade in supply chains in other parts of the world, that increase has not been enough to offset the stagnation in growth in North America trade, she said. When it comes to Asia, Canadian trade is heavily weighted toward the export of raw materials and the import of finished goods. Goldfarb said Canada should be aiming to grow its trade in middle-stage goods.

"Trade in (supply chain) inputs is dominated—especially in the case of Asia—by the use of imported inputs, with Canadians not supplying significant inputs into regional supply chains elsewhere,” the report says.

Goldfarb said that U.S. firms that import information technology components for assembly into finished products were able to reduce their prices by 30% and significantly boost U.S. GDP. The failure of Canadian firms to similarly embrace emerging economies and the lower costs those countries offer could be partly to blame for Canada’s lagging productivity statistics, the board says. While importing finished goods has made some Canadian businesses more competitive, other Canadian firms could increase their competitiveness by trading in middle stage goods, she added.

Breaking production down into components across borders has been shown to be more efficient, Goldfarb said, adding Canada should be looking to attract higher value activities in the production chain such as engineering and design services. While commodities trade is important, she said that the country would be better served by having a diversified economy that can withstand a downturn in resource prices.

Goldfarb said the while much of the adjustment to the global economy will have to come from individuals and businesses, governments can help by eliminating trade barriers and investing in education to help workers adapt to rapid change.

“Examining the facts I don't think we have a complete answer for why businesses are not taking advantage of these opportunities in other regions,” Goldfarb said. “It just isn’t clear.”

Source: economicnews.ca

Supply Chain Operations Impact Brands

2008-05-05T09:17:00.000+05:30

Few companies consider the impact of supply chains on their brand. In some cases, brand loyalty may be lost due to stock-out. In other cases, consistently long lead times equate to poor performance and brand value reduction.

Take for example, product returns. What policies governing the reverse supply chain may impact the customer experience and reputation of the company? For most companies, the two areas are seen as entirely separate. How often do we hear of meetings between the logistics and customer service department? At the core this is a supply chain issue. The following review of the Lenovo Group Ltd. will shed some light on how closely the supply chain and brand are linked.

Considering Lenovo

When Lenovo purchased IBM's PC division in 2004, the company acquired an internationally recognized brand icon. Lenovo also assumed responsibility for a globally connected supply chain network, including suppliers, manufacturers, retail distribution networks, sales channels and service centers. The first task became improvement of operational efficiencies through the integration of IBM's network into Lenovo's existing supply chain. Not an easy mission.

One key difference between the two existing models was the customer service and return product support infrastructure. China's marketplace demands few product returns. The common belief in China is "buyer beware." In the U.S. however, the onus is on the seller. Efficient customer service in the event of product defects is required. It is clear in combining the two models there is an opportunity to increase value.

Fast forward four years. In the U.S., customer service demands are now even greater. Expectations for service times have dropped to a matter of hours. China's service market is developing yet still not well established. Lenovo has created a global warranty program, but is the system entirely integrated?

Reverse Supply Chain and the Brand

Lenovo offers global warranties as their brand and products can be found nearly anywhere in the world. This creates a perception for the customer of connectedness. In current Lenovo advertisements, the company suggests both "highly accessible worldwide support" and "PCs backed by a worldwide support network". This is the brand promise.

But what happens when the company's reverse supply chain fails to fulfill its promise? More specifically, what happens when a laptop manufactured in China and sold in the US returns to China, but can't be repaired or even accepted by the support network? There is a breakdown in the reverse supply chain. The effects directly increase costs with the addition of customer service personnel. Indirect costs negatively impacting brand value are immediate.

Lenovo's pledge to customers for worldwide service marks an important realization for newly globalized companies. Customer requirements are different, but real. The supply chain must support and accentuate the brand perceptions. This seemingly small piece of the equation has a strong influence on the brand image, which without further review can have long-lasting negative effects.

Reverse Supply Chains and Technology Brands

If a customer asks for a Starbucks coffee with soy milk and the barista uses skim milk, where in the production sequence is the replacement order positioned? Next in line, at the end of the line, or somewhere in between? If the baristas wait too long, what will the customer's perception of service be? This is one retail location and fairly simple.

Technology products add layers of complexity. Mobile phones and notebook computers are sought after simply because of the added mobility they provide. If the product is manufactured through a global supplier network, and the customer travels globally, the service expected is, you guessed it, global. Frequently the marketing supports this expectation, but does the supply chain?

If a defect is realized for a product bought in one country, but manufactured in another, a new host of challenges must be included in the reverse supply chain discussion. The perception of service and associated costs must take into account in-transit and rework time. For example, how and where will the product re-enter the global distribution network to minimize logistics costs and maintain high perceived levels of service? If the defect is realized at the point of origin, but the product must be shipped back to the point of purchase, the added time of the logistics framework negatively impacts customer satisfaction. The inefficiencies and environmental impacts of the disconnected reverse supply chain create added costs as well.

With the nature of globally recognized technology leaders, the supply chain infrastructure must be dedicated to servicing products throughout the world. At minimum, the reverse supply chain might connect worldwide to receive manufacturer defect returns, moving the product to locations where service is available. The long-term goal is to build available service locations for all models globally. A service gap however shows the network is not truly connected. This is a challenge not only for Lenovo, but also the growing number of electronics providers gaining worldwide recognition.

To be a global leader, the supply chain must follow the brand perception. Supply chains are not only about the movement of product from point A to point B, they are also the backbone of a companies perceived value. Coca Cola's marketing slogan in 1921 was "Knowing no season, thirst knows no restriction of latitude or longitude." It was a global strategy to bring the product to all corners of the world. It was also a promise that the supply chain had to deliver on.

The Coca-Cola Bottlers Association was established in 1914 to protect this commitment of service. As it states, the original mission of the CCBA was to "protect members' products from sham liability claims." The association also identified that bottles could be reused or recycled. The reverse supply chain infrastructure then began to collect and return the containers to begin the bottling process through resin production. The development minimized direct logistics cost and completed a circle integrating every customer into a global service model that exceeds expectations. It wasn't just a cost reduction strategy, but also a delivery on the brand promise.

Bradley A. Feuling is the CEO of Kong and Allan, LLC, based in Shanghai, China. Kong and Allan is a consulting firm specializing in supply chain operations and corporate expansion. http://www.kongandallan.com

Supply-Chain Fraud Risks Primary Concern for Companies

2008-05-05T09:10:00.000+05:30

Vulnerability to supply-chain fraud risks are on the rise as supply lines of South Korean companies become more extended and complex.

As a result, experts say, companies have become the target of an array of frauds ranging from simple theft, misrepresentation of inventory, gray market diversion, counterfeiting and even piracy.

Fraud thrives on complexity and companies are faced with fraud from the very beginning because of global growth and increased outsourcing, according to a recent Global Fraud Report released by Kroll, the New York-based risk consulting firm.

South Korean IT giants, which have already acknowledged the significance of such issues in managing their businesses on overseas markets, are planning to inject fresh capital to strengthen their supply-chain management systems.

With hefty investment, LG Electronics has recently finished the completion of its ``Global Supply-Chain Management System.’’

``The system is intended to face off increasing financial damages triggered by poor supply-chain management on overseas markets,’’ an LG official said Monday. LG, the world’s No. 3 flat-screen TV and No. 4 handset maker, reaps some 70 percent of its sales overseas.

``We could increase productivity by 10 percent as the system makes it possible to cut inventory levels and lead times, and to check the current status of product shipments in real-time,’’ the official said.

Samsung Electronics doesn’t have immediate plans to invest more in supply-chain management. However, the company is tightening it to cut costs.

``We are in an expansionary track in some emerging markets, meaning we don’t have a set cutoff in terms of pricing’’ a Samsung Electronics official said. In a first-quarter earnings briefing, the company’s Vice President Chu Woo-sik reported an impressive performance due to its advantage in supply-chain management.

Over 90 percent of Samsung Electronics’ sales are overseas.

Hynix Semiconductor, which has been accelerating efforts to expand the foundry (contract) business with Taiwan-based strategic partners to cut costs amid the bearish global chip market, also plans to complete its global supply system, embracing clients by early 2009.

Unlike the information technology sector, the pharmaceutical industry has struggled to tackle increasing supply-chain problems because of the sector’s ``increasingly complex patterns of production, distribution and sales.’’

Citing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Kroll said the volume of counterfeit drugs in the supply chain increased fivefold between 2001 and 2007, with fraudulent e-pharmacies raking in up to $6 billion per year..

``It is really difficult to have a strong supply-chain management system because drugs are easy to copy,’’ an official from Pfizer said, adding internal theft throughout the supply chain is a major risk as well.

Source: koreatimes.co.kr

The endless quest for indestructible supply chain

2008-05-04T09:21:00.000+05:30

At annual risk managers gathering, strategies are shared about wiser monitoring of risk in a dangerous world

Nadia Borowski Scott

THE ‘WHAT IF?’ APPROACH Gary Lynch, a managing director in the risk consulting unit at Marsh, advises risk managers to think about potential remedies to supply chain failures.

Supply chain risk is an increasingly significant concern for corporate managers since so many U.S.-based companies are now global in reach, sourcing raw materials from one continent, manufacturing products in another and ultimately transporting them for distribution elsewhere.

Years ago, such risk entailed a shortage of raw materials or late deliveries because of transportation problems. But it has now grown to include everything from natural hazards or disasters to terrorism, pandemics, political unrest, labor problems or the loss of computer data by a vendor.

In most cases these are risks a company can't buy insurance for, even though any one of them could ultimately result in the destruction of a company's brand name, reputation and stock market value. Some companies are even putting pressure on their suppliers to have enterprise risk management plans in place (see “Supply Chain Only as Strong as Its Weakest Link,” FW, April 21).

Addressing and planning for supply chain disruption in an organization's various firms is essential, but it has to come at a reasonable cost, said panelists at the Risk and Insurance Management Society conference in San Diego last week.

“Clearly, it's about managing volatility within certain parameters or thresholds that you have set,” said Gary Lynch, a managing director in the risk consulting unit at Marsh, “but the risk profile constantly changes” so it's imperative that it be monitored for effectiveness and efficiency, he said.

Adding to the challenges is the fact that risk managers view the issues differently than do the company's supply chain managers, said Pamela Britt Schneider, director of global risk management for Avon Products. “Often, they have competing priorities,” she said.

For example, supply chain managers seek to consolidate vendors and reduce inventory in order to cut costs, while a risk manager wants the company to do the opposite, building in redundancies so that there are alternative sources of product in the event of a disruption.

So it's imperative that risk managers and supply chain managers understand each other's roles, Ms. Schneider said. She suggested that those risk managers try to “become an insider” on the supply chain management team, learning its priorities and how the supply chain works, while simultaneously identifying its vulnerabilities.

“Tell them you want to help them reach their goals and avoid disruptions,” she counseled, adding that at the same time, risk managers must balance that with preparing plans that will sustain the business in the event of a problem and be familiar enough with the issues to take on the role as the firm's intermediary with the insurance company when presenting a claim linked to a supply chain problem.

But one growing problem is that, given the weakening economy and tighter budgets, it may be harder for risk managers to sell the importance of risk management's role to senior management.

So supply chain managers need to build their presence in the C-suite by communicating potential problems to them regularly. One way to illustrate the significance of those risks is by presenting news clippings of recent supply chain catastrophes at other companies and their impact, said Ms. Schneider.

Among Marsh's suggestions are that risk managers create a supply chain risk team that looks at the supply chain end-to-end. Mr. Lynch said Marsh has found that one approach to helping companies find alternatives in the event of a supply chain failure is to tell supply chain managers to bring a “what if?” mentality to their duties. That is, have them constantly asking themselves that question so they have a potential remedy in mind in the event of a supply chain failure. “This approach is not only effective but also highly practical, given the limited resources of most corporate risk departments.”

“Nearly three-quarters of risk managers say their companies' supply chain risk levels have increased since 2005,” according to Marsh's survey of 110 corporate risk managers in January and February.

“[So] for most risk managers, the question is not if they should take on this responsibility but how to do it, given constraints on resources and time,” the Marsh report said.

Avon may be one of the most international of U.S.-based companies, as 75% to 80% of its $9.9 billion in sales last year were made by its direct-sales force, perhaps the world's largest, the majority of which is international.

Its scope includes sales operations in 66 countries and distribution of its products in an additional 48. It has 1,500 direct vendors globally, uses 10,000 different raw materials to produce its beauty products and processes 20,000 product orders daily, said Ms. Schneider.

Add to that the fact that most of its products are produced by third-party manufacturers, and Avon maintains worldwide warehousing, distribution and shipping logistics and one can see that Ms. Schneider is involved in a truly daunting enterprise fraught with challenges from within and without.

Ultimately, “in a post-Mattel world, you have to ensure that the products you are selling are safe and are fully tested for your customers,” said Ms. Schneider, referring to the massive toy recall and subsequent negative publicity the toy maker faced, because excessive amounts of lead were discovered in paint on some of its products.

Source: financialweek.com