LCCS and trade
With the outcome of what some are calling “the most important U.S. Presidential race ever” still uncertain, many business executives are fretting over the economic, tax, and trade policies of the eventual President No. 44.
Yet, savvy procurement and supply management professionals aren’t waiting for the election outcome. They know that, regardless of who wins the [...]
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Last week, Industry Week highlighted the fact that 2/3rds of North American organizations have limited knowledge of the operational impacts of REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of CHemicals). REACH is European Union legislation that aims to put more responsibility on industry to manage the health and environmental risks of industrial chemicals.
I can’t comment on my [...]
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Three years after its inaugural look at Chief Procurement Officers’ key transformation strategies and the challenges to implementing them, Aberdeen Group’s latest CPO Agenda study finds more of the same. Cost-cutting continues to rank among top goals, due in large part to the ailing economy. And procurement execs say their groups struggle most with misaligned [...]
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The love affair between LCCS (Low-Cost-Country-Sourcing) and China has taken a few hits in recent years: bad press on humanitarian issues, unfavorable VAT rebate reductions, a weakened US$, and increasing government interference. It’s made more than one company turn a speculative eye towards central and eastern Europe (CEE).
And why not? There are a number of [...]
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Mehdi Hassan, blogging for South Asia Biz, recently highlighted a Forrester report on the growing dissatisfaction with IT outsourcing in India. As Hassan points out, firms are struggling with the falling dollar, unrealistic expectations, scalability, possible tax code changes and believe it or not, scarcity of top IT talent.
I couldn’t agree more with the assertion [...]
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Over the past year, Supply Excellence has been tracking a growing trend for companies to rethink their sourcing strategies. For example, General Motors has made re-sourcing a cornerstone of its (ongoing) turnaround plan. And just last week a major food and beverage company told me it was rethinking supply lines for core ingredients.
Mattel’s Chairman and [...]
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With the run up in product recalls and food concerns last year, product quality and supply risk management have captured the attention of the C-suite and the general public. Supply managers have an opportunity to leverage this crisis to boost their brand in the organization and help their companies turn the strategic balancing of cost, [...]
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Two years ago, when I suggested that a declining dollar and rising wage and capacity constraints in emerging markets could make the U.S. an attractive “low-cost” region for foreign manufacturers, most of you painted me as Chicken Little. Last year, I awoken your skepticism when I suggested that Detroit and regions of the South that [...]
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Now that the ball has dropped and you’ve bid adieu to 2007, you are probably being bombarded with news reports and e-mails telling you what to expect in 2008. Supply Excellence is also throwing its hat in the prognostication ring, except with a twist. I’ve spent the past few months speaking with supply management executives [...]
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Last weekend, I supported a Toys-for-Tots drive at my alma mater, Boston College. The organizers needed extra hands this year to inspect toys made in China to ensure they weren’t tainted with lead or other hazardous substances.
With precautions like this, you’d expect that manufacturers and importers would be stepping up their diligence and auditing of [...]
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