CBI's January 2009 Survey
Friday January 30, 2009
Another example that the economic slowdown is a global phenomenon was highlighted by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) today. In their January 2009 survey of small and medium-sized manufacturing ... Read More
Ford's Struggling Supplier Could Damage The Supply Chain
Thursday January 29, 2009
Back in December I wrote that the financial problems of the Big 3 Auto makers would ultimately affect their suppliers and damage their supply chains. Today, Ford announced it would ... Read More
3PL's Used By Three Quarters Of The Fortune 500
Wednesday January 28, 2009
A report by the supply chain market research and consulting company Armstrong and Associates identified that 77% of US Fortune 500 companies use Third Party Logistics (3PL) companies for logistics ... Read More
Is The Global Supply Chain Project Still Sweet For Hershey?
Tuesday January 27, 2009
Back in February 2007, Hershey announced a three year Global Supply Chain Transformation (GSCT) project that would cost the company between $475 and $525 million. Today Hershey announced its fourth ... Read More
SNOW Will Make Your Supply Chain Greener
Monday January 26, 2009
The SNOW I am referring to is IBM’s new Supply Chain Network Optimization Workbench. It was created by IBM’s China Research Laboratory and is designed to help clients understand the ... Read More
Xerox Offers Purchasing Solution To Mid-Sized Businesses
Friday January 23, 2009
With US companies looking to offshore suppliers to help provide goods and services, the Xerox corporation has launched a service to help businesses find appropriate vendors. Xerox spends $6.7 billion ... Read More
Small Businesses Waiting Longer For Payment
Thursday January 22, 2009
Small businesses are finding no respite from the current economic climate according to an article today in the Wall Street Journal. As small businesses find it harder to win new ... Read More
Did Poor Forecasting Help Bring Down Circuit City?
Wednesday January 21, 2009
A week ago Circuit City failed to find a buyer and received permission from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to liquidate the company’s assets, including closing its remaining 567 U.S. stores. ... Read More
Vendors Help Keep Small Businesses Afloat
Tuesday January 20, 2009
With banks limiting the availability of credit, many vendors are finding that their small business customers need to renegotiate long-term contracts. Small business owners are doing what they can to ... Read More
FDA To Pilot Secure Supply Chain Program
Monday January 19, 2009
Last week the FDA announced it would select candidates to participate in its Secure Supply Chain pilot. The program is designed to protect pharmaceuticals and their ingredients that are produced ... Read More
Taking Unwanted Holiday Gifts Back To The Store
Friday January 16, 2009
As the economic downturn lingers into 2009, many people have been taking back those unwanted holiday gifts and settled for a little cash instead. This is bad news for retailers ... Read More
ERP Projects Are Late And Over Budget. Surprised?
Thursday January 15, 2009
For anyone who has been part of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) project, the findings of a report from the Panorama Consulting Group will be of no surprise. Their report ... Read More
When $178 Billion Is Not Enough
Wednesday January 14, 2009
The US Department of Defense (DoD) spent approximately $187 Billion on its supply chain in the 2007 fiscal year. However on Monday, the General Accountability Office (GAO) reported that the ... Read More
ProMat 2009
Tuesday January 13, 2009
This week the largest material handling and logistics event is taking place in Chicago. ProMat 2009 is sponsored by the trade association Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) and this ... Read More
Sterling Enhances WMS Offering
Monday January 12, 2009
Today at the National Retail Federation's (NRF) 98th annual convention and expo in New York City, Sterling Commerce announced enhancements to their Sterling Warehouse Management System (WMS). The changes will ... Read More
Supply Chain Problems Equals Lower Share Value
Friday January 9, 2009
A recent report published by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) suggests that problems with a company’s supply chain can directly drive the share price lower. The report analyses 600 companies and PwC found ... Read More
International Freight Shrinkage
Thursday January 8, 2009
In a statement from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) last week, the effect of the global economic slowdown was clearly seen when they announced a 13.5% drop in international ... Read More
Job Losses Hardest For Small Businesses
Wednesday January 7, 2009
Small businesses appear to be hit hardest in this current economic downturn according to the latest National Employment report by ADP. In December 2008, small businesses, which ADP defined as ... Read More
ISM Report Shows Little Optimism
Tuesday January 6, 2009
I was surprised to see an item on CNN reporting that the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) Non-Manufacturing Index rose to 40.6 from 37.3. The headline was how the service ... Read More
High-Tech Forecasting and Planning Summit
Monday January 5, 2009
Logitech, the computer peripherals company, announced a 15 percent reduction in salaried work force as a result of reduced demand and the continuing economic downturn. With this in mind I ... Read More
Will Medium Sized Firms Outsource More Jobs Overseas?
Friday January 2, 2009
We have all experienced calling a customer service or reservations department and find we are talking to someone in India or the Far East. But this has usually been when ... Read More