Supply Excellence

Entries from November 2009

“Frugal Fatigue” or Consumer Confidence?

November 30th, 2009 · 1 Comment · supply management

The next few weeks will be full of interpretation of holiday retail  numbers. Are they up, down or flat? How about online sales? And the big, BIG question … what do the numbers show us about the state of the economy, consumer confidence and the prospects for a 2010 recovery?
The early returns are positive (if [...]

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MIT measuring the real impact of Supply Risk

November 24th, 2009 · No Comments · LCCS and trade, supply risk

While Supply Risk has been a hot topic in procurement and supply chain circles for some time, it’s been difficult to find broad-based empirical information about what organizations are doing on this front. The MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics is looking to do something about that. They are currently conducting a “Global [...]

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The New Normal is everywhere in Europe

November 23rd, 2009 · 1 Comment · LCCS and trade, supply management, supply market dynamics, supply risk

While there may be some early signs that the global economic recovery has begun, we’re not out of the woods just yet. The “Great Recession” has fundamentally changed the way businesses organize and measure success. and recalibrated supply markets, introducing new cost and operational risks that businesses cannot overlook. It has also created [...]

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Opportunities and Strategies for Contingent Labor

November 20th, 2009 · No Comments · Services Procurement, best practices

Earlier this week, Dan Ashton hosted a webinar (replay here) with speakers from Travelers Insurance and Kelly Services to discuss the current opportunity for driving value in contingent labor procurement. Here he shares some of the key take-aways.

Justin Fogarty is Managing Editor of Supply Excellence. For any questions or feedback on the blog or its [...]

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Gibson Guitars: “Suppliers May Lie”, the real translation of Caveat Emptor

November 18th, 2009 · 2 Comments · LCCS and trade, enviro/social sustainability, sourcing, supply management, supply risk

One of the recurring themes of the New Normal is the increasing complexity of and reliance on extended supply chains with many participants beyond the Tier 1 supplier. Gibson Guitar was given a first-hand (and very unwelcome) lesson in this reality just yesterday when its manufacturing plant in Nashville was raided by the US [...]

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