As many of you know, the Category Managers who contribute to Supply Excellence also create a quarterly report called SupplyWatch. The Q1 issue is up and includes detailed category breakdowns for…

Metals
Plastics, Rubber & Raw Materials
Transportation
Electronics, Electrical & IT Hardware
Paper & Packaging
Services & Capital Goods, Construction & Engineering

In addition, there is a feature article on Cutting [...]

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This post may be venturing off into “rant” territory, which is largely uncharted water for me. But an article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal about the negative impacts that the Buy American Clause is having on some of the very businesses it’s supposed to help shows the fallacy of drafting government policy-by-marketing-slogan.
The Journal tells the [...]

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While there may be some early signs that the global economic recovery has begun, there is still a need to proceed with caution. The recession has sparked deep and widespread structural changes into how businesses operate, organize, capitalize and manage costs.
It has also created new state of normal for business — one in which supply [...]

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Today, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) announced an August PMI of 52.9, a full 4 points higher than July and the highest we’ve seen since June 2007. Although many news sources and even President Obama himself were quick to declare the improved number as a sort of economic victory, ISM chairman Norbert J. Ore [...]

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President Obama defended the US stimulus package’s ‘Buy American Clause’ yesterday at the Three Amigos Summit in Mexico. The President stressed the limited reach of the clause, the possibility for states and provinces to circumvent the provisions in some cases, and the administration’s interpretation that the policy is legal under WTO rules:

Frankly, it struck me [...]

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