On December 30th, the EPA announced plans to place greater restrictions on 4 types of chemicals; phthalates, short-chain chlorinated paraffins, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and perfluorinated chemicals. To quote the EPA’s press release:
EPA intends to establish a “Chemicals of Concern” list and is beginning a process that may lead to regulations requiring significant risk [...]

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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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The Shared Services & Outsourcing Network (SSON) has asked me to present the “Top Categories to Source Now” in a webinar next week (details & registration here). As those of you who have seen other iterations of this presentation know, the categories themselves and strategies for approaching them change as market conditions shift. The big [...]

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Regular SupplyExcellence readers likely know the symbiotic relationship the blog has with our quarterly SupplyWatch report. Several of our blog contributors are lead authors on the detailed category analysis in the report. Oftentimes, they’ll use the blog to post thoughts on current events and trends, then expand on the topic in greater detail in SupplyWatch.
This [...]

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Like many industries, plastics have been hit hard by the recession. Dropping demand and lack of credit have buyers cutting back on orders and running through existing inventory. And to compensate, plastics suppliers have drastically reduced their output so they don’t flood the market and depress prices even further. Same story, different commodity, right?
But some [...]

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