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Quality & Metrics: Page 218

How Much Inventory Do You Really Need?

Inventory is evil. Inventory is essential. The two statements aren't necessarily contradictory. Not if companies can figure out a way to determine the absolute minimum amount of stock needed to keep customers happy, while maintaining a tight lid on costs.

Think Tank 36

Use of Robots Creates Image Problem for U.S. Manufacturers

When asked to describe the impact on the economy of modernizing factories with advanced technology and automation, nearly two-thirds of Americans told pollsters that it either made no difference or actually hurt the economy, according to The Wall Street Journal.

New Oil Alternatives Needed to Address Vegetable Oil Challenges, Study Says

Solving the sustainability challenges of the palm oil market will require use of alternative oils and the cooperation of all stakeholders, says a study from A.T. Kearney.

Conventional Organizational Structures Based on Function Are Obsolete. Time for New Approach?

By now, the functional model has become the conceptual core of nearly all organizational structures, public and private. It is so ingrained in the daily activities of most companies that it is rarely questioned. But it is obsolete.

Business Strategy 06

GE Capital Fleet Services Unveils Driver Accountability Tool

GE Capital Fleet Services has introduced Driver Accountability, a service that is intended to manage truck driver violations and related expenses.

Transportation 1

Index of Supply Chain Excellence to Launch in Webinar April 25

This month, the Supply Chain Insights team will announce the Supply Chain Index, a formulaic representation of supply chain excellence based on market valuations. It will be launched during a webinar on April 25, 2013, and through a series of reports that will run in our May newsletter and throughout the summer. Here, I would like to share some background information on the Index and how I intend to use it in developing a higher level of research.

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In an Effort to Achieve 'Conflict-Free' Supply Chain, HP Releases List of Its Mineral Smelters

HP has published a list of the 195 smelters that have been identified within its supply chain. The move is designed to achieve a conflict-free supply chain for itself and to encourage the entire industry to move toward greater utilization of conflict-free smelters and refiners.

Manufacturing Sector Improves Energy Consumption in United States

Energy consumption in the U.S. manufacturing sector decreased by 17 percent from 2002 to 2010, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It notes that manufacturing gross output decreased by only three percent over the same period.

Chemicals Energy 1 01

Mobility Solutions Boost Supply Chain Efficiency

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Is Your Systems Integration an Unplanned Patchwork?

Once we were discussing how supply chains are designed when someone made an insightful comment: "The vast majority of supply chains are not designed. They just happen. Their current form is the cumulative result of hundreds of mostly uncoordinated individual decisions made over many years or decades." The same could be said about enterprise application integration for many companies, in spite of the earnest efforts of enterprise IT planners and architects.

Wal-Mart Says It Will Promote Safety Training in Global Supply Chain

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, says that after a fire at a Bangladesh factory last year killed 112 people it is making its biggest push yet to try to improve conditions at factories that produce its clothing.

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Cost Cutting Now Seen as Way to Grow, Not Just Survive, Study Finds

Businesses today are just as committed to cost reduction as they were in the depths of the global recession. The main difference now is that many are focused on cost-cutting as a way to drive growth, rather than as a way to survive or avoid insolvency. This was one of the key findings from Deloitte's third biennial cost survey of companies in the Fortune 1000.

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How a Leading U.S. Floral Distribution Company Reduced Warehouse Labor Costs by 45% with RFID

Recycled Tagging Fasteners: Small Changes Make a Big Impact

Mobile geolocation service for track delivery, cargo shipment and freight transportation. Logistic Import Export business (Elements of this image furnished by NASA)

Enhancing High-Value Electronics Shipment Security with Tive's Real-Time Tracking

Franchise business e-commerce online e-marketplace or digital marketing branch expansion for growth or use technology to analyze product consumer data website management plan for sale service concept.

Moving Robots Site-to-Site