General SCM | SupplyChainBrain

General SCM: Page 1088

U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to Largest in 5 Years

The U.S. chalked up its largest trade deficit since March 2012 as a jump in merchandise imports in January exceeded a smaller gain in shipments overseas.

The Most Valuable Resource - People - Is Declining Globally

Analyst Insight: The most important resource for the supply chain moving forward is people. However, the outlook is grim. The world's labor supply is shrinking, which has huge implications at a macro level on GDP and economic growth and at a business level in terms of available talent. The world labor supply hit an inflection point in 2012, when the proportion of nonworking age population "growth" became greater than the working age population. – John Johnson, senior content specialist, Gartner

031017 The Most Valuable Resource Slider Image

Social Listening Is the Key to Understanding Your Customer

Somebody out there is talking about your product. And you had better be listening.

031017 Podcast Social Listening Is Slider Image

Four Steps Procurement Professionals Can Take to Survive Automation

The BBC's head buyer is optimistic the procurement function won't be replaced by robots if it adapts to become a strategic part of the business.

The Supply Chain Outlook for China in 2017

Analyst Insight: Concern over a potential economic slowdown in 2017 is showing up in both government policy and business strategy in ways that positively impact the logistics sector. Government policies are showing concern for profitability of businesses. Many of the new incentives are centered around logistics. Meanwhile, businesses are taking a harder look at where to make profit in sectors which have thus far shown little margin, such as e-commerce logistics. – Jim Serstad, managing director, Asia, Tompkins International

030917 The Supply Chain Outlook Slider Image

Digital Transformation to Put the Consumer Back in Consumer Packaged Goods

Analyst Insight: The lines between consumer products and retail are more blurred than ever. But for large CPG companies, the challenge remains to create seamless, responsive supply networks optimized to sense demand and respond efficiently, whether shipping to a major retailer or an individual customer. The next five years will see increased adoption of digital technology, heightened M&A activity, and new competition from unexpected sources, all jockeying for a place in customers' homes. – Matt Gunn, manager of Industry Solutions, GT Nexus

030917 Digital Transformationto Put Slider Image

China Softens Coal Focus in Bid to Clean Up Its Skies

China's government pledged to dramatically slow a coal-power building binge that is threatening its environment, saying it would shut down dozens of coal-power plants and stop some new construction.

Leverage Your Supply Chain as Competitive Advantage in Dynamic Marketplace

Analyst Insight: As companies adjust their business strategy to the dynamically changing marketplace, many seek direction when investigating options for supply-chain improvement. With help from data insights obtained through supply-chain analysis, more companies are achieving greater flexibility for meeting demand by leveraging their supply chain as a competitive advantage. – John Richardson, vice president, Supply Chain Analytics, Transportation Insight

030917 Leverage Your Supply Chain Slider Image

Research Group Seeks Insights on Ocean Supply Chain

The global container shipping industry is undergoing unprecedented upheaval, with industry restructuring and consolidation, supply and demand imbalances and convergence of e-commerce and transport logistics, says the Business Performance Innovation (BPI) Network. The group is seeking insights on emerging trends through its survey, Competitive Gain in the Ocean Supply Chain: Innovation That's Driving Maritime Operational Transformation.

Asian Factories Pick Up Steam in Shadow of Trump Protectionist Threat

Asian factories extended a global manufacturing revival as activity picked up steam in February, though the outlook for many of the region's export-reliant economies remained uncertain in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's protectionist stance.

Digitization Drives Innovation in the Chemicals Industry

Analyst Insight: The chemical industry is a critical partner to many other industries, with nearly 96 percent of all manufactured products being touched in some way by chemistry. The accelerating pace of product life-cycles, driven by demand for new and innovative products, plays an important role in driving the need for innovation in the chemical industry. To drive innovation and improve business performance, chemical companies are looking at the role of digital transformation as a lever to improving the innovation process. – John Santagate, Research Manager, IDC

030817 Digitization Drives Innovationin Slider Image

Being Fit for Growth During Digital Transformation

Analyst Insight: Most products arrive in the hands of customers through traditional processes. Sales and operations build forecasts, make procurement plans, and order the necessary materials to produce the products, and manufacturing builds the products at the planned production rates. Distribution plans are established to account for some variation in demand, and customers are promised specific delivery dates. If all goes well, the gap between demand and supply at every point in the system will be small. But that rarely happens. –Eduardo Alvarez, principal, PwC, and Rodger Howell, principal, PwC

030817 Being Fitfor Growth Slider Image

Page 1088 of 2150

Featured Product

Photo: iStock/Anastasiia Yanishevska

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