Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrainMore from Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrainGlobal LogisticsPrice Isn't Everything, But Supplier Auctions Still Make SenseI've spent the last couple of posts urging procurement executives not to focus solely on price when they're choosing suppliers. Service, product quality, financial health, social responsibility and exposure to natural disasters and other potential disruptions are all elements that need to be factored into the mix. So you'd think this enlightened attitude would pretty much rule out the use of auctions for selecting vendors, right?February 11, 2013Service Parts ManagementToday's Chief Procurement Officer Is a New Breed of ExecutiveThe notion of a "chief procurement officer" isn't new. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has had one since 1998, and the title can be found in any number of other government agencies and branches of the military. Private companies have embraced it as well, although the position hasn't enjoyed a solid footing in most C-suites for more than a decade or so. Maybe it was the success of companies like Apple, with its mastery of supply management, that convinced top executives of the need to elevate procurement to the highest levels of the organization.February 4, 2013Reverse LogisticsGot Cash? Why Not Spend Some on Your Suppliers?As if corporations didn't have enough money sitting idle in their accounts today - now we learn that they've been borrowing aggressively, spurred on by record-low interest rates.January 14, 2013Air CargoThe Industrial Internet: A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow?A few weeks back I referenced the work of Robert J. Gordon, an economist and professor at Northwestern University. In a paper published last September for the Centre for Economic Research, he laid out the history of the first three industrial revolutions. And he asked whether a fourth, supposedly driven by the internet and other advances in information technology, could come anywhere near its predecessors in terms of productivity improvements.January 7, 2013All LogisticsTransport Funding 2: Gridlock on the Congressional GridironThe holidays are supposed to be a time of joy, but given the state of the economy and other recent events, it's hard to feel positive about much of anything right now - least of all the outlook for transportation policy reform. So why is Joshua Schank, president and chief executive officer of the Eno Center for Transportation, "more optimistic than I have been in a long time" about the prospects for funding critical infrastructure improvements?January 2, 2013All LogisticsTransport Funding 1: A Cliffhanger Ending for 2012?December 26, 2012All LogisticsTransport Funding 1: A Cliffhanger Ending for 2012?The whole "fiscal cliff" mess, even if averted for the moment, promises to have a huge, long-term impact on nearly every aspect of American life. Transportation, as it so often does, will likely take its place far down the list of lawmakers' priorities. At least until crumbling highways, collapsed bridges and inadequate roads bring key portions of the national infrastructure to a standstill.December 26, 2012Global LogisticsMore Visions of the Future from the San Francisco RoundtableHere are five more predictions for 2013 and beyond, from a panel of five well-informed (and well-fed) Silicon Valley business executives. (See my previous post for the first five.) Assembled in Santa Clara, Calif., by the San Francisco Roundtable of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, these individuals took part in the group's fourth annual effort to answer that age-old question: What does the future hold for supply-chain management?December 17, 2012Global LogisticsMore Visions of the Future from the San Francisco RoundtableDecember 17, 2012Global LogisticsSeers of the S.F. Roundtable Divine the Future of SCMTwo things you should never do on an empty stomach: shop for groceries, and predict the future. In the case of the latter, that must be a guiding principle of the San Francisco Roundtable of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, which takes care to feed attendees before presenting its annual, much-anticipated predictions for the coming year and beyond.December 10, 2012Previous PagePage 220 of 265Next Page
