Skip to content
Search AI Powered
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

CSCMP EDGE 2020

Redesigning your global supply chain? Be smart about it

Presenters at the CSCMP EDGE 2020 conference stress the need to make careful decisions as you to diversify your supply chain.

Supply Chain Quarterly Staff
By Supply Chain Quarterly StaffSep 22, 2020
Supply Chain Quarterly Staff
See Full Bio

According to supply chain consultant Mark Baxa, many global supply chains are currently in the process of “rebalancing,” as companies shift away from having an overly heavy manufacturing and sourcing footprint in China. As they make these shifts, however, Baxa urged supply chain leaders to be smart and consider the full impact of such moves.

Baxa made this point during a presentation at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) EDGE 2020 conference on “Smarter Global Supply Chain Operations.” Baxa and his co-presenter Lee Beard, senior director of global transportation for Nike Inc., made the following suggestions for companies considering changing their sourcing strategy:

  1. Look upstream. Some manufacturers have moved their own facilities out of China or have diversified their sourcing strategy to include suppliers outside of China. However, to make sure that you have truly diversified your risk, you need to understand your supplier’s supply chain. In some cases, you may find that those suppliers outside China are still dependent on suppliers inside the country. “You need to look beyond what is obvious,” said Beard.
  2. Do not abandon your focus on sustainability. As companies rush to diversify their supply base, they need to make sure that they continue their commitment to sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and ethics. It’s important to work with suppliers that comply with your company’s ethical and environmental standards and those of your customers. Consumers will hold you accountable not just for the product that you supplied to them but how you supplied it, said Beard.
  3. Don’t forget about infrastructure. It’s not enough to find a supplier who provide what you need, you also need to make sure that you can get it to market. Make sure the new country that you source from has a reliable supply chain infrastructure.
  4. Invest in developing in-house expertise in global trade. While it’s beneficial to work with outside experts such as custom brokers, you can’t completely outsource your responsibility to comply with trade rules and regulations. 
ArticleFinance & Strategy
ArticleFinance & Strategy

Recent

chart of number of containerships off east coast ports
Article

East Coast ports work through hefty backlog of containers

Logistics activity expanded in September
Featured

Logistics activity expanded in September

logo images ILA dockworkers union USMX ports
Article

Strike ends: East Coast dockworkers return to work

More Stories

team collaborating on data with laptops

Gartner: data governance strategy is key to making AI pay off

Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.

"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

containers being loaded on truck at dock
Transportation

Uber Freight: technology can mitigate impact of port strikes

For Mattel, strategy and focus reign supreme
Article

For Mattel, strategy and focus reign supreme

A woman in a purple pant suit gesticulates while sitting in a low white swivel chair while a bald man in a suit looks on.
Move

J.B. Hunt CEO outlines five steps for "chasing excellence"

containers stacked on ship
Article

CIG: Container ship fires could be reduced by better data

manufacturing job growth in US factories

Savills “cautiously optimistic” on future of U.S. manufacturing boom

The U.S. manufacturing sector has become an engine of new job creation over the past four years, thanks to a combination of federal incentives and mega-trends like nearshoring and the clean energy boom, according to the industrial real estate firm Savills.

While those manufacturing announcements have softened slightly from their 2022 high point, they remain historically elevated. And the sector’s growth outlook remains strong, regardless of the results of the November U.S. presidential election, the company said in its September “Savills Manufacturing Report.”

Keep ReadingShow less
container ships at dock port of savannah

54 container ships now wait in waters off East and Gulf coast ports

The number of container ships waiting outside U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports has swelled from just three vessels on Sunday to 54 on Thursday as a dockworker strike has swiftly halted bustling container traffic at some of the nation’s business facilities, according to analysis by Everstream Analytics.

As of Thursday morning, the two ports with the biggest traffic jams are Savannah (15 ships) and New York (14), followed by single-digit numbers at Mobile, Charleston, Houston, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Baltimore, and Miami, Everstream said.

Keep ReadingShow less
EDGE 2024 diversity educational session

Diversifying your supply chain beyond China to minimize risk

Jason Kra kicked off his presentation at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) EDGE Conference on Tuesday morning with a question: “How do we use data in assessing what countries we should be investing in for future supply chain decisions?” As president of Li & Fung where he oversees the supply chain solutions company’s wholesale and distribution business in the U.S., Kra understands that many companies are looking for ways to assess risk in their supply chains and diversify their operations beyond China. To properly assess risk, however, you need quality data and a decision model, he said.

In January 2024, in addition to his full-time job, Kra joined American University’s Kogod School of Business as an adjunct professor of the school’s master’s program where he decided to find some answers to his above question about data.

Keep ReadingShow less
warehouse problem medical triage strategy

Medical triage inspires warehouse process fixes

Turning around a failing warehouse operation demands a similar methodology to how emergency room doctors triage troubled patients at the hospital, a speaker said today in a session at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP)’s EDGE Conference in Nashville.

There are many reasons that a warehouse might start to miss its targets, such as a sudden volume increase or a new IT system implementation gone wrong, said Adri McCaskill, general manager for iPlan’s Warehouse Management business unit. But whatever the cause, the basic rescue strategy is the same: “Just like medicine, you do triage,” she said. “The most life-threatening problem we try to solve first. And only then, once we’ve stopped the bleeding, we can move on.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Copyright ©2024.