Organizations continue to scour global markets for even lower labor rates, moving from Western China to the Pearl River, and now to Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, and North Africa. MORE

In its current form the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a potential free trade agreement (FTA) between the US and 11 Asia-Pacific (APAC) countries (Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Japan, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, and New Zealand). Further, there are challenges in negotiations around tariff-free market access to components instead of only finished products, remanufactured products, and government procurement. MORE

While Vietnam is a popular choice, reports are surfacing that the country’s limited manufacturing capacity is already heavily booked and their ports and other infrastructure are maxed out. What will be the impact on costs for production and transportation? MORE

A problem in procurement can impact manufacturing and logistics and planning, but often these dots are never connected, so there never emerges a cross-functional approach to working on them. So as you look across the enterprise, there is a need for a mechanism that pulls exceptions and pulls together in real-time a cross-functional team that can across the end to end supply chain, (including manufacturing sites, 3PL, 4PL, transportation, distribution sites, and suppliers.) MORE

He began by discussing how Free Trade Agreements, along with labor costs and transportation rates, are among the three most critical elements to factor in when analyzing global supply chain decisions. MORE

Penske Logistics @PenskeLogistics In early 2018, Penske Logistics gained entry into the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA), which encourages the development of blockchain applications in the transportation industry. The world of supply chain and logistics is changing every day. MORE

An excerpt from our book “The Procurement Value Proposition” got a nice section of CSCMP’s Supply Chain Quarterly edition this week. The book looks at what the future procurement capability will need to be, in light of the massive “game changers” of globalization, technology, cultural diversity, demographic issues, and sustainable pressure that is changing the entire ecosystem. MORE

In the last three years we’ve developed our strategy, centralised procurement, purchasing and manufacturing aligned our portfolios across all categories globally and developed our exclusive brands portfolio. Grandvision has grand plans. MORE