Announcing Commodity Edge — a New Type of Sourcing and Procurement Conference
I’d wager that among Spend Matters readers, I’ve probably attended more procurement and supply chain conferences than most. Yet virtually no events I’ve been to have had a consistent focus on economic and commodity outlooks specificall…
The Re-shoring of Spend — Even Wired is Picking Up On It (Part 2)
In the first post in this series, I called attention to a surprising piece in Wired (surprising in that it talks about just how mainstream manufacturing re-shoring has become) about the story of one organization that had successfu…
The Re-shoring of Spend — Even Wired is Picking Up On It (Part 1)
I usually read Wired as a form of tech magazine p*rn to stay remotely in touch with innovation — easy on the eyes and almost always superficially enjoyable, if not more. Yet there’s an article in a recent edition that suggests ju…
What Happens When China, Other Asian Countries Realize Their Export Markets are Tapped Out
If you talk off-the-record with retailers and CPG companies, many of the largest and most respected in global sourcing will note, not for attribution, that they’re quietly investing in alternative export-driven supply markets to C…
Friday Rant: Alibaba — When Forty Thieves Fall in the Forest, Does Anyone Care?
Early this week, Alibaba announced that two of its executives resigned after admitting to participating in the “systemic breakdown” that enabled the company and suppliers to defraud Western buying organizations and individuals. Ac…
McKinsey: Getting the Supply Chain of the Future Partially Right (Part 1)
If you’re curious about general high level trends and forecasts in the supply chain that are likely to impact specific procurement and supplier management strategies, it’s worth checking out a recent McKinsey Quarterly article (re…
Egypt’s crisis: where social media threatens global outsourcing
When the first response of the government, in times of political crisis, is to shut down the Web, this has a massive impact on the nation’s global sourcing infrastructure to support global businesses.
Terrorism and the Supply Chain — Strategies for Coping With a Form of Supply Risk We Can’t Ignore
Late last week, my hometown of Chicago was once again in the news (and no, this time it was not because we’re sending yet another former politician to jail). Rather my city (and in fact, my neighborhood) was the target of an inten…
China, Mexico and Beyond — The Latest Trends and Savings Percentages in Global Sourcing (Part 2)
In the first part of this series of columns looking at the latest in global sourcing trends for 2010, I examined the latest from Mexico and China by sharing a recent Industry Week write-up that captured the highlights of a recent Grant Thornton study. In Part 2, I’ll continue this analysis, sharing some other findings [...]
China, Mexico and Beyond — The Latest Trends and Savings Percentages in Global Sourcing (Part 1)
The past decade has seen a massive boom and bust on the global sourcing front. Scores of companies moved as much spend offshore as possible only to find that the total costs of doing business with suppliers halfway around the world was only worth it if they were serving local markets. Granted, in certain industries [...]
