QuickREAD

May 23, 2007

Oh Man, Is My Information Organized! Now What?
Information technology promises to boost personal productivity, of course. PDAs can be a great place to keep to-do lists, for example. But there can be a problem with the way people use personal technology. Yes, IT helps people connect, but it often adds more stress than it alleviates. E-mail, instant messaging, blogs and knowledge bases speed up the flow of information, but they do nothing to help people decide what to do with that information, or who is accountable for acting on it.
Source: Baseline, http://www.baselinemag.com

U.S. Ports to See Record Number of Retail Goodies This Summer
Traffic at the nation's major retail container ports should hit a record high in July, then immediately break that record in August, according to the monthly Port Tracker report released recently by the National Retail Federation and Global Insight.
"We expect to break records twice this summer and that's before we even get to the peak of the season this fall," Global Insight economist Paul Bingham says. "July should surpass numbers we didn't see until October last year, and August will go higher. The docks, rails and trucks are keeping up, so as long as we don't see any new weather disruptions, shippers can expect acceptable system performance for the next six months."
July is forecast at 1.54 million TEUs of container traffic, breaking last October's 1.51 million, while August is forecast at 1.57 million.
"The ports are going to be busier than ever this summer," NRF vice president and international trade counsel Erik Autor said. "It's crucial that retailers keep a close eye on these numbers to ensure that the goods end up on store shelves when and where they're needed."
Source: National Retail Federation, http://www.nrf.com

Time to Revise Your China Marketing Strategy?
There's a not-so-subtle shift happening in China. After more than a decade of embracing all things Western, Chinese are turning to things Chinese. Today, mainland companies are no longer churning out only shoddy goods. They are producing products that in the eyes of consumers rival or are better than those in the West.
A survey by McKinsey of 800 teenagers found that 88 percent trust Chinese brands, compared with 65 percent who say the same of foreign ones. The reasons are many, including a spate of stories about safety issues involving foreign consumer products and food. But the improved quality of Chinese brands is also a factor. The brands aren't well-known outside China--yet. But they include Haier appliances, Aigo electronics and Geely and Chery cars.
Source: Money, http://money.cnn.com

Yikes, I Forgot to Tell the Staff to Be Polite!
Hiring people who demonstrate that they are customer-focused, training new employees to know what's expected of them, providing workers with the resources they need, and keeping them in the loop are all part of a successful customer service process. But a common mistake in setting the foundation for good customer service is not first selling an employee on the benefits to them in providing good service.
Source: CRM Buyer, http://crmbuyer.com

Web Analytics--So Much to Choose From Now. Where to Begin?
Choosing a Web analytics solution is much different than choosing a word processor, a graphic design program or an accounting application--and with good reason. There are more than 100 Web analytics vendors on the market today. While they may seem to produce similar results--colorful graphs, charts, top 10 lists and plenty of stats--each boasts a unique value proposition. Indeed, across the Web analytics market you'll find varied technological capabilities, price points, and levels of customer support. Some are free, others offer distinguishing innovations, and still others meet specific server or host requirements.
But your focus should be on solving a business problem.
Source: CIO Today, http://www.cio-today.com

Think Malta When Thinking European Contact Center
The emergence of new outsourcing markets continues within Europe's nearshore, and Malta is positioning itself as a location that is able to provide multilingual services across verticals. Indeed, Malta's established contact center sector, language capabilities and its open business environment and incentives, bode well for the country's chances in this industry.
Source: CBR Online, http://cbronline.com

Tapping Into a Successful IT Recipe
InBev, which brews 204 brands of beer, including four global brands--Stella Artois, Beck's, Leffe, and Brahma--had specific criteria for its network supplier. It needed someone willing to work together to open new markets like China and Russia. It also wanted someone who could work with its ASP and infrastructure provider.
Source: Outsourcing Journal, http://www.outsourcing-journal.com

Pharma Industry May Get RFID-Enabled Temperature-Controlled Shipment Monitoring
DHL, in partnership with Microlise and AeroScout, has developed a system for the pharmaceutical industry which enables real-time monitoring of product shipment temperatures throughout an extended supply chain using RFID sensors.
Complete visibility of the location and temperature of the pharmaceutical shipments throughout the supply chain is possible through a web browser linked to the Microlise Transport Management Centre (TMC) software. The TMC enables real time tracking of the vehicle position along with the temperature indication from the Wi-Fi-based AeroScout Active RFID tags which are used to monitor the shipments.
The system has been installed inside trailers from Mueller Transporte, a Vienna-based company that specializes in temperature-controlled transportation and is used to transport bioscience products. The first lane to test the system is from Belgium to DHL's warehouse in Sweden.
Source: MoreRFID, http://www.morerfid.com

Congress Looks Into Indians' Use of Foreign Worker Visas
Indian outsourcing firms are under scrutiny as federal legislators investigate the use--and alleged abuse--of the H-1B foreign worker visa.
Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, both members of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, sent letters to the CEOs of nine Indian firms--including Infosys Technologies, Satyam Computer Services, Tata Consultancy Services, and Wipro Technologies--requesting details on their use of H-1B visas. Grassley and Durbin claim that the Indian firms are skirting federal regulations and using the visas to stock their U.S. operations with low-paid Indian nationals. They also maintain that the companies use the program to expose their workers to customer service operations in the United States, easing the process of moving that work offshore and displacing American workers.
Source: Information Week, http://www.informationweek.com

I Want to Improve the Customer Experience--Whatever That Is
If improving the customer experience sounds like a marketing nuance, consider that this approach opened up a $100m market for Kodak, transformed one of International Paper's divisions from a money-loser to a profit leader and saved a major auto-parts producer over $120m in six weeks, just to cite a few examples.
Thinking of the customer experience as a marketing issue is a sure sign you are too inwardly focused. Viewed correctly, it's your ticket to improving every aspect of your company, from how you configure your plants to how you sell your products.
Great. So what is it?
Source: Industry Week, http://industryweek.com

Why Is My Gargantuan IT Project Not Working?
Many IT leaders are trying do the right thing and implement change in their organization in areas like enterprise architecture, business process reengineering, service oriented architectures, and many other bold initiatives. Where they often go wrong is that they try to implement these initiatives across the entire organization right out of the gates.
As we all know, large-scale change is extremely challenging and even intimidating. The larger the scope, the longer it will take to implement. The longer it takes to implement, the more likely it will fail.
Source: CIO, http://advice.cio.com

The ROI Is Not in Getting a Ton of Information
Want a single interface to all information in the enterprise? That's what 83 percent of respondents said in a recent survey that they want from the combination of business intelligence and search. But better access alone won't justify an investment. Customer information integration and specific revenue-enhancing goals should be a cornerstone of your plans.
Source: Intelligent Enterprise, http://www.intelligententerprise.com

Simulate Supply Chain Problem Up Front--Then Do Something About It
Simulation software has long been used to prove an automated materials handling concept during the design phase. Now, those same tools have been adapted to rapidly model the supply chain and simulate "what if" scenarios and determine the impact of changes in sourcing, transportation, and the location of distribution centers.
Source: Modern Materials Handling, http://www.mmh.com

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100 Great Supply Chain Partners: It's All About Teamwork
GL&SCS readers nominate providers of logistics, technology, transportation and consulting services as "Great Supply Chain Partners." Testimonials and case histories show how these winning partners use teamwork to ensure their customers' supply chain success.
In the July issue of Global Logistics & Supply Chain Strategies magazine.