A high-stakes showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday will determine whether states can force out-of-state online retailers to collect sales taxes in a fight between South Dakota and e-commerce businesses.
The Nordstrom family has run stores for more than a century, first selling shoes in the Pacific Northwest and later introducing fashion-forward clothing to wealthy suburbanites across the country.
California wants 5 million emission-free cars on the road by 2030. China, with a far larger population, wants 7 million electric vehicles by 2025. California has a cap-and-trade program to limit emissions from power plants, factories and fuel suppliers. China is launching a cap-and-trade system to lower fuel consumption and cut reliance on oil imports.
Across industries, companies large and small are facing similar supply chain challenges: managing an overwhelming availability of data; meeting the growing demands of globalization; and hopping the artificial-intelligence and machine-learning bandwagon.
For almost 50 years, the operations/supply chain profession has been embracing the sales and operations planning process to balance supply and demand in complex supply chain networks. As a former S&OP process owner for three Fortune 100 manufacturers, I can identify with the challenges associated with developing the process and sustaining it as well. With more and more tools emerging, especially supporting solid supply chain risk management, the future looks bright for strategic S&OP. -Gregory L. Schlegel, CPIM, CSP, Jonah, Founder, The Supply Chain Risk Management Consortium, Executive-in-Residence, Center for Supply Chain Research, Lehigh University
Snow and sleet were falling on Eldon Gould’s 500 acres last week, but he was already looking ahead to planting season; depending on ground conditions and the temperature, that could be just several weeks away.
