If you're responsible for supply chain management or providing supply chain services, reducing your carbon footprint is likely becoming a priority. So how do you get there from here? One route to sustainability is ISO 14001 certification. Here's the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How of getting there.
It is not enough for global businesses to know that in coming years China's economy will move away from an over-reliance on investment and toward more consumption. They also must know that the potential costs and benefits of rebalancing the world's second-largest economy are high and will affect industries not only domestically but also around the world.
Is reshoring (the return of manufacturing to the U.S.) really even a debate? A debate would indicate that there are two compelling sides to the argument, but from what I see, the hard and fast facts of the economy preclude a debate.
Drewry's latest Container Leasing report shows that the world's fleet of operationally leased containers grew annually by almost 11 percent throughout 2011-12, although a smaller 6.4 percent is being forecast for 2013, in line with the poorer global trade forecast.
The term "global trade management" used to mean one thing: compliance. Not anymore. Today, GTM embraces the whole experience of moving goods across borders: regulation, duty management, logistics and, most of all, global supply-chain visibility.
Remember when words like "globalization" seemed to be enough to drive some folks into the streets in protest? Surely, most of us have accepted that business is the way of the world. That's especially true when it is almost as easy to do trade with someone halfway around the globe as it is halfway across town. Just look at how interwoven we are in world commerce.
A maritime attack from Al-Qaeda or other affiliate terrorist groups is now increasingly likely, maritime security firm Gulf of Aden Group Transits (GoAGT) has warned.