A year after adulterated heparin caused deaths in the United States and Europe, inspectors in California were still finding contaminated product in hospitals throughout the state, even though the manufacturer had sent out multiple recall notices, and the issue with the product was well known. As the pharmaceutical industry responds to regulatory mandates to address such weakness in the supply chain, it's important to ask, "Could this same thing happen in a 'serialized' world?"
Rizwan Asim, head of procurement and supply chain with SSC Al-Suwaidi Holding Co., discusses how integrated demand planning is helping Middle Eastern retailers to cope with a market boom.
Callaway Golf Co. relies on integrated demand planning to service a market that ranges from large and small retailers to buyers who have clubs customized to meet their unique requirements. Derek Hillier, director of strategic sales initiatives for the Americas region, explains how it's all done.
At least half of Fortune 500 companies don't bother to translate their online information, which is alarming given that 70 percent of people using the internet are not native English speakers, says a study from One Hour Translation.
A simplified "Product of Canada and the USA" labeling system should apply to beef and pork as well as livestock raised, processed, and traded between Canada and the United States, says a study released by the Fraser Institute, a Canadian public policy think tank, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute of Washington, DC.
Negotiating a good outsourcing agreement involves much more than just achieving the pricing you desire. As you go through the process, you will go through the normal "give and take" discussions as you work with your potential provider(s). However, it is important that you do not focus solely on pricing.
With all of the advances in forecasting technology and software, it's tempting to conclude that people don't need to play a direct role in the process anymore. But the opposite is true, says Jonathon Karelse, vice president of corporate development and strategic planning with Wholesale Tire Distributors.
More than 60 percent of surveyed companies view logistics as non-strategic, yet expectations for near-perfect performance are placing increasing stress on global logistics organizations, according to research and advisory firm Gartner Inc.
There are two major challenges that companies face today in forecasting, says Bob Leonard, vice president of sales with Forecast Pro. One is the push to drive down to more detail, including smaller time buckets. The other is the need to treat forecasting as an analytical task, instead of just clerical work.
More than 80 per cent of small- to mid-sized businesses are concerned about customs delays impacting their ability to properly manage their business - yet nearly a third say they tend to ignore the myriad of changes to government regulations and hope for the best when transporting their goods across international borders.