Adoption of carton-level tagging - using temperature-sensing RFID for pharmaceuticals - could be nearing an inflection point, as was seen recently with item-level tagging in apparel. But tracking temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals is very different from tracking apparel.
Over the last two decades, businesses have worked feverishly to optimize their physical supply chains. Virtually every discussion about improving the supply chain has been centered on the physical movement of goods - the flow of products from raw materials to consumption. However, a growing number of companies are now taking a similar interest in optimizing the flow and management of the information related to these products.
Although the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been in effect for 35 years as of Dec. 19, many companies still have a long way to go in complying with it. Indeed, 44.6 percent of professionals say either that their companies are not making improvements to prevent and detect corrupt activity or that they don't know if their company is doing so, according to a survey by Deloitte.
Late next year, consumers will be able to buy smartphones that either come with native "hypervisor" software or use an app allowing them to run two interfaces on the phone: one for personal use, one for work.
The shift by manufacturers from offshore locations in Asia back to the U.S., Mexico and other parts of the western hemisphere is more than anecdotal, says David Kilzer, senior vice president of supply chain solutions with Idhasoft. He outlines the factors that are causing companies to rethink their supply networks.
Bring-your-own-device (BYOD) is top of mind for most CIOs and IT leaders these days, but only a fraction of the IT organizations that have opened the BYOD door have gone beyond allowing access to company email and instant messaging, according to a recent study by Blue Coat, Web security and WAN optimization company. Blue Coat also found that IT staff and other company employees have dramatically different perspectives on security when it comes to mobile devices.
On its way back to the U.S. from China, might manufacturing take a detour into Mexico? Does our neighbor south of the border stand ready to quash the Great American Industrial Revival?
Wal-Mart Stores reported that its investigation into violations of a federal anti-bribery law had extended beyond Mexico to China, India and Brazil, some of the retailer's most important international markets.