Consumer Packaged Goods

Return of Some Manufacturing Jobs from China Expected as Cost Gap Narrows

May 29, 2012

The tide has begun to turn on the flow of manufacturing jobs from the U.S. to China and other low-cost countries, according to a new study from The Hackett Group. Some companies are already reshoring a portion of their manufacturing capacity, and this trend is expected to reach a crucial tipping point over the next two to three years, as the total landed cost gap between the two nations continues to shrink, driven in part by rising wage inflation in China and continued productivity improvements in the U.S.

New Life for Warehouse VMI

May 29, 2012

SupplyChainBrain

The demand for vendor-managed inventory programs in warehouses behaves "as a pendulum swinging back and forth between supplier and retailer," says John Mayer, vice president of sales with Park City Group. Over the last six to 12 months, he says, it has swung back in the direction of favoring VMI. Mayer has seen particular interest in the technique in the grocery industry.

Wrestling With Demand Variability in CPG

May 29, 2012

SupplyChainBrain

Downstream demand signals have been available in the retail world for some time now, but it has taken a while for suppliers to take full advantage of them. Mark Kremblewski, global business expert in demand planning with Procter & Gamble, likens the situation to the mining industry, which trades in deposits of both high- and low-grade ore. The latter type is more plentiful, but it's the first that offers the biggest payback from a better use of demand data in unpredictable situations.

Where Are the Standards and Metrics to Help Supply Managers Monitor Sustainability Efforts?

May 24, 2012

Inside Supply Management

Supply management professionals are uniquely positioned to influence a company's environmental sustainability efforts as well as the performance of supply base partners in this area. But where are the standards and metrics?

SAP Develops New Mobile Apps for Business Users, Consumers

May 24, 2012

SAP AG

SAP AG has introduced a series of mobile applications for business users and consumers. The new tools provide real-time access to human resources, finance, sales and mobile commerce functions.

Apple Polishes Its Sustainability Credentials with Commitment to Renewable Energy

May 23, 2012

News Factor

Some Apples will be green. Apple data centers, that is. The technology giant has announced that its new half-million-square-foot data center in Maiden, N.C., will only use electricity that has been generated by renewable energy. The company said that the Maiden facility will be "the most environmentally sound data center ever built."

Bit by Bit, Airline Industry Moves Into the Cloud - Computing, That Is

May 23, 2012

IATA

Its supporters claim cloud computing has the potential to transform the air transport industry, streamlining not only information technology departments but also entire business processes.

Terra Technology Unveils App for Long-Term Demand Sensing

May 22, 2012

Terra Technology

Terra Technology has added to its Demand Sensing product suite with the introduction of a Long-Term Demand Sensing (LDS) application.

Pick the Perfect Plan. Then Add People

May 21, 2012

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

How we love our information systems, our management theories, our best-laid plans. And how often they fail us. It reminds me of what the playwright and novelist Samuel Beckett once said about his work. "Each time one thinks one starts fresh, new," he mused. "Yet each time one reaches the same impasse. There are many ways to begin, many roads to it, but always the same impasse at the end."

What Are the Chances We Will See Longer Ships on St. Lawrence Seaway?

May 21, 2012

Maritime Executive

Despite the St. Lawrence Seaway being a seasonal inland waterway, the maritime route provides an essential transportation service insofar as the economical movement of bulk freight is concerned. While extended length ships of 1200-feet sail the Upper Great Lakes of Lakes Michigan, Superior, Huron and Erie, only Seaway-max ships of 600-feet length sail into Lake Ontario.