Sean covers the latest trends and breaking news in the world of supply chain management. Drop Sean a line to let him know what's new, and feel free to respond to his posts by clicking the "Comments" link below each entry. en-us http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448.html?nid=3940 Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information. Subject to its Terms of Use http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/360049836.html?nid=3940 Recently, I found this video online from Wisconsin Technical College. It describes in pretty simple terms what supply chain management means in the business world, and what supply chain managers actually do. It's not an in-depth analysis of the process, but for a short blurb it's a neat kind of &quo… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/1850047385.html?nid=3940 Right now, all that exists of Masdar City are a few multi-story buildings, but when it's done, developers expect this high-tech suburb of Abu Dhabi will house 50,000 people and boast zero carbon emissions of any kind. Yup, that's right. Zero. There are a bunch of different ways the city's deve… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/890045489.html?nid=3940 Here's a neat YouTube video I spotted recently. It gives a graphical representation of the global supply chain, using a small shoe store as an example. For those who learn visually, it's a good tool for getting the concept of the supply chain across. Enjoy! http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/760043076.html?nid=3940 As if the peanut scare wasn't bad enough, now there's a new salmonella-related problem. According to this warning released just last week by the FDA, now there's a problem with the nation's pistachio crop, prompting yet another nut-related recall. This time the FDA says the culprit is Setton Pist… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/1730041773.html?nid=3940 If you think you're keeping good tabs on what goes on in your supply chain, especially if you are a food company, you'd better have a look at this article from the New York Times about how food inspectors routinely drop the ball when testing for microbes and other contaminants in the U.S. food manuf… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/1860039586.html?nid=3940 It looks like the case of melamine contamination is progressing in China. According to this piece from CNN, three people are going to be put to death for willfully contaminating or allowing others to contaminate watered-down milk with melamine, a chemical used in manufacturing of plastics, in order … http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/1470038947.html?nid=3940 Ok, it's been a while since I posted, so I thought I'd start the new year with an interesting video I spotted recently. Its purpose is to plug a supply chain management degree program from Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, but there's a pretty detailed description, in basic languag… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/490036449.html?nid=3940 It's been said that efforts to keep track of what's going through the supply chain from China to the U.S. have, in recent months, been, well, lacking, for want of a better term. According to this article from RFIDNews, it looks like Wal-Mart is trying to change that. The "retail behemoth,&qu… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/500036050.html?nid=3940 This is an interesting video from a UK-based magazine publisher (I have no idea if it is connected to Reed Business Information or not) describing the literal birth, death and rebirth of paper. It shows trees being planted (or transplanted), cut down, chopped up, turned into paper, and bound into ma… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/1080034108.html?nid=3940 In my last post, I noted a disturbing case of melamine being found in Cadbury candies over in China. Now, according to this article from a California TV station, it seems melamine has been detected in White Rabbit Candy made in China and shipped here. The candymaker's U.S. distributor, Queensway … http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/350034035.html?nid=3940 It seems that the melamine that contaminated milk in China and led to the deaths and illnesses of thousands of babies there may be in danger of crossing the pond. That's certainly the conclusion one can draw from this article from Fox News which says British candy maker Cadbury is recalling 11 pr… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/1110033911.html?nid=3940 Well, it seems things aren't all wine and roses in the corporate world in India. Despite ongoing talk that it's "the new China," India has shown in the past that it has a ways to go before it catches up with the demands of outsourcing companies looking to cut costs. This article from… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/190033619.html?nid=3940 China's tainted milk problem is now officially a supply chain problem. According to this article from CNN's Web site, the problem that originally looked like an isolated occurrance affecting a handful of people has become a nationwide health scare, and may even be stretching into neighboring coun… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/1600033160.html?nid=3940 Archstone Consulting, together with Supply Chain Management Review, are looking for your input! As you can see here, we're co-sponsoring a survey on the validity of near-shoring in North America and the United States itself, as opposed to offshoring to popular locations such as China. Not ev… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/800032880.html?nid=3940 As part of its ongoing campaign to spearhead the green movement, Wal-Mart recently announced the winner of its Home Entertainment Design Challenge, geared toward encourging its electronics suppliers to cut back on bulky, wasteful packaging. I must say I'm suprised to see Wal-Mart declared HP the … http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/1770031977.html?nid=3940 Check out this video describing the supply chain for Darden Restaurants, a company that owns a number of well-known restaurant chains in the U.S. It's got a few rough edits here and there, but it gives a pretty neat 10,000-foot view of the company's supply chain, including discussing how Darden resp… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/950031095.html?nid=3940 Recently, Ernst & Young did a survey of executives at companies worth $1 billion or more to find out whether or not they were hearing the call to "green up" their company, and their supply chain. According to this article from the Daily Mirror, it seems that companies are aware of the … http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/1710030971.html?nid=3940 Someone forgot to tell the automotive industry that lack of collaboration, walled silos and inconsistent supply chains are not going to cut it in the modern corporate world. That's the message of a scathing commentary from Supply and Demand Chain Executive that takes the industry to task and call… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/1050030305.html?nid=3940 Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, you know that "green" is in, and if you haven't at least explored some changes in your supply chain to get yourself on the bandwagon, you're about to be left behind. Lots of "reduce, reuse, recycle" ideas have been bouncing aroun… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/530029453.html?nid=3940 With the proliferation of RFID tagging, two purposes for the technology spring to mind: Tracking inventory, sometimes to the square foot, and protection from fraud, theft, or other security threats. Arguably, fine art dealers know as much as anybody the importance of both. This article from… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/520029452.html?nid=3940 Here's another "real world" example of how supply chain makeovers are changing the packaging in products you buy every day. Hot on the heels of laundry detergent, the milk industry has developed a new way to bring us a jug of milk, one that will be cheaper and easier to ship to s… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/1430028943.html?nid=3940 We may not yet know exactly where the Salmonella came from that made some people swear off tomatoes in this country, but if in fact the tomatoes were imported it will once again remind us that products from other countries, such as blood medication, pet food or children's toys, carry risk of contami… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/1930028793.html?nid=3940 A couple of recent articles got my attention regarding the ongoing efforts by the corporate world to "green up." First, this piece from sdcexec.com talks about Kraft building a 400,000-square-foot rabbit hole underneath Springfield, Mo. The DC's average temperature will be 36 degre… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/1820027982.html?nid=3940 Oil prices are on their way to $150 a gallon, according to multiple analysts out there, and some doomsayers think it will hit $200 a barrel. I am more reminded of my urgent need to buy a hybrid every time I fill up at the pump. Companies everywhere are feeling the pinch, with some analysist… http://www.scmr.com/blog/480000448/post/1320027532.html?nid=3940 Here's a sobering thought: According to this article from the Globe and Mail, skyrocketing fuel prices will lead to a reverse of the globalization movement. Yep, Friedman was wrong. The world may have been flat when he wrote his famous book, but according to the experts cited in the article, the wor…