Supply Chain Management

Dec 4, 2012

The Long Beach Port Strike….An Unfolding Economic Disaster

A lot of people at this week’s SCRC meeting were discussing the on-going strike in the port of Long Beach, California. It is remarkable to me how little attention this…

Dec 4, 2012

The Global Economic Outlook: Jason Schenker's Soothsayings…

Jason Schenker spoke at the SCRC conference today and spoke about his forecasts for the global economy. The global economy is expanding, albeit at a modest pace. US GDP and…

Nov 29, 2012

Bio-based Feedstock Supply Chains: Subject Matter Experts Speak in Washington

I attended a conference today in Washington DC hosted by Duke University and Yale University on Biobased Feedstocks. The discussion led to some interesting observations about the tradeoffs and opportunities…

Nov 26, 2012

SCRC Meeting December 3-4 2012: Coping with Increasing Global Supply Chain Complexity

It’s a week before our bi-annual Supply Chain Resource Cooperative meeting, taking place at NC State’s Centennial Campus on December 3-4, 2012. This year’s meeting has an exciting lineup of…

Nov 24, 2012

The Fiscal Cliff's Impact on Global Supply Chains

It’s the day after Thanksgiving, and we’re still talking about the fiscal cliff….and the days are ticking away. For those of us who study and work in supply chains, the…

Nov 12, 2012

Thinking About the Future Role of Procurement/Purchasing/Supply

The field of supply management has undergone quite a few changes over the past several years. Leaders in the field are always thinking about what the future of procurement will…

Nov 2, 2012

Alcoa's Strategic Transformation

Klaus Kleinfeld, CEO of Alcoa, spoke recently at NC State’s Wells Fargo Executive Series. His informal open style went over very well with students. But make no mistake – beneath…

Oct 30, 2012

Guest Post by Andreas Wieland (Technical University Berlin): Impressions of BVL's 29th Annual Congress

I am happy to be invited to share my impressions of the 29th International Supply Chain Conference in this guest post. The conference is organized by the German Logistics Association…

Oct 25, 2012

A Sustainable Energy Platform for the EU and the World

At the BVL conference, I had the opportunity to speak to the group, and provide them with an overview of the insights and trends from the global logistics study that…

Oct 17, 2012

ThyssenKrupp: The Amazon of Material Services

ThyssenKrupp is one of the big steel producers in Europe, and is getting ready to move to a completely different supply chain model. The company competes in a number of…