A report from Gartner predicts that by 2020, more than 50% of major business processes will incorporate some form of the Internet of Things (IoT). One such business process is the supply chain. Though often overlooked, the application of IoT in supply chain management is already making exceptional changes and developments in international trade landscape.
Supply Chain
Right Stuff, Right Place, Right Time: Supply Chain Coordination
Effective supply chain relationships lead to successful supply chain operations. Product design, manufacturing, transport, warehousing, inventory management, distribution and retailing – in a modern supply chain these operations cut across departmental, organizational and national boundaries.
Do you Speak my Language? Supply Chain Communication
English has become the number one international language of business. This would appear to hand a significant advantage to those who already have English as their mother tongue. Many multinational corporations (MNCs), including some that do not have their origins in an English-speaking country, such as Nokia of Finland and SAP of Germany have even adopted English as their standard corporate language. Indeed, approximately 36% of global business in now done through English and despite the rise of China as an international trading nation, English is set to extend its dominance. According to a recent study English is moving from being a “marker of the elite” to becoming “a basic skill needed for the entire workforce”.
The Whole is Greater than the Sum of the Parts
Q: Why bother with developing supply chain connections?
A: Because the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
The Globalization of Business and the supply Chain Management Concept
Changes in information and communications technology, international trade liberalization and advances in transportation have enabled the rapid spread of the supply and distribution networks of businesses out of local and national constraints and onto a global stage. This has dramatic implications for all businesses and not just for the large multinational corporations with their global operations dispersed across the world.
Retail and Inventory Control
Retail’ as a word has its origins in late Middle English word retaille, re=”expression of force” tailler = ‘to cut’. So, simply put, retailers cut big pieces to small pieces for consumption rather than resale. Just like the butcher needs careful consideration to the art of providing small pieces of a large piece of meat to satisfy each of the numerous customers, retail is not an art unless inventory control is put into practice.
Is Innovation the New ‘Competitive Advantage?
At the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, the conversation revolved around innovation and volatility; amongst other pressing issues such as economic and gender inequality, sustainability, education and meaningful leadership.
Cold Chain
Cold chain is the process used to maintain optimal conditions during the transport, storage and handling of vaccines, and, food and beverages. The chain begins at the manufacturer and ends with the end use, and most often involves the transportation through thermal and refrigerated packing methods and logistical planning to ensure appropriate condition of the products along each point in the supply chain. The necessities of the item being in the chain determine the temperature and humidity requirements of the chain.
