Eastern Europe was once a trendy place from an electronics manufacturing services (EMS) perspective. Top-tier EMS companies set up factories in Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, and other nearby places to serve the mature European and emerging African and Middle Eastern consumer markets while reducing long-distance transportation costs associated with Asian shipments. Unfortunately, weaker than expected end-market…
Supply chain professionals do lots of supplier audits. They ask about quality standards, IP data protection, manufacturing process certifications, contract review requirements, document control measures, and source of origin of parts and raw materials. But, surprisingly, they may not be asking how suppliers deal with bribes and corruption issues, according to a recent report from…
Gone are the days when risk management, corporate social responsibility, and environmental management were barely talked about topics, handled in a back office somewhere. Today, all sorts of sustainability issues are being elevated to the highest levels of executive awareness, and the resulting policies, strategies and day-to-day operational plans could have a noticeable impact on…
More consumers are interested in, buying, using, and wearing technology and apps that feed their health and exercise data into the cloud. Similarly, increasing numbers of health providers and governments are looking to expand their healthcare systems to reach a more mobile population, lower costs, and improve diagnosis and patient monitoring activities. These trends are…
The electronics supply chain has been mastering the art of just-in-time (JIT) delivery for years now. Before it used to take a week or so to get products from your suppliers or distributors' warehouses to the factory floor. Then it was a couple days. And, now the norm has dropped to few hours thanks to…
As 2014 comes to a close and another new year begins, it makes sense to ask a simple question: How will next year be different from this one? One change could involve fostering a stronger spirit for supply chain innovation. Things such as big-data analysis, a wide array of open online courses at top universities,…
High-tech folks are no longer talking in a bubble when they throw around terms like the Internet of Things (IoT) or machine-to-machine connectivity. The idea of having 50 billion connected devices by 2020 has captured the interest of a parallel industry — city governments and those who make cities run efficiently. The IoT conversation debuted…
As the busy holiday-buying season cranks up, the electronics industry starts buzzing with questions: How will consumer electronics sales fare this year? Will consumers open their wallets and spend more than last year on new devices? Which gadgets will they likely buy? There are a few early signs popping up that may inject a bit…
Once thought of as science fiction or a technology or marketing gimmick, augmented reality (AR) might soon find some a real-life uses in the supply chain. A recent report by logistics provider DHL, jointly developed with Z_punkt the Foresight Company, outlines how AR could affect the logistics industry, specifically in the areas of warehouse, transportation,…
If you live in Silicon Valley, startup companies are so widespread, they're just thought of as part of everyday life. For those of us living elsewhere, the startup economy and its importance may not be as in-our-face and could be less influential in our day-to-day supply chain relationship-building circles. But, regardless of location, the high-tech…