Today’s supply chains are laden with inefficiencies, as most companies rely on antiquated practices to oversee and manage how goods get from place to place. The supply chain is delicate — even one disruption among suppliers, buyers, and logistics providers can have a trickle-down effect that causes waste, time loss, and increased carbon emissions. With…
Sustainability is often little more than a buzzword in modern supply chain management. Multinational corporations set sustainability standards and try to follow them, but the issue of maintaining them across a supply chain can be difficult. True sustainability is a concept built upon three pillars: environments, economics, and people. When supply chain management fails, negative…
Certainly the M&A and consolidation story has been big this year for the semiconductor and electronics industry. With this comes a number of changes and adjustments, be they partner or component line shifts, logistics, EOL, pricing and so forth. However these are not, in the least, new moments for our industry. Nestled among the strategic…
The industry’s next white knight has taken many forms, though none has proven as resilient as PC-refresh cycles. Great expectations now rest with the Internet of Things (IoT), which the electronics industry hopes will build into a crescendo of “Things” that will provide demand for components, networking infrastructure, and so forth. This scenario, of course,…
The European Union’s proposed conflict-minerals legislation is likely to cast a much wider net than the Dodd-Frank Act in the U.S., experts say. Not only may the EU requirement add elements to the list—such as cobalt—but it may encompass any country or region that is perceived to be violating human rights. “The European conflict minerals…
Increased urbanization is creating social and environmental challenges such as water shortages, power deficits, pollution and waste water and sewage problems. To combat these challenges, governments of emerging and developed economies are focusing on smart buildings to provide the best integrated solutions. This, according to recent smart building market research, also draws attention to some…
In today’s age, it’s hard to deny the impact humans are having on the environment. It’s nearly impossible to refute the evidence of climate change. Being socially aware and responsible is no longer the work of scientists and environmental groups, but rather a growing expectation for both individuals and companies. There is a difference between…
Not surprisingly, Asia-Pacific is the largest market for LEDs in the world. The market in this region features aggressive expansion of production facilities by manufacturers as well as investment in infrastructure, according to a report by ApacMarket.com. The Asia-Pacific LED market is expected to reach $35.79 billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 15.7% during…
The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is reporting that a growing group of purchasers, including procurement managers in the electronics industry, are increasing their involvement in efforts to collect and share data on environmental risk among their suppliers. Not only has the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) recently teamed with CDP to increase the number of…
One of the difficulties of environmental policies and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices is measuring a return on investment (ROI). When such ideas are first pitched, the encouragement for compliance is more about the money you’ll avoid spending on things such as fines than on the rewards you will reap. Some policies, such as RoHS,…