The average grade of 17 leading consumer electronics companies evaluated by Greenpeace USA on sustainable manufacturing and design of IT products was a D+. Fairphone ranked the best overall with a B, followed by Apple with a B-, and Dell and HP both with a C+. The remaining manufacturers including Samsung, Huawei and Amazon scored…
The interdependency of the electronics supply chain may be hampering companies’ efforts toward digital transformation, research finds. While 75 percent of executives in the manufacturing and retail supply chains say a digital strategy is very important for their business, only five percent are satisfied with progress so far. There are two levels of digital transformation occurring among…
There’s a phenomenon that’s been discussed a lot in recent weeks that goes something like this: In spite of incontrovertible evidence that a statement or fact is true, people disregard the evidence and hold fast to their original but incorrect belief. (It’s one way that researchers are explaining the current U.S. presidential election.) We’ve also…
“Artificial intelligence” usually conjures up images of humanoid robots, but AI is one of several digital technologies that are being applied to the supply chain. With the digital revolution in full swing, companies across the electronics supply chain are harnessing data to improve efficiencies and cut costs. In the logistics segment, for example, freight companies…
The ubiquitous labels that accompany electronics shipments are more complicated than most people imagine. Barcodes on these labels are packed with standard information such as the manufacturer of the product and part number. However, many parties along the supply chain – raw materials suppliers, component manufacturers, distributors, sub assemblers and end-customers—want unique information in barcodes…
The ubiquitous labels that accompany electronics shipments are more complicated than most people imagine. Barcodes on these labels are packed with standard information such as the manufacturer of the product and part number. However, many parties along the supply chain – raw materials suppliers, component manufacturers, distributors, sub assemblers and end-customers—want unique information in barcodes…
The recent vote by the United Kingdom (UK) to leave the European Union – known as Brexit – has created many risks for global supply chains, particularly in Europe, according to a new report from Resilinc. Risks include currency movement, labor uncertainty, trading rules and regulatory revisions, and global financial impact. But despite the risks,…
The ever-changing dynamics within the electronics supply chain has companies reassessing their role in what has become an expanding ecosystem of product and service providers. Research firm Gartner has been analyzing the shifts within supply chain departments and along the global electronics supply chain itself to understand the dynamics of growth, the emergence of new opportunities…
The future is here for a digital supply chain. It’s driven by new technologies and innovations that are expected to deliver an electronics supply chain that is more connected and optimized for speed and agility. These supply chain disrupters range from big data and cloud computing to the Internet of Things (IoT) and 3D printing.…
Amazon Business, the B2B unit of Amazon.com, attended this year’s EDS conference for component manufacturers, distributors, and manufacturers’ representatives for the first time, driving a few distributors to tackle the issue of channel disruptors. Clearly, e-tailers like Amazon Business and Alibaba are a concern to the distribution channel as they directly compete with them. Authorized…