Throughout my career, I’ve often gotten questions about the role of procurement. In fact, it happens pretty much whenever I meet new people and talk about my job. The answer that I want to respond with is, “Procurement helps companies strategically assess and manage external spend, and find new and innovative ways to partner with their…
Supply chain professionals are talking a lot about blockchain, and how it can be applied to address the increasingly global and complex nature of the supply chain. However, we are still in early days, with only about three in ten companies actively implementing the technology, recent research suggests. “Blockchain in supply chain and trade finance…
Los Gatos, Calif. — GrandCanals, the market leader in analytics-driven fulfillment, has closed a $4.8 million Series A financing round led by Cloud Apps Capital Partners and AllMobile Fund. The new funding will fuel GrandCanals’ growth as it drives adoption of the latest version of the Fulfillment Intelligence Cloud with retailers and eCommerce companies. Purpose-built…
There are many ways to measure market prospects to try to gaze into the financial crystal ball. A recent report measures optimism based on information technology spend—and finds that the outlook is hopeful. In fact, only 2.9% of those who responded to ERP solution provider VAI’s 2017 Customer Business Survey reported being pessimistic about 2017.…
Labeling today is complex; today’s manufacturers and multi-tier suppliers are faced with a range of evolving requirements that complicate the process—and leave many companies accepting this process as the cost of doing business. But it doesn’t have to be. Labeling can make a huge difference, enabling IT and supply chain decision makers to not just…
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Apple eked out modest growth in the last three months despite continued gains by smartphone rivals in China. Looking ahead, financial analysts cited concerns about the ongoing iPhone slump in China, high memory prices and Apple’s suit with Qualcomm. Apple nudged second quarter revenues up 5 percent from the same period last…
SAN FRANCISCO—Thanks to surging memory chip prices, South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. could knock Intel Corp. from its familiar perch atop the chip vendor sales leaders as soon as this quarter, according to market research firm IC Insights Inc. Samsung, the industry leader in memory chip sales, is benefiting from a precipitous rise in…
If you asked a mid-market U.S.-based manufacturer about its projections for growth in 2017, odds are you would get smiles, head nods, and thumbs-up. That is because a recent survey of these manufacturing executive’s reveals record levels of optimism for business growth, the U.S. economy, new hiring, and revenue expectations in 2017. These optimistic results…
Blockchain technology is quickly going from being a buzzword to being a real and present reality in the global electronics supply chain. The potential of benefits are myriad, ranging from reducing errors and saving time to improving inventory management and reducing waste and cost. “Blockchain is providing us the ability to transform in ways that…
The electronics and high-tech industry has a long history of being male-dominated. In previous decades, the moniker “woman-owned business” on a company was perhaps sometimes even a ploy to get preferential treatment in contract awards, rather than a real shift in leadership. Now, however, signs are pointing to things changing if only slowly. “As investors…