The electronics OEMs do their share of preparing, processing, accepting, and handling dangerous goods shipments. And the safety of many people relies on the strength of the supply chain of these organizations. Compliance around documentation and preparing dangerous shipments, though, is a moving target. The only constant is change. More difficult still is the reality…
From the task of getting metal been dug from mines around the world to electronic component manufacturers to the moment when those components hit store shelves as finished electronic goods, supply chain professionals have been planning and working to make certain things go well. To that end, best practices around procurement, logistics, sustainability, compliance, and…
Companies need to start taking a closer look at reverse logistics. With a sufficient amount of data available to be analyzed and applied correctly, it could further improve their bottom line. Reverse logistics has always carried a stigma in the world of supply chain management. Known as the process associated with maximizing the value of…
As the tech and telecomm industries continue to evolve, we are seeing a dramatic shift in the behavior of its primary consumers: Mobile Internet consumers are using more data than ever before. This increasing data usage has fueled consumer demand for faster speeds that, in turn, creates more demand for newer, faster devices. This shift…
LAKE WALES, Fla.–While they hammer out a worldwide agreement at the United Nations' Conference of the Parties (COP21 where the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2015) will pronounce the progress of greenhouse warming, we are examining today the heart of what will make sustainable renewable energy work–the battery. Today we have wind farms and…
LAKE WALES, Fla.—This week EE Times will feature updates on some of the carbon-reducing technologies being developed or already in use that could help companies, countries and citizens reduce their carbon footprint. These are some examples to show the infinite variety and to give credit to engineers and companies working on them. There is little…
The City of San Jose is about to find out. Initial proposals are due November 30 for upgrading with LEDs streetlights in this northern California city of 1.1 million residents. It sounds like a dream project for the Internet of Things, especially given its location in the heart of Silicon Valley. Indeed on August 26,…
We are about to close another very exciting year in Europe that has had–and will continue to have–a huge impact on supply chains and their performance. GDP growth in the EU remains weak, despite massive stimulus and the recent sharp fall in oil prices. In addition, the slowdown in China will tend to hold back…
I recently read a column “We need the right to repair our gadgets” in The Wall Street Journal (you can read it here or here) in which the author was angry about what he saw as the “planned obsolescence” of so many electronic devices, and how we should demand that they be repairable. The example…
For manufacturers, extracting value from used electronics, whether that entails reselling, repairing, or recycling items in consumer or business-to-business markets, is not one of their core competencies. Many companies are coming to the conclusion that there's only so much they can do internally to address the challenge of asset recovery. In these instances, it may…