Dutch startup Fairphone is basing its business model on its ability to source components for its smartphones from ethically responsible suppliers and production sources throughout its supply chain. Fairphone 2 Photo courtesy: Fairphone By seeking to make its tiered suppliers' procurement sources as transparent as possible, the company hopes to set a new standard of supply chain…
I'm not going to argue against Apple's decision to drop the 3.5mm headphone connector on the new iPhone 7; maybe it is a good idea. The 3.5mm audio jack has been around for over 60 years and gained worldwide popularity when Sony used it on the Walkman in 1979. iPhone 7 and iPhone 7Plus Photo…
Sustainability is a value that many companies want associated with their brands, whether it is due to their own ideals or awareness of the effect it can have on their reputation with increasing transparency about environmental impacts of businesses. For that reason, many companies seek out ways to improve processes and reduce their carbon footprint.…
One of the most common misconceptions about display customization among engineers and procurement team members is custom displays cost more. But the opposite is most often true. Here's why. A lower system-level cost can often be achieved with a custom display because off-the-shelf displays typically include components unnecessary for the specific application. With a standard…
September 06, 2016 04:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time BERLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE )–The Green Electronics Council (GEC) announced at IFA 2016 today that AMD (NASDAQ: AMD), a leading designer of compute and graphics processors, and PuzzlePhone, a designer of modular mobile phones, won its 2016 Catalyst Awards. GEC’s Catalyst Awards seek to inspire innovation in the design,…
Can a company do well by committing to do good? Ford affirms it can. On Feburary 24, Ford Motor Company announced that it has joined the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) — a nonprofit group of electronics companies working to improve the social, environmental and ethical conditions of their global supply chains. The organization the…
3D printing is coming into its own as an integral part of manufacturing. That's the view of Jack Hornick, an intellectual property attorney and author of 3D Printing Will Rock the World , a suggested textbook for “The 3D Printing Revolution” Coursera course offered by the University of Illinois Champagne-Urbana. I spoke with him about…
Green procurement, also known as sustainable procurement is important, not only because the resources are becoming scarce and are over utilized by the developed world. It's important because purchasers, whether serving public sector run organizations or privately held companies, yield a great influence over the future of the planet with every buying decision they make.…
Consumer products and the companies that create those products make a huge impact on the environment. The upside of that reality is that these same organizations have a significant opportunity to create environmental change, and making those changes will ultimately create stronger and more sustainable businesses. “In a resource constrained world, we are increasingly facing…
Reverse logistics, the operations and process related to the reuse of products and materials, is often times viewed as a necessary evil of sorts. It's complicated. It's daunting. And if all steps aren't followed procedurally and strategically, it risks ruin for manufacturers, operators, distributors, and retailers involved in the process. Here's the thing: reverse logistics…