Sourcing to low cost destinations is not a new development and Bangladesh has been a favored destination of apparel brands and retailers. But incidents like Rana Plaza disaster (an eight-story factory collapsed, killing over 1,000 workers) brought to light non-existent safety measures. This incident, and three others during 2013-14, challenged the sourcing strategies of large apparel brand retailers and compelled them to embrace socially responsible procurement processes. Almost all brands that source from Bangladesh belatedly […]
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Archive for Sustainability – Page 2
There are various lists that include the world’s most sustainable companies: Corporate Knights, the Climate Performance Leadership Index, and others. Walmart does not make those lists. None of them. Walmart is doing more in sustainability, particularly in the supply chain area, than they are given credit for. In contrast, there seems to be some sort of halo effect surrounding one of Walmart’s biggest competitors, Amazon. Amazon is not known for treating their warehouse workers kindly, […]
Read More →There’s been a common thread in my conversations with shippers over the past few years: their desire to take freight off the truckload grid — i.e., minimize the number of one-way truck shipments they make. This desire is driven by a number of factors, including: Capacity concerns: A lot of capacity has left the market since 2008, with many carriers going bankrupt when the recession hit and others downsizing their fleets. This hasn’t been a […]
Read More →Last year, Halloween greeted us with a snow and ice storm. This year, it greets us with Hurricane Sandy. This is too much trick and not enough treat for me. In other news… C.H. Robinson Reports Third Quarter Results UPS International Profit Rebounds SAP Announces Record Third Quarter Results Exceed €1 Billion in Third Quarter Software Revenue C.H. Robinson Europe BV Receives AEO-certification FedEx Freight Expands Service and Shipping Solutions to Meet Customer Needs in […]
Read More →The nation is breathing a huge sigh of relief today. No, the economy is still growing at a snail’s pace, and things in the Middle East aren’t getting better, but in what the White House called “a great day for America,” the regular refs are back in the NFL! Classify that under “Things that Make You Go Hmmmm.” In other news… C.H. Robinson Worldwide to Acquire Phoenix International Ryder Publishes 2011 Corporate Sustainability Report ATA […]
Read More →It’s not a matter of “if” the United States will implement a program to reward organizations for reducing emissions and penalize those that do not, but “when.” This means that U.S. companies — particularly global players — can’t afford to keep their sustainability plans on the back burner. In fact, the pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is greater than ever. In 2005, Europe implemented the first large cap-and-trade program in the world under its […]
Read More →All eyes are on Mexico as the cost of manufacturing in China rises, forcing businesses to rethink their global sourcing strategies. Companies that once flocked to China because of its massive pool of cheap labor and attractive government incentives are now finding themselves at risk of losing the advantages that brought them to China in the first place. A number of factors are to blame: a diminishing population of low-cost workers, rising production costs, and […]
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Supply Chain Brief
Guest Commentary: Beyond Sustainability to Supply Chain Resilience
Businesses around the world are increasingly becoming more vocal and active around “sustainability” issues and managing the breadth and depth of the “carbon footprint” generated by their operations. While both of these terms are getting lots of airplay, what they really point to is the need to plan for greater “resilience” in supply chain design, management and execution. How resilient are you in your thinking, and does that reflect itself in your supply chain’s processes […]
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