Facility location & network design - Articles - Page 18

Auto Suppliers in Financial Squeeze as Automakers Demand Deep Cost Cuts, Local Production

March 6, 2015

Automotive suppliers are under mounting pressure to satisfy two conflicting customer demands: to cut costs and to open more factories in fast-growing emerging markets so that they can be closer to their customers' production plants. Striking the right balance between cost and proximity in global manufacturing networks will be one of the industry's greatest challenges, according to a report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), conducted in partnership with the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA. The report is titled The Proximity Paradox: Balancing Auto Suppliers' Manufacturing Networks.

Six Challenges for Supply Chains in Emerging Markets

March 6, 2015

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

What does it take to overcome the logistics challenges of serving customers in emerging markets?

E-Commerce, Omnichannel Changing Supply Chain Network Design

March 3, 2015

SupplyChainBrain

Analyst Insight: It's no secret that the explosion of e-commerce, omnichannel, multichannel and social media - along with large online retailers' offerings - have significantly raised customers' expectations for rapid delivery, free shipping and free returns. Customers are clearly signaling that a company's successes and failures rest on high expectations of price, selection, convenience and experience. Companies must "get local" in order to meet customers' demands for speed of delivery. – John Spain, Partner, Tompkins International

In Retail Demand Planning, The Numbers Can Lie

February 23, 2015

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

Retail demand planning is, to a great extent, a game of numbers. But the store that relies entirely on hard statistics is likely to be in for an unpleasant surprise.

Asia Pacific: Conscientious Producers and Savvy Consumers

February 20, 2015

Tim Foster, Managing Director, Asia-Pacific, Chainalytics

Success in the global economy requires a shift in strategic vision of the Asia-Pacific region's role in supply chains. While it is no secret that an end to low-cost production in Asia is in sight, smart companies are studying the complexity of APAC region and gaining insight into the roles each country plays in the quickly evolving economic horizon. But visibility into where APAC is today isn't enough; forecasting where it will be next year, five years from now, and further into the future are key to positioning supply chains now for ongoing optimization.

China Plans to Build Hong Kong 2.0

February 12, 2015

Maritime Executive

China is planning to build a second Hong Kong city in Nansha, a district in southern China's Guangdong province.

New Plant in West Virginia Part of P&G's Supply Chain Transformation Project

February 12, 2015

Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company plans to build a multi-category manufacturing facility in Berkeley County, West Virginia, in the Eastern Panhandle of the state near the town of Tabler Station. When the plant opens in 2017, it will be one of the most advanced and sustainable plants among P&G's global manufacturing and supply-chain operations.

Fueled by Cheap Natural Gas, Reshoring Predicted to Continue, But Pace Is Expected to Slow

January 27, 2015

Industry Today

Manufacturers typically evaluate seven critical areas when it comes to operational decision making: transportation and energy costs; market demand for their products; rising labor costs in China and other developing nations; access to talent, tax and regulatory policies; availability of capital; and currency trends.