As a company's supply chain grows, so does its exposure to risk. Experts recommend that companies periodically audit their supply chains to identify vulnerable links, but the value that such audits actually deliver is up for debate, for a variety of reasons.
Proposed regulations mandated by the Sanitary Food Transportation Act and the Food Safety Modernization Act hold powerful implications for the future of the cold chain industry. The business environment is shifting, and the proposed rule is just one piece of this changing landscape, as the industry experiences an overall increase in regulations, customer-required audits and augmented public pressure from food recalls.
The aerospace and defense (A&D) industry is poised to benefit from a surge in global commercial demand, along with the advent of new technologies, government acquisition reform and the use of analytics to manage “big data.” At the same time, manufacturers and suppliers face a number of challenges, including stricter regulations and the uncertainties that characterize the defense sector.
Amber Road, a provider of global trade management (GTM) software, has achieved ISO 9001:2008 recertification for its proprietary process for collecting, translating, interpreting and updating country-specific trade regulations.
Inspection Data Systems (IDS) has launched a series of enhanced reporting tools for its mobile inspection and cloud-based applications for truck fleets.
While vast "smart products" opportunities are allowing many high-tech companies to grow and lower their cost of goods sold, 57 percent do not have access to reliable product genealogy information, and 72 percent believe their product data is less than 80 percent accurate.
Factories don't just make things. Viewed properly, they are where the rubber of corporate strategy meets the road of the marketplace. Ideally, then, a factory should operate in alignment with competitive business priorities: in short, it should be focused. When a business tries to group too many different products, markets, and technologies into the same manufacturing facility, performance and productivity suffer.