Is ignorance bliss when it comes to sourcing? A recent poll of buyers in the retail, grocery and restaurant chain industries found that 75 percent of those not using e-sourcing methods are confident that they're getting the best value from their suppliers. But they're wrong, according to a report from Intesource. A suppliers' true rock-bottom price is almost always far lower than a buyer suspects. And it's even more likely another qualified source may be hungrier for new business. Buyers just need to know how to shift the tables.
The food and beverage industry has made some major moves in recent days in the struggle over super-sweet products. Major cereal-makers Nestle and General Mills pledged to cut sugar and salt content in children's breakfast cereals abroad, while soda and restaurant trade groups sued to stop a New York City ban on sales of large sugary drinks.
FoodLink, a buying platform that connects fresh food retailers and wholesalers to a network of more than 2,000 supplier companies, will acquire TRUETRAC, a provider of mobile traceability solutions to growers, harvesters, packers and shippers of fresh-packed produce. The combined company will be the food industry's first integrated network for produce traceability that links crop planning, harvesting, packing, order management, shipping, receiving and individual item tracking from the field to the supermarket checkout line.
Supply chains are driving fundamental and transformational changes in today's organizations. More than that, supply chains challenge the very mental models and core processes that guide most of what people do at work. They challenge the prevailing organization paradigm, requiring significantly more focus on customers, horizontal relationships, integrative thinking, and dynamic and continuous adaptation. These values are difficult to consistently reinforce and support in siloed structures and can't be changed by sophisticated technology alone. Thus, all the promise of supply chain transformation hits an inevitable brick wall!
David Ecklund, director of the Global Supply Chain Executive MBA program at the University of Tennessee, shines some light on the difficult issue of managing the "talent supply chain." He specifies the core competencies that are required of today's supply-chain professionals.
Americold, a provider specializing in temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics services to the food industry, has introduced a new product to coordinate and expedite the delivery of less-than-truckload (LTL) and full truckload shipments.
China grew at its slowest pace in 31/2 years, the latest sign that the nation long famed for its economic miracle is still struggling to pull out of a steeper-than-expected slide.
The Stifel Nicolaus Logistics Confidence Index declined for the sixth consecutive month, according to the latest survey undertaken by Transport Intelligence. The index for both the current and expected situation combined registered 47.3 for the month, down from 47.6 in September.
The latest supply-chain news, analysis, trends and tools for executives in the food and beverage industries. Learn how food and beverage companies and their suppliers around the world are managing the flow of products across all channels of the enterprise. Experts sound off on forecasting and demand planning, supply-chain visibility, logistics outsourcing, inventory optimization, transportation management, warehouse management, supply-chain security, corporate social responsibility and more.
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