Afternoon Coffee Content

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) ruled that Kraft Heinz Co. and Mondelez International Inc. will have to pay a $16 million penalty in an old wheat manipulation case. ICYMI, Spend Matters' Andrew Karpie covers VMSA West on the Pacific Coast and Jason Busch drills down into Proactis amid a takeover bid for the UK spend management provider. And TechCrunch reports that UPS picked up a minority stake in TuSimple, a self-driving truck startup. Afternoon Coffee: starting up your weekend early with the latest procurement and supply chain news.

Boeing has once again delayed the entry of an ultra-long-range version of its forthcoming 777X widebody into service. SourceDay, a provider of purchase order management and supplier collaboration solutions, announced today that its SuiteApp has achieved “Built for NetSuite” status. And Kelly Services recently announced a strategic partnership with Moonlighting to take advantage of the latter's blockchain-based platform. Afternoon Coffee: your source for procurement and supply chain news.

The 'Big Three' tech firms were among the companies that will testify Monday at a U.S. government hearing on the French government’s digital services tax. Tipalti, which has a global payables automation platform, announced today that it has exceeded $8 billion in annual transactions. And the new U.S. Domestic Intermodal Savings Index produced by IHS Markit’s JOC shows that railroads had suffered further erosion of their price advantage in domestic intermodal shipping compared to trucking in the second quarter. Afternoon Coffee: your procurement and supply chain news source.

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) said “it will delay 10% tariffs on ‘certain articles’ from China, originally slated to take effect Sept. 1, to Dec. 15,” according to Supply Chain Dive. Field Nation is on a crusade against duplicate data entry by looking to streamline workflow and releasing multi-site work orders. And HP laptop maker Inventec Corp. said it would be moving its manufacturing base for U.S. laptops out of China. Afternoon Coffee: your source for procurement and supply chain news.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said fears of a recession have increased following the U.S.-China trade war, reports Reuters. Vineyard Wind has reacted to the Trump administration's delay in granting a key permit for the first major U.S. offshore wind farm, saying it was surprised and disappointed. And transport and logistics provider XPO Logistics, Inc. has been awarded a multi-year contract renewal by Arco, the UK's largest supplier of safety equipment, workwear and safety services. Afternoon Coffee: your source for procurement and supply chain news.

The online freelancer marketplace Fiverr, which released its Q2 2019 financials this week, reported continuing high top-line growth. Q2 2019 revenue came in at $25.9 million, an increase of 41% over Q2 2018. Seal Software announced that SAP users can use its contract solution now that Seal is on the SAP App Center. Supercomputer maker Cray gets an Air Force contract. La-Z-Boy is optimizing its supply chain. Afternoon Coffee: A jolt of news for procurement and supply chain professionals.

Get an update on Upwork's second-quarter financial results, and learn more about China's oil imports from Iran as well as more information about the U.S. restrictions on Huawei telecommunications. Also, take a look at how an organic grocer is upgrading its supply chain. Afternoon Coffee brings you the latest news about procurement and supply chains.

FedEx will not renew its ground contract with Amazon, the delivery giant's latest move away from the online retailer that is building out its own logistics capabilities. In the UK, the American pizza chain Domino's is stockpiling ingredients in case Brexit gets messy for supply chains. And in the Midwest, farmers discuss the fallout of the U.S.-China tariff war. Afternoon Coffee: News brewed for procurement and supply chain professionals.

IBM and other large company participants have launched a blockchain network for improving supply chain management, reports Reuters. Spend Matters today published the third part of the Vendor Snapshot series highlighting Ivalua's procurement technology solution capabilities. And according to Bloomberg, the acting deputy assistant director for health care operations and Tricare for the Defense Health Agency told a U.S.-China advisory panel recently that the national security risks of increased Chinese dominance of the global API market "could not be overstated.” Afternoon Coffee: your source for procurement and supply chain news.

China retaliated against President Donald Trump’s tariff threat, allowing the yuan to tumble to the weakest level in more than a decade and asking state-owned companies to suspend imports of U.S. agricultural products. SAP Ariba and Social Enterprise UK, an organization dedicated to promoting ethical and sustainable firms, continue to espouse “procurement with purpose.” And the Association of Supply Chain Management announced the launch of the ASCM Enterprise Certification, a "standards guide to benchmark progress and measure the ethical, environmental and economic initiatives of corporate supply chains." Afternoon Coffee: your source for procurement and supply chain news.

A day after the Trump administration announced more tariffs on more products imported from China, the Chinese government vowed to retaliate. In Defense Department news, the Defense secretary has ordered a review of the procurement process for a $10 billion cloud project. Read more about Under Armour's tighter supply chain, and learn about a new cybersecurity toolkit. Afternoon Coffee: A jolt of Friday news to finish off the week.

Procurement Leaders CEO Nandini Basuthakur announced on Wednesday via LinkedIn that the organization had been acquired by executive networking firm World 50. Fiverr's launch of Studios, enabling workers to organize "agency-like teams," and other Contingent Workforce & Services news made the CW/S Hot List, released today on Spend Matters. And cheaper prescription drug imports may be on the horizon for the U.S. Afternoon Coffee: importing your procurement and supply chain news.