Afternoon Coffee Content

General Motors and the United Auto Workers reached a tentative deal yesterday, setting the stage for a decision today on whether the strike will continue. P2P solution provider Tradeshift “has announced a partnership with Abreon, a leading change management consultancy, to provide clients with the tools they need to embrace technology adoption and foster success through growth initiatives." Walmart has begun a database to which U.S. suppliers may submit their info to be considered by Walmart’s sourcing and buying teams. And Purchasing Platform, a provider of spend management and analytics software solutions, just announced raising $3.5 million in Series A funding. Afternoon Coffee: your source for procurement and supply chain news.

In an executive management shakeup, Jaggaer today announced that it has a new CEO, effective immediately, and that the company created the new position of chief operations officer. As the General Motors strike in North America gets into its second month, it has nearly paralyzed a major chunk of the automotive supply chain. And the U.K. government is putting trade safeguards in place, hoping to mitigate the risks that impending Brexit poses. Afternoon Coffee: your source for procurement and supply chain news.

Today Spend Matters published a “roll-up” view and analysis of software providers currently participating in SolutionMap that offer vendor management system (VMS) solutions, using SolutionMap scoring data to give an up-to-date perspective of the VMS landscape. Starting next spring, Tesla will start installing the 13.5 kWh Powerwall home power storage batteries in Japan. And Expanse, the net ops management company that counts the U.S. Department of Defense as one of its clients, today said it had launched Expanse Link, a product that helps identify and manage strategic suppliers' Internet assets and risks. Afternoon Coffee: your source for procurement and supply chain news.

Online marketplace RigUp, which refers to itself as “the energy industry’s largest marketplace for on-demand services and skilled labor,” has announced a $300 million Series D round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has called the logic behind President Donald Trump’s trade strategy with China akin to taking “one step forward, two steps back." And women are increasingly joining the truck driving workforce, according to the WSJ. Afternoon Coffee: your source for procurement and supply chain news.

SAP announced that its CEO, Bill McDermott, is stepping down after more than nine years running the business software company, and Spend Matters' Pierre Mitchell weighs in with what it means for SAP. In other news, a committee looking at the 737 MAX issues says that the FAA didn't properly vet the aircraft and that Boeing should upgrade its processes. Also, the Air Force looks to space in awarding a different kind of contract. Afternoon Coffee brings you the latest in procurement and supply chain news.

Top U.S. and Chinese negotiators are set to meet today for the first time since late July to try to work out a path forward from a 15-month trade war between the two nations. Jason Woods has been named CFO of Field Nation, a provider of workforce management solutions, after having served in that role recently for SAP Concur. A new product, IBM Sterling Supply Chain Suite, tries to take out the complexity from global supply chains and make them smarter and more efficient. And U.S. Steel's CFO is resigning, amidst the company getting set to bring in a new operating model to cut costs. Afternoon Coffee: your source for procurement and supply chain news.

Don’t miss a free webinar tomorrow, Thursday, October 10 at 9:00 CT / 10:00 am ET in which experts from GEP and Spend Matters assess the current state of direct procurement and discuss the new opportunities afforded to it by digital transformation. Three energy projects fast-tracked by the Trump administration are now stalled because of successful legal challenges by environmental groups. And Exostar has announced an agreement with Fujitsu Limited to secure the controlled unclassified information (CUI) exchanged by companies throughout the U.S. Department of Defense’s global supply chain. Afternoon Coffee: your source for procurement and supply chain news.

Utmost, a San Francisco-based start-up, announced that it has launched its first solution, Utmost Extended Workforce System. Unilever has pledged to cut its plastic use in half by 2025. Boeing's beleaguered 737 MAX faces even more headwinds to return to the air, according to the WSJ. And Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the launch of AWS IQ, “a new service that helps customers quickly find, engage, and do business with AWS-Certified third party experts for on-demand project work." Afternoon Coffee: launching the latest dispatch of procurement and supply chain news.

The United States and China are going back to the negotiating table this week in the midst of a heightened trade climate, with another round of U.S. tariffs set to be levied against China later this month. Talks between General Motors and its striking workers for a new four-year labor contract took a “turn for the worse” on Sunday. And the senior director of transportation sourcing and procurement for Walmart Transportation was one of several top supply chain executives to call out the industry's biggest challenge at the American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition this week. Afternoon Coffee: your source for procurement and supply chain news.

Apple's suppliers have reportedly been told to step up production of the iPhone 11 by up to 10%, or 8 million units. Steel production has been continuing to grow in China despite capacity cuts. And hospitals look to be the biggest source of corporate renewable energy procurement deals in the near future, according to a Deloitte study. Afternoon Coffee: renew us as your source for procurement and supply chain news next week, won't you? Happy Friday.

The World Trade Organization has green-lighted the U.S. request to levy tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of imports from the European Union, including on single malt Scotch whisky. Uber Works has officially launched in Chicago, with the goal of linking shift workers up with shifts. Experts from Spend Matters and GEP are presenting a free webinar next week which will cover how a digitally transformed direct procurement function will work differently with other enterprise functions. And truckers across the U.S. will hold a slow roll protest against three proposed laws that will negatively affect them. Afternoon Coffee: bringing you the latest procurement and supply chain news.

Two Icelandic businesses used Tradeshift’s platform and smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain and Monerium’s programmable digital cash to carry out a reportedly historic P2P transaction. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine had a public Twitter scuffle with Elon Musk over SpaceX’s delayed project, contracted by NASA, to carry people to the moon and Mars. And U.S.-Italy tariff talks were highlighted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo being handed a block of Parmesan cheese. Afternoon Coffee: your source for procurement and supply chain cheese – er, news.