Category Archives: Afternoon Coffee

Planned Titanic Replica, Office Depot Merger, NASA’s procurement contract, The 40-Shot Starbucks Drink

Sydney Lazarus - February 20, 2013 12:56 PM | Categories: Afternoon Coffee

The real news is people still want to take cruises after the Carnival fiasco Take “Titanic” the cultural phenomenon. Then add an eccentric Australian billionaire, a Chinese shipyard and 40,000 people willing to pay up to $1 million for a ticket, and you have Titanic II, the planned replica ship that will sail from Southampton in 2016. Does anyone shop at either of these places anymore? Office Depot will buy OfficeMax in a $1.17 billion stock transfer, according to a joint statement released this morning. The hope is that the merged company will better compete against Staples and online retailers such [...]

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Friday Latte: Profitable Supplier Relationships, Sustainable Fish at McDonald’s, iPads for Primates

Sydney Lazarus - January 25, 2013 10:01 AM | Categories: Afternoon Coffee, Commentary

Register for Wednesday’s webinar! 3 Ways to Earn Loyalty and Profit from Your Suppliers: Lessons from Dell — A good supplier relationship goes far beyond just saving money. Understanding the sell-side of procurement is crucial if you want to become your supplier’s priority customer. Join Kevin Turner of Dell, Jason Busch of Spend Matters and Ravi Thakur of Coupa next Wednesday at noon CST for a webinar on building profitable supplier relationships, the pros and cons of supplier networks and more. At least we know it’s not sea horse McDonald’s to sell only ‘sustainable’ fish — Get ready for the [...]

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Afternoon Coffee: Santa’s Supply Chain, 35 Orders/Second for Amazon, WalMart Bribery

Sheena Moore - December 18, 2012 10:12 AM | Categories: Afternoon Coffee, Industry News, Sheena Moore

Santa’s business model: how does he do it?! Santa’s Lucrative Business Model Delivers The Goods – Last year, I reported on the complex logistics surrounding Santa’s Supply Chain. This year, I want to unwrap the broader business model of Jolly St. Nick and how he miraculously delivers the goods year after year. The whole story. The Bribery Aisle: How Wal-Mart Used Payoffs to Get Its Way in Mexico — Instead, records and interviews show, they decided to undo the damage with one well-placed $52,000 bribe. The plan was simple. The zoning map would not become law until it was published [...]

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Afternoon Coffee: Chobani Factory in Idaho, The Drought Drags On, Darjeeling (Limited)

Sheena Moore - December 17, 2012 10:12 AM | Categories: Afternoon Coffee, Industry News, Sheena Moore

The drought drags on. Springfield Mulls Water Restrictions As Drought Drags On — Abnormally low precipitation this year has parched the Mississippi and Missouri River basins, reigniting regional “water wars” where resources are spread thin across irrigation, recreation and navigation. In Springfield, officials are preparing to instate strict water restrictions that would include surcharges for heavy users and ban pond filling at golf courses, if lake levels drop low enough to threaten operations of the plants that supply the capital city with drinking water and electricity. “Greek” yogurt (from Idaho). U.S. Hunger for Yogurt Leads to Gigantic Factory — The [...]

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Friday Latte: FT Quotes MetalMiner, 3-D Supply Chains, Legos Are Still Awesome

Sheena Moore - December 14, 2012 10:12 AM | Categories: Afternoon Coffee, Industry News, Sheena Moore

MetalMiner quoted in the Financial Times. Rare earths producer intensifies drive for cash — Molycorp, the largest producer of rare earth metals outside China, has set to strengthen the company’s finances as a priority for its new interim chief executive, as it struggles with plunging prices for its products and the rising cost of its capital spending programme at its mine in California. Get out your special 3-D glasses. Supply Chain Revolution: How a 3-D Supply Chain Could Create Many New Jobs and Revitalize the Economy — Extreme risk aversion continues to oppress the economy, and recovery is very slow. [...]

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Afternoon Coffee: Royal Caribbean’s Supply Chain, “All Natural” Food Sourcing, New Job for 2013?

Sheena Moore - December 13, 2012 10:12 AM | Categories: Afternoon Coffee, Industry News, Sheena Moore

Finance cruising into the supply chain! Royal Caribbean CFO Tries Navigating the Supply Chain — Royal Caribbean Cruises is turning to CFO Brian Rice to cut costs from its supply chain as the cruise industry battles a poor operating environment — even though by his own admission the 20-plus-year company vet has no expertise in that part of its business. “I’m still in the learning stages of the supply chain,” says Rice, who was put in charge of that function in September on top of his other CFO duties. “They’re helping me more than I’m helping them [right now].” Quoth [...]

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Afternoon Coffee: Another Honda Recall, The “Decadence” of Procreating, Levi’s & Gap’s Supply Chain

Sheena Moore - December 12, 2012 10:12 AM | Categories: Afternoon Coffee, Industry News, Sheena Moore

Airline rows: now closer together!! Airplane rows could get closer together — Been thinking airliner seats offer more leg room than you really need? Me neither. But Airbus is reportedly looking at putting rows closer together. European plane maker Airbus is studying a 236-seat version of its A321 airplane, Aviation Week reports. “In addition to the vehicles being recalled in the United States, 64,000 are being recalled elsewhere.” Honda Recalling 807,000 S.U.V.’s and Minivans — Honda is recalling 807,000 utility vehicles and minivans because of a defect that could allow the vehicles to roll away, the automaker said in a [...]

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Afternoon Coffee: Contraband Kinder Eggs, Soybeans Down, Wheat Up, Robotic Arms at Foxconn

Sheena Moore - December 11, 2012 10:12 AM | Categories: Afternoon Coffee, Industry News, Sheena Moore

Wait. What?? Kinder Surprise: $2,500 contraband chocolate egg — Kinder eggs are back for the holidays in Chicago — and surprise, they’re still illegal this country. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents warned that each egg carries a $2,500 fine when they seized six of the contraband confections during a two-hour detention of two Seattle men returning from Vancouver in July. “The USDA made no changes to its supply and demand forecasts for corn, but said farm-gate prices would be weaker than expected.” USDA Cuts Soybean, Raises Wheat Stockpile Forecasts — The U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered its forecast for [...]

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Afternoon Coffee: College Cost Savings, Sony Discontinues Cassettes, B2D Supply Chain Technology

Sheena Moore - December 10, 2012 10:12 AM | Categories: Afternoon Coffee, Industry News, Sheena Moore

Some majors are cheaper than others…? To Steer Students Toward Jobs, Florida May Cut Tuition for Select Majors — To nudge students toward job-friendly degrees, the governor’s task force on higher education suggested recently that university tuition rates be frozen for three years for majors in “strategic areas,” which would vary depending on supply and demand. Grab one before it’s too late! Sony to discontinue the production early 2013 of Cassette Player/ Recorder — All good things must come to an end and I am sorry to report that Sony WILL discontinue early January 2013 once and for all the [...]

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Friday Latte: Supplier Diversity Fraud, PR and Procurement, Factory Fire Follow-Up

Sheena Moore - December 7, 2012 10:12 AM | Categories: Afternoon Coffee, Industry News, Sheena Moore

Supplier diversity: Chicago-style. Truck company owner pleads guilty in fraud for minority contracts — The owner of a dump truck company who secured $3 million in city contracts pleaded guilty today in federal court to acting as a minority “pass through” for another company seeking city sewer contracts. More on marketing and procurement. Procurement specialists can be a marketer’s ally — I have begun working more frequently with external procurement specialists as both a vendor and a PR partner and discovered there is no reason for fear. It boils down to this; a well-managed agency review process benefits everyone as [...]

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Afternoon Coffee: Apple’s Back in the US, Extreme SCM, China and the GPA, Guar Gum Bubble Pops

Sheena Moore - December 6, 2012 10:12 AM | Categories: Afternoon Coffee, Industry News, Sheena Moore

PR move, or more? Apple to Resume U.S. Manufacturing — For the first time in years, Apple will manufacture computers in the United States, the chief executive of Apple, Timothy D. Cook, said in interviews with NBC and Bloomberg Businessweek. “Next year, we will do one of our existing Mac lines in the United States,” he said in an interview to be broadcast Thursday on “Rock Center With Brian Williams” on NBC. “…more than 300 suppliers in one place – at Arctic Import situated at the Port of Aalborg, North Denmark.” Greenland Contractors and Arctic Import Enter Into a Supply [...]

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Afternoon Coffee: LA Ports Reopen, US Productivity Rises, Tesco Leaves US

Sheena Moore - December 5, 2012 10:12 AM | Categories: Afternoon Coffee, Industry News, Sheena Moore

An agreement has been reached. Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports to Reopen After 8-Day Strike — After an eight-day strike that crippled the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, clerical workers from a local office of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union on Tuesday night agreed to a new contract with the terminal operators at the ports. Union members will return to work Wednesday morning. Good job, guys. US workers’ productivity growing fastest in two years — US output per worker grew by its fastest rate since 2010 in the third quarter of this year, according to official [...]

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Afternoon Coffee: McDonald’s India, Ongoing Spending Habits, US’ Big Exports, Chitown Parking Meters

Sheena Moore - December 4, 2012 10:12 AM | Categories: Afternoon Coffee, Industry News, Sheena Moore

“We confidently and proudly state that ingredients used in our products are sourced locally that includes the French Fries.” We source all our ingredients locally: McDonald’s India — Fast food chain McDonald’s today disputed the remark of Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj in Parliament that it does not buy local produce, saying all the ingredients used in its products in India are sourced from within the country. “Before setting up its business in India, McDonald’s had made a commitment to government on local sourcing of its entire raw material requirement. Fascinating! 30 Ways Your Spending Habits Change With Age [...]

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Afternoon Coffee: PMAC Recognized By IFPSM, US Manufacturing Shrinks, Sandy Boosts Car Sales

Sheena Moore - December 3, 2012 10:12 AM | Categories: Afternoon Coffee, Sheena Moore

“This external recognition certifies that the SCMP designation program is amongst the best in the world…” Purchasing Association in Canada Announces its Supply Chain Management Professional Designation Receives Recognition from an International Purchasing Management Association — The Purchasing Management Association of Canada’s (PMAC) professional accreditation program, which leads to its Supply Chain Management Professional (SCMP) designation, has received global recognition from the International Federation of Purchasing and Supply Management (IFPSM) as meeting the highest standards in supply chain education. PMAC’s program is the first in North America to receive this honour, and only the second in the world. “The ISM [...]

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Friday Latte: Legal Sourcing, Bidding for Twinkie, Cattle Shortage, Alibaba Overtaking Amazon?

Sheena Moore - November 30, 2012 9:11 AM | Categories: Afternoon Coffee, Sheena Moore

“Compared to a few years ago, legal sourcing is now an area where I see major companies investing.” LEGAL SOURCING STEPS IN TO THE SPOTLIGHT — Bustling mid-town Manhattan was the location for a recent conference on collaboration between sourcing and the legal function. On the rostrum, a seasoned sourcing executive from a Global 200 company was sharing his successful experience working with legal. Seated to his left, his colleague, a senior executive in the company’s legal department, would echo and amplify his comments. As they described a series of new approaches to purchasing legal services that had saved millions [...]

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Afternoon Coffee: Tazreen Factory Fire, Smoking Spend, IKEA in India, Procurement Transformation

Sheena Moore - November 29, 2012 10:11 AM | Categories: Afternoon Coffee, Sheena Moore

“Calls made to The Walt Disney Company and to Sears Holdings were not immediately returned.” Sears, Disney, Wal-Mart used factory in fatal fire — Clothing and order books found at a Bangladeshi factory where a fire killed 112 people show that it was making clothing for Disney, Wal-Mart, Sears and other Western brands. Damned if you do…damned if you don’t. Fewer Smokers Means Higher Taxpayer Costs, Study Finds — while cutting the number of smokers trims government outlays over the short run, the increased longevity and higher end-of-life expenses of non-smokers eventually would cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars [...]

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