- GlenFlat Containers Looking Good for Multi Modal Transport
- Coming Your Way in April
- Super Forecasting and AI
- The Role of Management Consultants and Business Schools
- Ethical Supply Chains
- It’s All About the V’s
- In the News this Week
- Cyber Attacks
- Dodgy Pork Meat hits UK Supermarkets
- Asia Pacific Trade Deal
- Vegetable seed shortages and EU suppliers
- Potato shortages possible as energy prices force farmers to switch land use
I just love these Glen-Flat Containers. Container Boxes as Flat Packs. What a great idea to save space and they can be folded down in just 80 seconds. You can get four on a truck and they are the size of just one Container Box. The future might be here right now. If you need a box solution for multi-modal transport Glen Flat is well worth a look at to see if it meets your needs.
- Collapses and expands in under 80 seconds;
- Reduces repositioning costs by up to 75%;
- Reduces congestion at ports, terminals, depots & other storage facilities;
- Reduces fuel consumption, traffic, and emissions.
Contact info@genflat.com to find out how to take advantage of GenFlat’s innovative approach to solving many of the problems in the shipping industry today.
Episodes Coming Your Way in April
Super Forecasting and AI
According to Phillip Tetlock Superforecasters are better than average. A large number of people completed the challenge to forecast a range of issues from the likelihood of launching missiles to predicting the economy. These were not all experts in the field and some outperformed others, So why was this the case? Will AI open up new possibilities?
Listen to find out more and to see how this could be harnessed in supply chain management.
The Role of Management Consultants and the Business School Supply Chains that provide them with staff
Management Consultancy is a lucrative business. The number of management consultants in the UK in 2022 grew by 25 per cent according to the Management Consulting Association to around 63,000. There are more than 700 Management Consulting Firms worldwide and the industry is worth $2.5 billion. The US and UK have signficant hubs. Leading firms such as McKinsey, Bain and the Big Four Accounting Firms dominate this market -PWC, KPMG, EY and Deloittes.
The industry is a magnet for leading business school graduates and Harvard lead the pack. Learn why by listening to this episode.
Ethical Supply Chains
It is almost 10 years since the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh hit the headlines with over 11,000 people losing their lives just going to work in a clothing factory. We ask what has changed?
There have been many initiatives to improve ethical trade but do they work? Both the UN and the OECD have issued guidelines.
- https://unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/our-work/supply-chain/
- https://www.oecd.org/about/impact/towards-ethical-supply-chains.htm
Myanmar has also seen a number of infringements of workers rights. Once again women are at the sharp end working in clothing factories where they supply leading brands.
Even tea plantations have hit the headlines about human rights infringements.
We also have concerns about the future beyond the factory in AI. Listen to the epsiode to find out more.
It’s All About the V’s
My management thought for the day is “It’s All About V’s.”
Tony Hines speaks about the 7V Framework he developed to create and retain value. The V’s provide structure emerging from research to understand and improve supply chain performance. Find out how you can use this framework to structure value in your supply chains. In difficult times it is important to maintain and build value throughout the supply chain.
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You can listen to any or all of the Chain Reaction Episodes by using the QR Code or by simply clicking on the image link. You will see the full catalogue and of course the weekly Supply Chain News Round Up. This is a great resource for you if you work in supply chains or are a student doing courses in supply chains and business.
We have special editions on a particular topic and we have guest interviews as well as the weekly news about all things impacting global supply chains in that week. So make sure you stay aware, up-to-date and gain useful insights about all things relevant to you.
If you like the Chain Reaction Podcast don’t forget to tell your colleagues and let them share the knowledge. If you are a Programme Leader in charge of a team or have students doing supply chain courses share the links with them so they can learn too. Happy listening!
In the News
This week there has been a lot of discussion in the news media about the potential damage artifical intelligence (AI) might do to society. Some notable voices have suggested that advances are too fast and the dangers might be great. Leading tech influencers such as billionaire Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, as well as former presidential candidate Andrew Yang are calling for a temporary halt on AI experiments to address these risks.
The question is of course is it too late to address these concerns? Many commentators think that a lot more has to be done with regard to address ethical concerns. Is it enough or even wise to attempt to turn back the tide of change – Remember King Canute. It maybe an impossible task.
Cyber attacks on supply chains are back in the news this week. A number of security firms including Sophos, CrowdStrike and Sentinel One sounded the alarm about 3CX’s widely used voice and video calling client targetting downstream customers. The software is used by more than 600,000 companies including American Express, BMW, McDonald’s and the UK National Health Service.
The trojan malware is capable of harvesting system information and stealing data stored in credentials from browsers inculding Google Chrome, MS Edge, Fire Fox and Brave.
Listen to the News Round Up to find out about all things impacting Global Supply Chains this week. Every week we cover the top news stories impacting supply chains. Stay informed.
Best of the rest this week:
- Pork Meat from South America and Europe has found its way onto British Supermarket shelves wrongly labelled as British Pork. Rotting meat with dubious country of origin credentials was mixed with fresh meat Criminal investigations underway. Public health risks included Listeria and Ecoli. This has been going on for the past two years.
- UK Government claiming credit for Pacific Asia Trade deal with 11 countries many it already had deals with. Likely to increase GDP by 0.08 per cent. So only another 3.92 per cent to make up for Brexit.
- Looming potato shortage in the UK as farmers reduce land use for the crop by 10 per cent due to rising energy costs.
- Shortages of seeds from the EU for many popular varieties of vegetables – French bean ‘Aquilon’, courgettes ‘Parthenon’ withdrawn by breeder along with chillies, peppers, beans, peas and potatoes. Post Brexit phytosanitary certificates are the problem. Suppliers complain that minor errors stop supplies in their tracks and many have withdrawn from the UK market.
TONY HINES BLOG 