Procurement

How Johnson & Johnson fills its procurement talent pipeline

The Procurement Leadership Development Program has so far trained 119 employees and helped J&J fill roles when the talent pool is small. 

By Jen A. Miller • Feb. 27, 2020

Shake Shack takes on procure-to-pay, supplier management in tech upgrade

A digital transformation and new ERP systems gives Shake Shack a more granular picture of its procurement operations and frees up in-restaurant teams from administrative tasks.

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 27, 2020

Walmart joins store and online buying after decades of siloed operations

The move to unify buying across delivery channels demonstrates that omnichannel options are widely available to the consumer, but they are still making their way through the organizations that orchestrate them.

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 27, 2020

China manufacturing hubs face greatest risk from sea-level rise: report

The Pearl River Delta is home to large automotive, petrochemical and electronics manufacturing operations and the region single-handedly generates 3.8% of global wealth.

By Matt Leonard • Feb. 26, 2020

Revenue concerns spread outside China with coronavirus cases

The difficulty in predicting the spread of the disease makes it especially challenging for companies to make plans and seek alternative suppliers.

By Matt Leonard • Feb. 26, 2020

John Deere plans $40M spend on expedited freight for supply continuity amid coronavirus

The OEM's several quarters of inventory leaning and cost-cutting measures put it in a position to handle a business environment in flux.

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 24, 2020

Rainforest Alliance strengthens its cocoa certification program

The group said the changes will address challenges within the sector, including farmer livelihoods, child labor and deforestation.

By Cathy Siegner • Feb. 24, 2020

How to trust tech vendors

They can sell a bevy of products to a variety of customers. With so many options, sales require customization.

By Jen A. Miller • Feb. 21, 2020

Coronavirus: A lesson in supply chain risk management

A quarantine put supply chains' risk management strategies to the test as it left manufacturing facilities without workers needed to reach full production, reduced demand for ocean freight and cut air freight capacity. 

By Matt Leonard • Feb. 20, 2020

Adidas, H&M, Ikea lead on sustainable cotton sourcing

The Sustainable Cotton Ranking evaluated the companies, looking for policies that firmly direct more sustainable cotton sourcing, followthrough on those policies and the internal traceability available to benchmark improvement.

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 20, 2020

Opinion

Spend per buyer is reaching critical levels: time to sound the alarm?

It's easy to empathize with overloaded buyers in this new, ultra-lean procurement era. But procurement professionals must adapt or risk going the way of the dodo bird, writes Rich Ham, CEO of Fine Tune. 

By Rich Ham • Feb. 20, 2020

With shrinking budgets, finance spending goes to new tech

As companies attempt to curb spending in advance of an unpredictable economy, finance teams continue pooling resources to implement the newest tech, a Hackett Group study found.

By Jane Thier • Feb. 18, 2020

Coronavirus-related component delays will hold up production for Trimble within weeks

Trimble keeps about two weeks of inventory on hand. A three-week freight delay out of China or continued factory slowdowns would affect sales in the near term.

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 18, 2020

Coronavirus outbreak leads to supply shortages for Apple

Foxconn, one of Apple's largest suppliers, has not provided details on its plans to restart production.

By Matt Leonard • Feb. 18, 2020

Kraft Heinz turnaround starts with new talent

A massive SKU-reduction effort continues, but CEO Miguel Patricio said people have been his number one priority in his first six months as CEO.

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 14, 2020

Column

Buyers or CPOs: Who is responsible for job satisfaction?

The employees who look at their roles as critical, shepherding a global supply base to support their business operation, have the highest job satisfaction. 

By Rich Weissman • Feb. 13, 2020

Machine learning is nearly ubiquitous in accounting operations, ERPs

The technology is mainly used to set up touch-free processes for repetitive functions such as accounts payable and receivable.

By Robert Freedman • Feb. 13, 2020

Searches for suppliers outside China double as coronavirus spreads

Dun & Bradstreet said 92% of the companies with tier one suppliers in the impacted region are based in the U.S.

By Matt Leonard • Feb. 13, 2020

Modell's works with vendors, landlords to avoid bankruptcy

Mitchell Modell said the retailer has hired restructuring advisers and is turning to vendors and landlords to see it through a rough patch.

By Daphne Howland • Feb. 12, 2020

Under Armour forecasts up to $60M revenue hit from coronavirus disruptions

CEO Patrik Frisk expects "significant material impact both financially and operationally" on the company's full-year results, but putting hard numbers on the disruption is tough without a clear picture of scale or duration. 

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 12, 2020

NRF: Coronavirus could cause 13% import drop at US ports

Before the outbreak, the National Retail Federation predicted February imports would be 1.54 million TEUs. The forecast has slid to 1.41 million.

By Morgan Forde • Feb. 11, 2020

Opinion

Supply chain managers can leverage Lunar New Year experience in coronavirus disruption

This is a time when agility in the supply chain, specifically having multiple suppliers in varying geographies, will be extraordinarily valuable, writes Nate Evans, co-founder and CXO at Fictiv.

By Nate Evans • Feb. 10, 2020

87% of US businesses in China expect coronavirus to impact revenue

Companies ranging from Apple suppliers to Nissan have announced plans to temporarily pause production as a result of the virus outbreak.

By Matt Leonard • Feb. 10, 2020

China to slash tariffs by 50% on $75B of US imports

The trade war is far from over as tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods remain and supply chains stay on high alert.

By Shefali Kapadia • Feb. 07, 2020

Column

How to attract and retain supply management talent

Demand for skilled procurement workers coupled with low unemployment has created a shortage of talent in the profession.

By Rich Weissman • Feb. 06, 2020