News & Articles
Chain Events
Thursday, July 22, 2010
ALOM Featured in The Virtual Edge
A new book about companies that are striving to achieve success by excellence in the global market was published today: "The Virtual Edge - Embracing Technology for Distributed Project Team Success" by Margery Mayer, PhD. and Professor at University of San Francisco, was published by the Project Management Institute. One of the featured companies is ALOM, used as an example for its management of global business, and the collaborative approach used to achieve global goals for ALOM's supply chain customers. The book can be ordered at Amazon.
Monday, July 19, 2010
China overtakes US at #1 manufacturing nation in 2011
Based on current projections, China will overtake the US as the number one manufacturing nation globally in 2011, according to IHS Global Insight, an economics consultancy in Waltham, Mass. The US became number one in 1890, but consistent annual manufacturing growth rates of 10% in China vs. the US' 2-3% growth rates will cause China to win the spot next year.
At the same time, the Green Supply Chain Management Forum convened in Hong Kong in June 2010 where it concluded that China lags in sustainable manufacturing. As China is taking over the number one manufacturing spot, this situation is becoming a significant global concern.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
ALOM Launches Compass, New Customer Portal
ALOM's new customer portal, Compass, launched this week to great fanfare. Already prior to launch, the concepts behind this innovative, leading portal have received great accolades. Compass is user driven with real-time global reporting that can be scheduled and generate communications to different people in different formats. It also has an alert system that allows users to set exception based alerts.
At the launch party at ALOM's headquarters, ALOM's CEO, Hannah Kain, discussed the information overload, the complexity of the supply chain and the new concepts. "The principle is to get the users only the pertinent and accurate information exactly when they need it," said Kain. "With today's complex supply chain, there is too much information to absorb, and there is no reason to overwhelm our customers with information. Instead we are giving them the information that allows them to be successful in managing their business."
While Compass was launched with champagne and speeches, the development team behind Compass committed to continuous development to continue to add functionality. "We want to continue to maintain our technological leadership role in the supply chain industry," added Kain.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
The Tide is Shifting from China
First Foxconn, and now Honda have agreed to substantial increases in pay in their Chinese factories. By some estimates, the Foxconn labor cost increased by up to 65%. These increases are expected to spread to other factories and ripple through the Chinese industry.
There are two implications worth considering for supply chain professionals: One is that the purchasing power of Chinese consumers' will increase dramatically, making the Chinese market even more attractive. The other consideration is that the cost structure may now be such that many products are more profitably manufactured in a facility close to the consumers, as opposed to manufacturing everying by default in China. Of course, there are several other low cost countries that production can be shifted to. However, for companies now manufacturing in China, shifting production to another country can mean increased management, increased risk of supply chain interruptions, and increased travel expenses, time and hassles. It may be worth it. Or not. At least it warrants a thought and an analysis.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Packaging for children
The US Consumer Product Safety Commmission (CPSC) has issued new draft rulings for children's products. The rules pertain among other things to games and packages containing other electronic content. The big question has been whether packaging and the media (CD or DVD's) itself and other game related accessories must conform to the regulations pertaining to children's products, or whether the products are so-called general use (or - in layman's terms - exempt.) The new rulings clarifies that the commission will be evaluating each product based on its target audience, contents and appearance.
If the target audience is very small children, the assumption is that adults will solely be handling the packaging and media. If the target audience is adults or children older than 12 years, the packaging and media should be considered "general use" items. If the target audience is mostly less than 12 years of age, then the packaging, media, game consoles, keyboard and other accessories must meet the CPSC standards for heavy metals pertaining to children's products.
If you are "playing in this space" (pun intended), get ready to revisit your production to meet the new requirements. See details at: http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/frnotices/fr10/childproduct.pdf
Friday, April 23, 2010
World Bank: ALOM's locations are optimal
The World Bank published its 2010 Logistics Performance Index (http://info.worldbank.org/etools/tradesurvey/mode1b.asp). Two countries with ALOM partner locations scored number 1 and 2: Germany scored Number One on the list worldwide. With ALOM's European partner location in the Number One logistics location in the world, the European market is well served. Singapore scored Number Two. With ALOM's Asian partner location headquartered in Singapore, the Asian market, too, is serviced from an optimum location.
While there may be per-unit cost savings in production cost to locate in one of the less desirable locations, frequently the total cost will be too high, when including logistics cost as well as management and delays in getting product to market.
The US - the location of ALOM's headquarters - scored Number 15 on the list. The lower number is due to customs clearance issues and ease of arranging competitively priced shipment. This is why services provided by ALOM regarding US import and export are so important to our customers.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Happy Earth Day from all of us at ALOM
Happy Earth Day from all of us at ALOM - where every day is an earth day.
ALOM Featured in The Virtual Edge
A new book about companies that are striving to achieve success by excellence in the global market was published today: "The Virtual Edge - Embracing Technology for Distributed Project Team Success" by Margery Mayer, PhD. and Professor at University of San Francisco, was published by the Project Management Institute. One of the featured companies is ALOM, used as an example for its management of global business, and the collaborative approach used to achieve global goals for ALOM's supply chain customers. The book can be ordered at Amazon.
China overtakes US at #1 manufacturing nation in 2011
Based on current projections, China will overtake the US as the number one manufacturing nation globally in 2011, according to IHS Global Insight, an economics consultancy in Waltham, Mass. The US became number one in 1890, but consistent annual manufacturing growth rates of 10% in China vs. the US' 2-3% growth rates will cause China to win the spot next year.
At the same time, the Green Supply Chain Management Forum convened in Hong Kong in June 2010 where it concluded that China lags in sustainable manufacturing. As China is taking over the number one manufacturing spot, this situation is becoming a significant global concern.
ALOM Launches Compass, New Customer Portal
ALOM's new customer portal, Compass, launched this week to great fanfare. Already prior to launch, the concepts behind this innovative, leading portal have received great accolades. Compass is user driven with real-time global reporting that can be scheduled and generate communications to different people in different formats. It also has an alert system that allows users to set exception based alerts.
At the launch party at ALOM's headquarters, ALOM's CEO, Hannah Kain, discussed the information overload, the complexity of the supply chain and the new concepts. "The principle is to get the users only the pertinent and accurate information exactly when they need it," said Kain. "With today's complex supply chain, there is too much information to absorb, and there is no reason to overwhelm our customers with information. Instead we are giving them the information that allows them to be successful in managing their business."
While Compass was launched with champagne and speeches, the development team behind Compass committed to continuous development to continue to add functionality. "We want to continue to maintain our technological leadership role in the supply chain industry," added Kain.
The Tide is Shifting from China
First Foxconn, and now Honda have agreed to substantial increases in pay in their Chinese factories. By some estimates, the Foxconn labor cost increased by up to 65%. These increases are expected to spread to other factories and ripple through the Chinese industry.
There are two implications worth considering for supply chain professionals: One is that the purchasing power of Chinese consumers' will increase dramatically, making the Chinese market even more attractive. The other consideration is that the cost structure may now be such that many products are more profitably manufactured in a facility close to the consumers, as opposed to manufacturing everying by default in China. Of course, there are several other low cost countries that production can be shifted to. However, for companies now manufacturing in China, shifting production to another country can mean increased management, increased risk of supply chain interruptions, and increased travel expenses, time and hassles. It may be worth it. Or not. At least it warrants a thought and an analysis.
Packaging for children
The US Consumer Product Safety Commmission (CPSC) has issued new draft rulings for children's products. The rules pertain among other things to games and packages containing other electronic content. The big question has been whether packaging and the media (CD or DVD's) itself and other game related accessories must conform to the regulations pertaining to children's products, or whether the products are so-called general use (or - in layman's terms - exempt.) The new rulings clarifies that the commission will be evaluating each product based on its target audience, contents and appearance.
If the target audience is very small children, the assumption is that adults will solely be handling the packaging and media. If the target audience is adults or children older than 12 years, the packaging and media should be considered "general use" items. If the target audience is mostly less than 12 years of age, then the packaging, media, game consoles, keyboard and other accessories must meet the CPSC standards for heavy metals pertaining to children's products.
If you are "playing in this space" (pun intended), get ready to revisit your production to meet the new requirements. See details at: http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/frnotices/fr10/childproduct.pdf
World Bank: ALOM's locations are optimal
The World Bank published its 2010 Logistics Performance Index (http://info.worldbank.org/etools/tradesurvey/mode1b.asp). Two countries with ALOM partner locations scored number 1 and 2: Germany scored Number One on the list worldwide. With ALOM's European partner location in the Number One logistics location in the world, the European market is well served. Singapore scored Number Two. With ALOM's Asian partner location headquartered in Singapore, the Asian market, too, is serviced from an optimum location.
While there may be per-unit cost savings in production cost to locate in one of the less desirable locations, frequently the total cost will be too high, when including logistics cost as well as management and delays in getting product to market.
The US - the location of ALOM's headquarters - scored Number 15 on the list. The lower number is due to customs clearance issues and ease of arranging competitively priced shipment. This is why services provided by ALOM regarding US import and export are so important to our customers.
Happy Earth Day from all of us at ALOM
Happy Earth Day from all of us at ALOM - where every day is an earth day.
