Cadmium may be the latest shoe that falls in China. Over the past two weeks, news has surfaced about costume and children’s jewelry from China containing harmful levels of cadmium being sold at major retailers including Wal-Mart and Claire’s Stores. Cadmium is a toxic material that when ingested, inhaled or absorbed can lead to a host of problems including cancer, damaged immune systems, and birth defects.

A little history behind this…a few years ago, toys from China were found to contain high-levels of lead paint which led (no pun intended) to regulations and policies banning their export into this country. The result is that some manufacturers in China replaced one harmful material with an even more dangerous one in cadmium. It makes me wonder what they replaced metamine with in pet food, but I digress.

While the use of cadmium could easily turn into one about business ethics, it really points to the supply chain issues that would cause any U.S....

According to an ARC Advisory Group study of 102 logistics and supply chain executives to be released next month, 23 percent of respondents do not work with 3PLs for one of two reasons: 1) Companies think they can do better than a 3PL in terms of cost, quality, and service; or 2) Companies have not explored outsourcing to a 3PL.

As ARC points out, the reasons provide both an opportunity and a threat to 3PLs. The opportunity is there for 3PLs to educate and present their offerings along with a differentiated value proposition. The area of concern is why companies are opting to keep or bring logistics operations in house. Service and specialization rank high on the list with the ambiguous “Other” leading the way.

I’d venture to guess that visibility and collaboration fall somewhere in the “Other” category especially with more than two-thirds of warehouses in North America lacking a WMS. If I’m a logistics company looking to outsource to a 3PL, I better...

What a difference a year makes…last year at this time, business confidence in the economy was sitting in the depths of a bottomless pit. If findings are to be believed, confidence is up, if not gradually, as are inventory levels. According to Managing Automation’s Outlook poll, manufacturers in the U.S. and Europe have positive outlooks for the new year at 57% and 55% compared to 26% and 13% last year.

One significant difference is in the area of priorities. Last year, it was all about cost reduction. This year, the focus is on activities that spur growth such as product innovation, improving processes, new market penetration, and business agility. And with that, the focus is on technology investments in the areas of new computer systems, wireless communications products, and automation platforms.

Inventory levels across all sectors took a hit during 2009, but that will change in 2010. While inventory levels at wholesalers jumped 1.5% in November,...

AMR’s Bruce Richardson, one of the leading analysts in the supply chain area, did write-up on the prospects of SaaS companies and their stock prices. In general, investing in publicly-traded SaaS companies yielded significant returns in 2009 with companies such as Taleo, SuccessFactors and Salesforce hitting triple digit percentage increases, while NetSuite is close to hitting the $1 billion market cap.

According to a Piper Jaffray report which surveyed 100 CIOs, the amount of spending on cloud applications is expected to reach 13.5% over the next 5 years, which AMR considers conservative. The top 5 companies among respondents are Microsoft, Oracle, VMware, Google and Salesforce.

Of course, it goes without saying that I’m biased, but all you have to do is look at enterprise behemoth SAP which ranked 16th on the list. It’s falling behind, and whether you’re an investor or a business looking for innovation, that's not where you want to be.

Do you know how to win? Think about it…is your response to this question specific and coherent or broad and vague? Chances are it’s the latter for one simple fact: many of us confuse where to play with how to win. ARC Advisory Group recently wrote about this in a post titled “Are 3PL CEOS bad at strategy?” While that sounds a bit tongue and cheek, it also seems to reinforce why the supply chain seems to be in a state of catch up all the time, and I’m not just talking about 3PLs. The fact that supply chain visibility still seems more of a luxury rather than a mandatory requirement proves this point.

As the post pointed out, CEOs tend to be pretty good about spouting off about sectors they want to play in (SMB, abroad, specific verticals), but not so good when it comes to what to do to get there and dominate. The bigger issue comes down to how strategic you are, and whether you have the right people, tools, and most importantly culture to get there. Why is culture...