The SupplyChainBrain Podcast

The Paris Climate Agreement resulted in a commitment by 195 countries to enact strict policies to address global climate change. Now manufacturers will have to fall into line. Whether they're prepared to do so is another question entirely. A recent study by West Monroe Partners found that 49 percent of North American supply-chain executives don't view sustainability as a strategic priority. And 64 percent have no plans to adopt sustainability initiatives in the coming years. Like it or not, though, they're going to have to take steps to slash their emissions, and fall into line with the goals of the COP21 meeting in Paris. But what exactly will that take? On this episode, we get some guidance from David South, senior principal with West Monroe Partners. He discusses the results of the firm's study, and lays out the challenges facing small and medium-sized manufacturers in their efforts to go green. Is sustainability a financial burden? Or can it bolster the bottom line?Support the show

After years of delay, the automation of importer filings, involving multiple government agencies, is upon us. Say hello to the ''Single Window.'' Despite some last-minute pushback of deadlines, U.S. Customs Border Protection's Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) is about to become a reality. Importers and customs brokers stand to benefit from the streamlined handling of documents. But the real news can be found in another name for ACE: The Single Window. It means that one filing will be sufficient to reach 48 U.S. government agencies – nine of which have the power to hold up an import shipment if it lacks the necessary documentation. The road to ACE has long been studded with potholes. Now, though, the importing community will have to come up to speed. On this episode, we're joined by Christopher Logan, president of Livingston International U.S.A., who explains what traders must do to comply with the initiative, when various agencies will fall in line, and what benefits will result. Will we finally realize the dream of a paperless regulatory environment, with a drastic reduction in bureaucracy?Support the show

Law enforcement is hot on the trail of cargo thieves. But the thieves are hot on the trail of your shipments. It's a constant game of cat and mouse. The cops and insurance companies are forever coming up with new ways to stop theft. And the thieves are adjusting their methods accordingly. One of the best and most recent techniques for nabbing crooks is the ''sting trailer,'' which is equipped with sophisticated monitoring equipment and designed to send out an alert the moment it's violated. The trailer has had a notable degree of success in capturing thieves, but the issue of theft and pilferage remains a serious one. According to the FBI, it's costing industry between $15bn and $20bn a year in losses. On this episode, we get a sense of the scale of the problem from Scott Cornell, theft investigator with Travelers Cos. He answers some key questions: How much is being lost? Who are the thieves? Which types of products are most susceptible? Which parts of the country pose the highest risk? And how can shippers and carriers act to reduce the possibility that they'll be hit?Support the show

Winning $1m on Jeopardy! wasn't good enough for IBM's Watson. Now it wants to predict your buying behavior. Having racked up a victory in the game-show arena, Watson is moving on. It has already been applied to clinical decision support for healthcare, with a focus on treating lung cancer. Now, it's venturing into the world of retail. Introduced in November of 2015, the Watson Trend App is turning its computing power to the identification of buying trends in three key areas of retail: consumer electronics, toys, and health and fitness. With its ability to understand natural language, the app monitors the sentiments of tens of millions of online conversations, drawing on some 10,000 sources across popular social media sites. And it goes beyond merely identifying sales trends to reveal why and how consumers are buying. (It has already predicted the initial success of the Apple Watch, Star Wars-themed Lego sets and a high-tech version of Barbie.) On this episode, we speak with Watson Trend App product strategist Justin Norwood, who explains how it works today, and how it might be deployed in future to create personal interactions between consumers and their favorite brands. We also learn how the app could help retailers and consumer-goods manufacturers to devise more accurate demand forecasts.Support the show

There's a good chance that your corporate training program isn't up to snuff. Companies might think they have adequate training initiatives for new and continuing employees covering multiple functions. Too often, though, their efforts are falling short. The failure to properly train one's workforce can result in billions of dollars of lost profits from insurance claims, worker's compensation, medical visits, time off work and lawsuits both inside and outside the organization. On this episode, Carol Leaman, chief executive officer of Axonify, talks about what constitutes an effective training program. She answers a number of key questions: What should you be teaching your employees? What are the most effective tools with which accomplish that? How can you make them want to learn? How can you ensure that they're retaining the information? And what steps should you be taking to ensure that good training remains a permanent part of your organization?Support the show

Want to make sure that your imports or exports are traveling on a ''clean'' ship? There's a way to do that. Shipping Efficiency.org is an initiative that was launched in 2010 to create a rating database for vessel carbon dioxide emissions. Environmentally conscious shippers can consult the site for reports on more 76,000 commercial vessels in service today, and book their cargo accordingly. But the effort goes well beyond mere reporting. It's an offshoot of the Carbon War Room, created in 2009 by Virgin Group chief executive officer Richard Branson in partnership with RightShip. The objective is to identify private-sector solutions to climate change. Shipping Efficiency.org tackles the ocean shipping sector, which is responsible for more than a billion tons of CO2 emissions each year. In this conversation with Victoria Stulgis, senior associate with Shipping Efficiency.org, we learn of the many actions, both large and small, that vessel owners and operators can take to slash their carbon emissions – all the while making their ships more efficient. A retrofit, she says, can help slash an operator's fuel bills by 15 percent. In all, the industry stands to save some $70bn on fuel by the year 2030.Support the show

They call it ''free'' trade, but the price of failing to properly manage one's imports and exports can be dangerously high. That's especially the case with the looming prospect of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the sweeping free-trade agreement negotiated among the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim countries. TPP has been submitted for ratification by the U.S. Congress, but U.S. importers and exporters should be preparing to cope with the pact's complexities now. On this episode, we get advice from Gary Baracco, director of global product marketing with Amber Road. He discusses how TPP will place new demands on traders for adhering to rules of origin. Companies looking to take advantage of the agreement will need to engage in sophisticated ''tariff engineering,'' he says. Good supplier-relationship management will be more important than ever. It's especially crucial that manufacturers gain visibility into multiple tiers of suppliers, who might otherwise be responsible for serious breaches in their codes of conduct. Finally, Baracco talks about the challenges of sourcing in new markets such as Africa, and the many factors that go into the decision to alter one's sourcing strategy.Support the show

Starting up a business requires brains, heart and money – but in the case of the last, not as soon as you might think. There's no lack of ''how-to'' books on how to become a successful entrepreneur. Yet most ventures are doomed to fail, whether because the timing wasn't right, the funding wasn't in place or the partners lacked the patience to see it through. On this episode, we hear from Silicon Valley entrepreneur John Chisholm, who has shepherded two online software companies to success, and invested in dozens of other privately held companies. Now chief executive officer of San Francisco-based John Chisholm Ventures, he is the author of a new book called Unleash Your Inner Company: Use Passion and Perseverance to Build Your Ideal Business. He talks about some of the misconceptions that surround most start-ups, including the impulse to seek funding too early. And he offers a number of tips on how to guide your start-up through the many obstacles that you're bound to encounter on the journey.Support the show

Are supply-chain managers finally getting the respect they deserve? A new four-year study by Professor Douglas Boateng of the University of South Africa suggests they are. Surveying a wide range of private- and public-sector organizations, with combined revenues of around $1tr, he found a growing move to bring supply-chain experts into the executive suite. While the position of Chief Supply Chain Officer (CSCO) isn't especially new, its presence hasn't been widespread. Now, that might be changing. A substantial portion of respondents to Professor Boateng's study say they consider supply-chain management as ''crucial for long-term wealth creation.'' Their newfound sense of awareness dovetails with the need for supply-chain managers to do more than cut costs. It also signals a trend toward combining two previously separate disciplines: procurement and logistics. But are there enough individuals out there who can do both jobs? Are they being compensated fairly? And what about that 30 percent of executives who don't consider supply chain to be an essential element of long-term profitability?Support the show

Online shoppers are ready for a new wave of innovation in the e-commerce experience – and retailers had better be ready, too. The P.R. and social marketing agency Walker Sands Communications recently conducted its second annual study on the future of retail. The effort zeroed in on the technology aspects of online shopping. Key findings focused on three major developments: the use of delivery drones, the shift to mobile payment, and the deployment of virtual reality to create an in-store experience for home-based buyers. Interestingly, a large percentage of respondents declared themselves ready for some of these trends, especially drones. Two-thirds said they expect to receive their first drone-delivered package within the next five years. But are these cutting-edge technologies really practical? How will they transform the face of e-commerce? We get answers from Dave Parro, senior account director and retail technology practice lead with Walker Sands. He also talks about which e-commerce giant will likely prevail in the technology race. And he outlines some of the obstacles that might delay full deployment of these innovations.Support the show