Transformation of Asian garment factories
Gap Inc. recently announced a collaboration with a $1 billion investment fund called Tau, which aims to transform the Asian garment factories and make them more transparent. The fund is planning to acquire minority stakes in the most competitive factories and then improve labor conditions, install new technology and in this way upgrade environmental standards. It will also help the factories become more efficient, productive and transparent. Tau’s pitch to factory owners is that the investments could help transform a decent factory into a best-in-class one. Purchasing from a Tau vendor would help the biggest brands to avoid supply chain disasters, and would make their supply chain processes highly transparent.
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The most corrupt countries in the world
The Corruption Perception Index 2014 was recently published by Transparency International. The index ranks countries according to the perception of how corrupt their public sector is. The level of corruption is indicated by a score which ranges from 0 (very corrupt) and 100 (very clean). This year, 175 countries and territories were included in the index. More than two-thirds of listed countries scored below 50, which shows that corruption level is relatively high in the world. The bottom 10 countries from the list were: Somalia, North Korea, Sudan, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Libya, and Eritrea. The chairman of Transparency International, Jose Ugaz, said: ‘Countries at the top of the index should make sure they don’t export corrupt practices to underdeveloped countries.’ Corruption can make global supply chain processes problematic and increase lead times. Therefore, companies should plan their exports and imports according to the level of corruption they might face in each country.
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The Logistics of Black Friday and Cyber Monday
LCP Consulting recently published a study which states that approximately 600,000 Christmas presents, which were ordered during Cyber Monday, will have to be redelivered. In addition, about 30 million presents will be returned over Christmas. Most of them will be returned on Boomerang Thursday (the first Thursday after Christmas). Returning around €0,6 billion to customers will also pose a challenge to retailers during the busiest season of the year. In order to avoid losing future customers and reducing the number of possible complains, the delivery and return systems should be efficient and effective. According to the report, next day deliveries will become more popular compared to 2013. In this way, retailers are trying to push their last order dates further from Christmas.
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Have a nice weekend!