Empowered supply chain employees at Adidas
Adidas made the news this week after the release of its sustainability report from 2012. The topic of sustainable supply chains has dominated the press in recent weeks and Adidas has now joined the discussion. According to their sustainability report, one achievement was the launch of a DryDye product line which requires no water during the dying process. Additionally, Adidas increased its use of sustainably produced cotton to 5% with the intention of using 100% by 2018. Most notably however was the disclosure of a pilot project which gave factory workers at one of its footwear suppliers in Indonesia a voice. These workers were provided with mobile phones which enabled them to quickly and directly share any work-related problems they might be experiencing. Adidas plans to roll this project out to four additional factories. This seems to be a big step towards improving working conditions across the supply chain.
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Will new policies clear foggy perceptions of cloud technology?
For the past couple of years, Cloud Technology has been stirring up a storm in the business world. However, despite much interest in the technology, it seems many are still overcast with doubt as prevailing security concerns hinder uptake of this innovative solution. While anxieties over the cloud have dampened adoption rates, new government policies announced this week suggest a brighter outlook for the technology.
According to reports this week, the UK government has announced a new “cloud-first” policy whereby public organizations will now have to fully consider cloud based options before evaluating any alternative solution. Such policies were first introduced to the US in 2010 and since then $5.5 billion has been shaved from the national IT expenditure. In light of these new IT procurement procedures, perhaps perceptions of cloud technology will enjoy a wind of change as government bodies prove the tangible benefits of the cloud.
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Is now the time for real-time?
For many businesses, operations are kept under constant evaluation in order to establish new ways to drive efficiencies and cost reduction across the supply chain. While some businesses have achieved huge success through adopting initiatives such as multi-echelon optimization or sales and operation planning tools, an interesting article featured in EBN this week questions whether we are ready for the next big supply chain innovation.
According to the article, real-time supply chain management is becoming an increasingly mainstream practice as more advanced tools and technologies become available to businesses. However, at present many organizations lack the necessary analytic foundation required for achieving effective real-time management. Given that developing analytical systems is an expensive and time consuming process, businesses will have to invest a lot of resources before real-time supply management can offer tangible strategic advantages.
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Have a great weekend!
