Feed: The Supply Chain Notebook - AggScore: 41.6

High temperatures in Russia complicate supply chains of food around the globe

Is it global warming or just a bad year? Record temperatures in Russia this summer triggered Russian government’s response of stopping the export of wheat. As Mr. Putin put it in Russian – reserves don’t hurt ones pocket. As we live in the all connected world this decision caused significant waves in food supplies and futures trading. The decision immediately triggered a sharp rise in the value of futures for delivery of wheat in the world. At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the December futures on wheat rose by dollarsignr 0.6 - to dollarsignr 8.155 a bushel. The global prices on wheat rose 7.3%.

How to Conduct a Supplier Visit

Robert Menard, Certified Purchasing Professional, Certified Professional Purchasing Consultant

The 20th century philosopher, Yogi Berra observed, “You can sometimes see a lot just by looking.”  Whether your task is an annual plant visit, a due diligence audit, or evaluation of a low cost country supplier, knowing the purpose, what to look for, and what to ask will produce better outcomes. 

Logistics is key for international business success

When it comes to expanding your business internationally, logistics can make or break the entire operation. You can find a great supplier, negotiate great prices, goods quality and terms of payment . But if you can’t get the goods you need shipped to the customer as expected all your efforts can end up with nothing. 

How to Rate Supplier Performance

Robert Menard, Certified Purchasing Professional, Certified Professional Purchasing Consultant

Avoid supplier fraud in China

So much has been written about China – some of it making the entire country sound so incredibly exciting and exotic and some of it making the area sound a little bit scary.  However, one thing can be said for sure – its culture is certainly very different from that of the one western buyers are familiar with.

The differences are not only cultural, they are also very present in any business dealings.  We have all read stories about the work ethic that seems to be embraced throughout most of the country and, it is certainly very different from the one that exists in most of North America.

Supplier selection process part 2 - how to select global supplier for your business

We continue our discussion about supplier selection process. This time we are going to review the criteria by which you should evaluate suppliers to select the right one. There are many potential criteria, we will focus on major ones:

Reliability, Financial Stability, Quality and Continuous Improvement, Competitive Pricing, On-time delivery, Customer Service and Communication,  Informative and functional Website, Approach to Partnership, Environmental Record, Corporate Social Responsibility. 

If you are a small business and do not have a formal methodology to select suppliers you need at least to be familiar with these criteria.

Getting the Assistance You Deserve to Grow Your Business

Most business owners, who truly know  the ins and outs of running a successful enterprise, are constantly working on developing plans – aimed at growing their business and, of course, by extension, their revenues and profit margins. Thanks to today’s fast paced world, it is impossible for any business to stand still – if they do, they die and, of course, looking towards the international markets is definitely the next step in global ownership.

Supplier selection process part 1 - - how to select global supplier for your business

If you are in the business of selecting suppliers, especially from developing countries, UK Customs Office did a lot of work to try and help you. Business Link is an impressive set of guides from export and import basics to specific supplier selection process. Many of the topics are UK specific and deal with UK taxes. But most are general purpose explanations on the topics of starting a business, finance and international trade.

 

As a part of the international trade discussions they provide guides that can be very helpful if you are new to importing goods from overseas. This blog post will focus on a part of supplier selection process. By no means is this a comprehensive guide but it provides a great foundation for someone who is new and has no much experience.

China Expo

If you are considering broadening your business base to include China, you may want to attend the 2010 Shanghai Exposition, which opened May 1, 2010 and runs through to October 31, 2010. This conference is expected to attract over 70 million attendees, most of whom will consist of business leaders, as well as professionals from around the globe. This historical event will be the first registered World Exposition in a developing country, offering unprecedented access to an overall view of China’s future development and how its people will remain an integral part of a booming market and economy

Sourcing 101 part 3 - good companies gone bad?

Suppliers are one eager crowd to get noticed and get new buyers, right? In this world where new factories, trading companies and warehouses pop up every day, India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, Brazil – all present both great trading opportunities and sources of supplier fraud.  In this article we’ll talk about some basic due diligence you can do avoid getting scammed and list some tools you can use to do it.