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Managing 'global
production' ― Selected news articles |
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2008-10-21 |
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From low-cost country
sourcing to 'profitable proximity sourcing' |
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Too many companies
wind up sourcing products from low-cost
countries based on direct per unit costs and not
total supply chain costs, says a leading
researcher. 'While low-cost manufacturing is
seductive initially, a total-supply-chain-cost
perspective is far more sensible'. |
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SupplyChainDigest |
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2008-10-03 |
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Hidden links in Asian
supply chains |
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Supply chain
visibility is a critical issue in the
development of trade between the Far East and
Europe, but industrial fragmentation can hide
the true source of a product. |
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SupplyChainStandard.com |
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2008-09-29 |
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India: Investing in
America |
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From makers of
steel to specialty packaging, world-class Indian
companies with sophisticated management are
acquiring or merging with U.S. companies. Some
Indian companies will surely falter as they
venture into American waters. But generally,
investors, managers, and employees alike should
welcome the widening of the M&A gene pool to
include sources from India. |
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BusinessWeek |
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2008-09-26 |
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Chinese companies face
uphill path for profit in India |
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India shines like
a lure for Chinese companies seeking to expand
abroad, and on first glance the Indian market
looks like a natural fit. But Chinese companies
have found that profits in India are hard to
find. Tax barriers are everywhere, eroding cost
advantages. Corruption is rampant, adding
another layer of difficulty. And Chinese goods
have a low-quality image that is very hard to
shake. |
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YaleGlobal
Online / The International Herald Tribune |
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2008-09-11 |
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Is Mexico the new China? |
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With skyrocketing
oil prices, escalating labor costs in China, and
an appreciating currency there, companies
targeting the US market are doing the math and
giving Mexico another look. So-called "nearshoring"
could generate a reverse globalization that
brings manufacturing back to Mexico. The driving
factor of nearshoring is high oil prices, which
is raising the price of shipping. "In a world of
triple-digit oil prices, distance costs money,"
states a recent report by CIBC World Markets.
"And while trade liberalization and technology
may have flattened the world, rising transport
prices will once again make it rounder." |
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The Christian
Science Monitor |
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2008-09-10 |
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Recent rises in
the price of gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene or
other petroleum-based products are cause for
concern, especially for companies based in North
America that have outsourced to China and other
offshore locations with the sole purpose of
taking advantage of cheaper labor. Now,
ballooning transportation costs pushed upward by
oil prices are threatening to erase whatever
savings those offshoring companies have enjoyed
until now. |
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Logistics
Management |
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2008-09-09 |
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India's hi-tech lag |
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The last two
decades have seen the gradual erosion of US and
EU dominance in hi-tech manufacturing. The
principal challenger has been and remains China.
India, unfortunately, has lagged far behind,
though capabilities generated during the import
substitution years have given it some recent
gains in global markets. |
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The Hindu
Business Line |
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2008-09-04 |
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Is China’s pool of surplus
labour drying up? |
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Since China has by
far the world’s biggest labour force
― almost
twice that of America, the European Union and
Japan combined
― Chinese wages are one of the
most important prices in the world. Thus recent
claims that it is running short of cheap labour
would, if true, have huge consequences not just
for China, but also for the rest of the world.
Stephen Green, an economist at Standard
Chartered, thinks that talk of China’s vanishing
labour surplus is premature. In a report this
year he argued that the surplus would not run
out for another decade. |
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Economist.com |
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2008-09-03 |
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Procurement leaders focus
on strategic alignment |
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Leaders in
procurement across the globe are increasingly
focusing on strategic alignment, reporting
directly to the CEO and going beyond strategic
sourcing basics, according to a new study. The
survey of 295 companies across the world by A.T.
Kearney found that a range of external market
changes – from inflation through to
sustainability challenges – have created a more
difficult operating environment. Increasingly,
strategic and sophisticated procurement
practices are required to deliver a genuine
return on investment. |
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Supply Chain Review |
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2008-08-26 |
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ASEAN free-trade zone
turns Vietnam into major factory base for Taiwan |
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Hoping to tap the
mutually-beneficial advantages available from
the eventual formation of ASEAN (the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations) into a free-trade
zone, Taiwan-based manufacturers are flocking to
set up plants in Vietnam, which has been often
reported as quickly developing into their
second-largest overseas production base,
trailing China. |
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CENS.com |
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2008-08-10 |
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The news that
China is about to take over the top slot in
global manufacturing from the US may cause only
a ripple of surprise among Americans: many of
them erroneously assume that the country lost
the dominant position long ago. According to
projections by Global Insight, a US-based
consultancy, the US this year will cling on to
its long-time number one position in world
manufacturing production, a place it has
occupied for more than 100 years. |
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FT.com |
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2008-08-01 |
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China’s ambition soars to
high-tech industry |
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No longer content
to be the home of low-skilled, low-cost,
low-margin manufacturing for toys, pens, clothes
and other goods, Chinese companies are trying to
move up the value chain, hoping eventually to
challenge the world’s biggest corporations for
business, customers, power and recognition. The
government is backing the drive with a
two-pronged approach: using incentives to
encourage companies to innovate, but also moving
to discourage low-end manufacturers from
operating in southern China. |
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The New York
Times |
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2008-08-01 |
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Eastern promises |
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China has long
been the flagship nation for US manufacturers
looking for low-cost sourcing opportunities. But
the Chinese government's recent efforts to
control and even curb the accelerated rate of
industrial growth has caused many companies to
start looking to Central and Eastern Europe for
competitive advantage ― from the Baltic states
and post-Soviet Russia, Ukraine and Belarus to
Turkey, Romania, Poland and the former
Yugoslavia. |
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IndustryWeek |
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2008-07-17 |
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Mexico's foreign-owned
factories make comeback |
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Mexico's
maquiladoras, foreign-owned factories, have
rebounded in recent years as engines of economic
growth in the face of overseas competition,
especially from China. Part of the reason for
the recovery has been their shift toward
high-valued-added industries ― such as aerospace,
custom-order electronics and pharmaceuticals ―
better positioned to compete in the global and
US markets. |
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Commercial Property News |
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2008-07-13 |
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Where does your company
have savings leakage in global sourcing? |
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Companies report
that the cost savings realized from offshoring
and global sourcing initiatives do not meet
initial expectations, disappointing company
executives and ultimately shareholders. As shown
in this article, there are many potential
sources of savings leakage that reduce and, in
some cases, eliminate the expected total cost
reductions from global sourcing initiatives. |
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SupplyChainDigest |
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2008-06-28 |
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China, Russia and India
boost their global company profiles |
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China, Russia and
India ― helped by their surging economies ― have
the fastest growing presence in the FT500 list of
the world's most important companies. They have
breached the top 10 and muster 50 companies
between them in the top 500, against having
hardly any presence a decade ago. |
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FT.com |
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2008-06-26 |
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Who's afraid of a feverish
economy? |
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Foreign investment
keeps coming as the Vietnamese government moves
to restrain exuberance. Foreigners are looking
at long-term fundamentals, which few would deny
seem attractive. While the government has
revised its projections downward, it's
predicting gross domestic product growth of 7%
this year, compared with 8.5% in 2007. |
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BusinessWeek |
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2008-06-23 |
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South Africa needs to be a
team player in global manufacturing |
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South African
manufacturers need to see themselves as being
part of global product production community that
combines the best resources from around the
world to take a product to market, rather than
trying to keep all the processes on shore. |
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Pressportal.co.za |
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2008-06-16 |
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MNCs face threat from
emerging market players |
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The traditional model
of western business is under challenge from the
process of globalisation in emerging economies,
according to Cambridge University's Institute of Manufacturing. BRIC economies will together be
more than half the size of G6 economies by 2025
and will overtake them by 2040. In all
probability, the MNC giants of tomorrow will
emerge from these economies. |
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The Economic
Times |
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2008-06-12 |
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Best practices in low-cost
country sourcing: 10 tips to better China
sourcing |
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Everyone in the
supply chain seems to have a 'China story' these
days. Either they found dramatic savings and
saved their company a boatload of cash, or they
got burned by a fly-by-night supplier and vow
never to source overseas again. But, as in most
things, when it comes to sourcing in China,
success is as much dependent on the preparation
as the execution. |
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Purchasing.com |
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2008-06-09 |
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Global supply chains:
getting to accurate 'total landed costs' |
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Despite the growth
in global sourcing, 'total landed cost'
calculation still lacking in scope, technology
support, in many companies. |
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SupplyChainDigest |
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2008-06-05 |
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Producers lose taste for
going overseas |
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A small but
growing number of European companies that have
moved production abroad are moving it back
closer to home after being disappointed with the
results and rising costs. |
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FT.com |
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2008-05-28 |
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China’s new formula:
manufacturers begin to move beyond low cost |
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A joint venture
between BASF and Sinopec, a Chinese energy group,
is set to receive USD 900m in investment.
According to the head of BASF's Asia activities,
the venture will combine China's famed low costs
with the development of new design and
production skills. |
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FT.com |
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2008-05-20 |
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Manufacturers feel the
heat over emerging-market sourcing |
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Heightened publicity
over product recalls has made product safety, as
well as product quality and environmental
standards, in emerging markets a hot-button
issue, according to a new "Innovation in
Emerging Markets" annual study by the Deloitte
Touche Tohmatsu. |
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IndustryWeek |
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2008-05-17 |
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India has potential to
become global manufacturing hub |
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India is far behind
the Asian tigers—China, Japan and Taiwan—in
manufacturing excellence. But India has the
potential to become the most lucrative
manufacturing hub for global majors. |
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The Economic
Times |
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2008-05-01 |
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Exploiting the global
supply chain |
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With the move
offshore, the complexity of managing the supply
chain increases exponentially. According to
experts, it requires a well-defined and proven
strategy. Companies must be willing to examine
and rethink every aspect of their existing
business model. That means looking inward before
expanding outward and revising P&Ls to focus on
total landed cost. |
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World Trade
Magazine |
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2008-05-01 |
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Bold changes ahead:
Electronics manufacturing rethinks the supply
chain |
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Since the advent
of contract printed circuit board assembly
almost three decades ago, the one certainty in
outsourced electronics manufacturing has been
uncertainty. Regional shifts, service offerings,
and the ups and downs of the business all
require quick reflexes. Companies thrive if they
are able to embrace the uncertainty of constant
change. |
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ManufacturingBusinessTechnology |
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2008-04-29 |
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Four trends in China
sourcing |
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China's role in
the global supply chain is changing faster than
ever. Companies that procure goods from China
must keep up with the country's evolving
challenges to take full advantage of the
opportunities. |
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ThomasNet |
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2008-04-22 |
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Institute for
Manufacturing warns against quick fixes |
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Many firms are
failing to establish effective global production
networks and rely too heavily on short-term
outsourcing and offshoring to countries such as
India and China, IfM has warned. |
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BusinessWeekly.co.uk |
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2008-04-07 |
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The future of the supply
chain |
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With today's
globalization explosion, it is clear that
companies cannot survive without recognizing and
integrating a multitude of supply chains. |
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IndustryWeek |
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2008-04-01 |
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India can be a hub for
high-end, cost-efficient engineering |
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Education level,
availability of qualified
engineers, flexibility,
cost efficiency of labour, and the interest of
Indian engineers to learn and to look for
improving existing designs ―
factors that weighed in favour of India when
Mann+Hummel wanted to set up a design and
engineering centre. |
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The Hindu
Business Line |
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2008-03-27 |
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China's factory blues |
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The days of
ultra-cheap labor and little regulation are gone.
As manufacturers' costs climb, export prices
will follow |
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BusinessWeek |
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2008-03-20 |
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Poland: Red tape forces
companies across the border |
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A new trend is
emerging among Polish companies no longer
willing to put up with the rising cost of hiring
skilled labour and dealing with the country's
complex bureaucracy. They have begun recruiting
and opening bases in Germany, a country better
known for its well-paid skilled workers. |
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FT.com |
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2008-03-19 |
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Russia to set investment
rules |
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Russia will
regulate investment in so-called strategic
sectors, meaning that foreigners will henceforth
have to seek government approval if they plan to
make significant investments. The law represents
the culmination of a trend in recent years
toward greater economic restrictions in Russia. |
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BusinessWeek |
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2008-03-10 |
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Companies look to China as
growth market and manufacturing hub |
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The advantage of
China solely as a low-cost,
manufacturing-for-export market is diminishing.
Companies that integrate China into their global
supply chains as a source of competitive
advantage are far more successful than companies
that pursue narrower objectives in China,
according to a study jointly conducted by
management consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton
and the American Chamber of Commerce in
Shanghai. |
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American
Machinist |
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2008-02-15 |
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Finding your place in the
global value chain |
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The arrival of an
interconnected global marketplace on Internet
time means value chains are rapidly replacing
supply chains. This switch requires business
owners to think well beyond traditional
supply-chain arrangements in terms of greater
levels of collaboration with both suppliers and
customers. It also requires employees with
skills far superior to their predecessors and a
world outlook framed by these new realities. |
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CRMBuyer |
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2008-02-02 |
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Mexico near-sourcing grows
more attractive |
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Proximity is
invariably the first benefit mentioned when
discussing near-sourcing in Mexico. But it’s far
from being the only one as Mexico morphs into a
business friendly country. |
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World Trade
Magazine |
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2008-01-17 |
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Strategic sourcing: Dow
Chemical turns inward |
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The chemicals
giant expands its internal outreach as it moves
from the tactical to the strategic in
procurement activities. Since the mid-1990s,
purchasing has taken on a more global focus,
providing its services to each of the company's
businesses located at facilities in 175
countries. |
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Purchasing.com |
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2008-01-10 |
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