China, India, Mexico and Brazil are home to some of the fastest-growing global companies that could soon topple old industry leaders. According to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), 'Industry leaders need to understand these new rivals and act quickly'.

CNNMoney.com [© Cable News Network]

2007-11-27

Lenovo extends its global footprint with new plant in Poland

Lenovo will open a new manufacturing plant and fulfillment operations center in Legnica Special Economic Zone, Poland. The facility will support customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, including product assembly and configuration, distribution services and logistics along with additional value-added services, such as custom imaging, asset tagging and labeling.

BusinessWire [© Business Wire]

2007-11-26

Going global: Indian firms create jobs in US

Indian firms are not just taking up outsourcing any more, but have in fact invested a whopping $6 billion in the United States and created 40,000 jobs with quite a few of them going to the Americans.

The Economic Times [© Times Internet Limited]

2007-11-22

Inter-Korean industrial clusters promise maximum economic benefits

The Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET) has proposed two clusters running along the east and west coasts of the Korean Peninsula that can merge the technology and capital resources of South Korea with the competitive labor force in the North.

YONHAP NEWS AGENCY [© YONHAP NEWS AGENCY]

2007-11-19

Corporate Strategic Sourcing: "Looking from outside the fishbowl"

The strategic sourcing value chain diversifies the growth portfolio of companies. Leadership thought is focused on the strategic procurement in a holistic way. Strategic sourcing is about making smart dollars, growing innovative solutions and reaching maturity in cost reduction.

ABN Newswire [© ABN News Wire]

2007-11-08

India: Xenitis takes on mobike majors

Speak of low-cost products and the Kolkata-based Rs 620 crore Xenitis group is the first enterprise that comes to mind. It was the first company to launch sub-10,000 PCs five years ago forcing major PC makers to offer ultra-low cost entry-level models. Then it launched India’s first laptop to be priced under Rs 20,000. And now, it has launched a 100cc motorcycle for under Rs 20,000.

Business Standard [© Business Standard Ltd]

2007-11-01

Manufacturing in China: Taming the dragon

The first thing you need to know about Chinese manufacturers is the first thing they want you to know -- they take product quality very seriously. Any hint or suggestion that the "Made in China" label is synonymous with inferior products is met with a prompt, and sometimes extreme, response.

IndustryWeek [© Penton Media, Inc.]

2007-10-31

The next wave of globalization: Offshoring R&D to India and China

The globalization of research and development is already under way. Two Harvard researchers explain what is going on, and why the research and development done in China and India is not all bad news for US-based companies.

CIO [© CXO Media Inc.]

2007-10-22

China cuts Asia imports as Korea, Singapore lose jobs

Cina is reducing its reliance on imports from the rest of Asia as it makes more of the higher-value-added intermediate and capital goods it previously bought from abroad. That is threatening growth in countries whose export sales are already in danger of erosion from the U.S. slowdown.

Bloomberg.com [© Bloomberg L.P.]

2007-10-19

Global Sourcing: Is It Really Worth It?

For a variety of reasons, executives at many companies are reconsidering whether or not they should be buying products from international sources. Companies are facing higher than expected costs of materials and labor, a declining U.S. dollar and rising fuel prices, while some are experiencing the persistent quality issues that we continue to read about in today's headlines.

Supply & Demand Chain [© Cygnus Interactive]

2007-10-15

Outsourcing in China today

Every week seems to bring news of another recall or safety issue involving a product manufactured in China. But despite the highly publicized problems, U.S. companies will continue moving their production to China.

BusinessWeek.com [© The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.]

2007-10-04

Firing up India's factories

For big manufacturers, the subcontinent is becoming an alternative to China. In the past two years manufacturing has emerged as India's new rising star. Industrial production jumped by 12.5% in the year ended in March, the highest rate in years.

BusinessWeek.com [© The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.]

2007-10-01

Supply Chain Globalization: The era of 'revitalized command' is upon us

We are currently moving into the third era of global supply chain transformation — that of revitalized command. As globalization goes forward, the multinational enterprise is becoming more risk-averse and is showing an emerging bias toward more direct control over assets in its network.

World Trade Magazine [© BNP Media]

2007-09-28

Offshore doubters return work to Germany

Many thousands of German companies joined the march to Eastern Europe and China during the past 15 years, hoping to reduce production costs there. But recently many have been returning, disillusioned. Smaller companies in particular are finding they overestimated the apparent advantages of low labor costs or more advantageous tax laws.

BusinessWeek.com [© The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.]

2007-09-13

Asian tigers rise to post-industrial stage as China corners manufacturing

Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan are maturing toward post-industrial status as manufacturing investments in Asia move to China. The combined share of the quartet of "newly industrialised economies" (NIEs) along with China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand in global manufacturing output has more than doubled between the 1980s and 2004.

2007-09-10

The promise, perils of the Asia-Pacific supply chain

For mid-market companies, the Asian market offers many challenges ... and a few opportunities.

Supply & Demand Chain [© Cygnus Interactive]

2007-09-10

Lenovo does global supply chain the right way

When it comes to finding a truly global company with a truly global supply chain, it’s hard to out-globalize Lenovo. The PC maker blends the best of all worlds to create a best practice example of a global supply chain organization.

Purchasing.com [© Reed Business Information]

2007-09-10

Is 'Made in China' pricing itself out of the market?

While there are no central records of labour and broader manufacturing costs in China, anecdotal evidence and a series of recent manufacturing decisions by multinationals have begun to suggest that the changing winds may be blowing a little stronger.

Telegraph.co.uk [© Telegraph Media Group Ltd]

2007-09-08

Investor seeks the 'Next China' in Vietnam

Many see Vietnam as a microcosm of China, with a manufacturing-based economy that is roaring ahead with annual growth of more than 8%. Foreign direct investment is surging, with analysts predicting a possible jump this year of about 75% from 2006.

WSJ.com [© Dow Jones & Company, Inc]

2007-09-06

China rushes upmarket

In the face of scandals, Beijing is introducing a series of measures designed to favor higher value-added industries such as sophisticated electronics and heavy machinery, possibly at the expense of low-cost manufacturing and assembly.

BusinessWeek.com [© The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.]

2007-08-28

China develops research sector

In recent years, there is a sea change in the attitude of many multinationals to China, who now view the country and its huge emerging market as a future hub for science and technology.

FT.com [© The Financial Times Limited]

2007-08-16

Electrolux designs a logistics network to support global sourcing

In the era of global supply chains, it is imperative the logistics and procurement organizations work more closely to support each other. Sourcing products in a low-cost region is useless if the logistics cost or process to get the products out of that region offset the product cost savings. Global sourcing requires a detailed analysis of a company's logistics network — and that's exactly what consumer appliance-maker Electrolux has done.

Purchasing.com [© Reed Business Information]

2007-08-01

Global hot spots

With the rush to globalization, manufacturers are looking to the four corners of the world to set up shop. When it comes to capitalizing on the best opportunities for globally expanding a supply chain, timing is everything.

IndustryWeek [© Penton Media, Inc.]

2007-08-01

What you can't afford not to know about your suppliers

Global supplier insight can help companies maintain sustainable savings and reduce business risk. As companies' supply chains continue to extend and as the pace of change accelerates across categories, countries and industries, we're starting to see that external global supplier insight is becoming a competitive advantage that companies need to thrive.

Supply & Demand Chain [© Cygnus Interactive]

2007-07-03

Wake up India! Time's running out

When multinational companies set up manufacturing bases in India, they usually know that things will be different here: how different, they find out the hard way. Of course, they aren't alone in their suffering: Indian companies too have to run the gauntlet of a creaking infrastructure, a lax bureaucracy and harsh trade unions. Industry's litany of woes only grows louder every year.

rediff NEWS [© Rediff.com India Limited]

2007-06-27

Taiwan seeks new 'edge' in IT innovation

Fifty years ago Taiwan was poor and underdeveloped. Yet by the turn of the 21st century the small island economy had established itself as an important global high-tech factory, becoming the preferred OEM (original equipment manufacturing) and ODM (original design manufacturing) supplier to many of the world’s IT industry leaders.

openPR [© openPR®]

2007-06-21

Gear up for globalisation

Only a third of buyers have a clear strategy for purchasing from aborad. So why aren't buyers taking international action?

SupplyManagement.com [© Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply]

2007-06-04

Global supply chain decisions are made at the local level

A majority of supply chain executives (60%) report that decisions are made on a regional or local basis. "These results suggest that some multinational companies operate a series of what might best be described as multi-domestic rather than global supply chains," said Yone Dewberry, managing director at Centrx.

IndustryWeek [© Penton Media, Inc.]

2007-06-04

Can India be a global manufacturing hub?

Despite having an old and large industrial base, India is lagging far behind China in manufacturing. India can emerge as a Factory of the World if the severe infrastructural shortcomings are removed.

2007-05-23

US to lose role as top manufacturer

China will gradually take over the role of the US as the world’s largest manufacturer but will do this only by 2020, with the US’s position in the global league table of manufacturers remaining surprisingly strong, according to an authoritative economic study.

2007-05-07

Indian companies take expertise global

Many Indian firms have made or plan to make a small beginning in 'manufacturing outsourcing'

2007-05-04

Progress report on IBM's move of procurement operations to China

2007-04-29

Outsourcing's next wave

The next wave of outsourcing is about assessing all aspects of an organization's business activities to determine if and where there are opportunities to leverage outsourcers' capabilities, intellectual property, best practices, global infrastructure or geographic presence to access resources and capabilities around the globe.

2007-04-15

Cultural diplomat drives a revolution

Wang Hongbiao says he learnt about the UK in his native China by reading books about the 'dust and dirt' of the industrial revolution. Now he is at the vanguard of another revolution: the first takeover of a western car brand and its assets by a Chinese manufacturer.

2007-04-14

China: Manufacture success is marred by reputation for being cheap

The battle-plan of Shanghai Watch Industry reflects the problems facing the whole industry in China. Every year, domestic manufacturers all over the country churn out nearly 1bn pieces that are sold in stores from London to Los Angeles. Despite the huge volumes, however, Chinese manufacturers are stuck at the low-end of the market.

2007-04-09

Vietnam new venue for global investors after China, India

India and China may be the current hot favorites of global investors, but Vietnam is fast emerging as the next Asian tiger to give both biggies a run for their money.

2007-04-04

India's edge goes beyond outsourcing

For years, most service industry jobs that were moved to countries like India were considered relatively low-skill tasks like answering customer inquiries. But that has been changing in recent years, and increasingly the jobs of Western white-collar elites in fields as diverse as investment banking, aircraft engineering and pharmaceutical research have begun flowing to India and a few other developing countries.

2007-04-04

Nokia's hub fosters creativity

Over the past two years, Jukka Lehtelä, director of India operations, has spearheaded the construction and operation of Nokia's first Indian factory on what was a barren parcel of land about an hour's drive from the southern city of Chennai. The factory has soundly dispelled doubts among handset makers about the viability of manufacturing in India.

2007-04-04

Globalisation's offspring. How the new multinationals are remaking the old

While globalisation has opened new markets to rich-world companies, it has also given birth to a pack of fast-moving, sharp-toothed new multinationals that is emerging from the poor world.

2007-04-03

China: Ready for the next sourcing wave?

One critical dimension of business operations that is both driving, and being driven by, globalization is the sourcing of components and products from China and other rapidly developing economies — and this mega-trend is entering a new era. For some companies, global competitiveness will depend on their willingness and ability to anticipate and shape the coming changes. This may involve rethinking sourcing strategies, devoting far more resources to recruiting and grooming sourcing executives, and reorganizing and even relocating procurement organizations.

2007-01-11

The problem with 'made in China'

China is choking on its success at attracting the world's factories. That has handed its Asian neighbours a big opportunity to become manufacturing hubs in their own right. The question is whether they can seize it.

2007-01-04

How China is rising through the innovation ranks

Companies talk endlessly about the 'China price' ― how Chinese manufacturers have driven down the cost of goods, from socks to semiconductors. Now the theme is turning to science. Having spent two decades muscling in on one manufacturing sector after another, China wants to spend the next two decades moving from 'Made in China' to 'Invented in China'.