Over the past 3 years, I have read a number of articles pushing importers to draw a supply chain map. They argue it is extremely important, to avoid getting caught by surprise again. (And most of those articles are written by software vendors...who offer a somewhat-automated way to create such a map.) On the other hand, what is the reality for companies that buy products from China, Vietnam, or other low-cost countries? They'd sure like to have a fully detailed map of their tier-1, tier-2, … [Read more...]
Manufacturing in China: Assess the Risk Level and Take Action
A few days ago, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to do a video interview with the authors of the upcoming book Enterprise China, which analyzes the business strategy of Chinese firms in general (and their tight links to the Chinese government). I asked about the way companies that manufacture products in China should feel about it, how they should analyse geopolitical risks, and what they should do about it. Here is a 10 min excerpt from our conversation that, I am sure, you will … [Read more...]
How to deal with the Chinese New Year Disruption in 2023
Did you know that Chinese New Year 2023 is coming particularly early this year in January 2023? If you have suppliers in China, you need to be aware that this holiday period is likely to lead to a disruption in supply while their factories are closed down for weeks during the holiday. But the challenges don't end with just a shutdown, the time periods surrounding CNY also have certain risks as manufacturers start to slow down or fight to ramp production back up. Luckily there are actions … [Read more...]
3 Supply Chain Risk Reduction Strategies: Integration VS Diversification VS Inventory
As I am writing this, in mid-2022, we're living in pretty unprecedented times. The Covid pandemic is ongoing, tensions between major world powers are at a high, previously solid supply chains and business practices are crumbling, inflation is rising affecting all kinds of costs, politics are causing countries to become more insular and closed-minded, and shipping is still a mess. Today's manufacturing businesses need to find suitable supply chain risk reduction strategies to help counter these … [Read more...]
Supply Chain Risk Analysis: Learn from Past Issues
I have written a number of posts over the past couple of years about supply chain risk management. This one is a short addition to the series. As I wrote before, volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (collectively called VUCA) are making supply chain managers' jobs much more difficult than in the previous 30 years. The latest hair-raising events are the sudden lockdowns of certain cities and provinces of China, forcing tens of thousands of factories to stop all activity … [Read more...]
How War In Ukraine Could Negatively Affect Global & Chinese Supply Chains [Podcast]
![How War In Ukraine Could Negatively Affect Global & Chinese Supply Chains [Podcast]](https://qualityinspection.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/HowWarInUkraineCouldNegativelyAffectGlobalChineseSupplyChainsPodcast-1140x445.jpeg)
In this episode… We discuss how wars like the one waged on Ukraine by Russia right now could affect global supply chains. In particular, could China be affected, and if so, how? Is the West likely to decouple from China in the future in a similar way as they have done with Russia? Finally, Renaud leaves you with some guidance on ways to diversify your suppliers and therefore reduce the chances of supply chain disruptions and risks. Just hit the play button to start … [Read more...]
Tips For Importers To Survive CNY 2022 [Podcast]
![Tips For Importers To Survive CNY 2022 [Podcast]](https://qualityinspection.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/TipsForImportersToSurviveCNY2022Podcast-1140x445.jpeg)
In this episode… Chinese New Year is a tricky time for importers. 2021 has seen the continuing pandemic, sea freight costs skyrocketing, and logistics systems crumbling. High material and component costs and chip shortages have added gas to the fire, too. So the last thing you need is to get stung by the annual CNY shutdown and the issues that go along with it, such as shoddy quality, disrupted supply, and disappearing suppliers, to name but a few. As CNY is approaching, Renaud gives some … [Read more...]
How Does Mexico Compare To China As A Manufacturing Base? [Podcast]
![How Does Mexico Compare To China As A Manufacturing Base? [Podcast]](https://qualityinspection.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/HowDoesMexicoCompareToChinaAsAManufacturingBasePodcast-1140x445.jpeg)
In this episode… Dan Harris from China Law Blog recently wrote: "Mexico is the New China" and Manufacturers are Moving There. Renaud Anjoran and Adrian from the team explore the topic of nearshoring to locations like Mexico, why it may especially suit US companies, what Mexico's manufacturing pros & cons are in comparison to China, assessing your supply chain risk, and Renaud finishes off by giving some guidance for importers who are interested in moving some or all of their … [Read more...]
Supply Chain Risk Management: No, Toyota Doesn’t Always Do Just-In-Time
I ran into a very interesting article from Bloomberg entitled How Toyota Steered Clear of the Chip Shortage Mess. Nearly all automakers announced that they would have to cut their production numbers due to a serious shortage of semiconductors. This was made even worse by a recent fire in a Japanese manufacturing plant. One might think Toyota would be seriously impacted by the general market situation and by one of their suppliers being temporarily unable to produce. Apparently, Toyota … [Read more...]
Have You Revised your Supply Chain Risk Analysis?
Last year, I wrote about the Business Continuity Plan (BCP). More and more companies request their suppliers to prepare a BCP, as a structured approach to performing a supply chain risk analysis to get prepared for the risks they are exposed to. If you haven’t revised your BCP in 2020 and 2021, you have probably been caught off guard by recent events. But the question everyone is wondering is, ‘can we even forecast what is going to happen?’ … [Read more...]