Sourcing new suppliers in Asia to outsource your product development and/or manufacturing to is a very common activity for many businesses. But for buyers who are new to sourcing from Asia, the process can be worrying. Are you able to … [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 … [Read more...]
Why Skipping NPI Phases Is A Big Mistake [Podcast]
In this episode… The New Product Introduction process is absolutely central to what we do and provides a solid framework for bringing a product to market 'the right way' from concept to mass production. However, SMEs and … [Read more...]
4 Situations When Your Product IP May Be Threatened [Podcast]
In this episode… "Who's looking at my product idea in order to copy it and sell it in competition with my original?" This is a question that keeps hardware startups and entrepreneurs awake at night, as they know their innovative product … [Read more...]
New Product Launch: Taking Shortcuts vs. Preventing Risks
You are developing a new product. There is currently nothing like your product on the market. You have high confidence that it will be successful (otherwise, why are you working on this project?). You need to make a choice. Do you … [Read more...]
Deliverables Buyers Should Get When Developing A New Product [Podcast]
In this episode... When you develop a new product what deliverables should you be getting during the new product development process in order to assure that your product will make it mass production with the minimum of risks and at the … [Read more...]
Product Safety When Buying from China: Avoid Negligence
Dan Harris wrote an article about product safety (How to Reduce Your Foreign Manufactured Product Liability Risks) that will, hopefully, open the eyes of many people to the risks they are exposed to. I thought it particularly interesting … [Read more...]
How To Choose The Right Packaging To Protect Your Products? [Podcast]
In This Episode… We take a close look at why packaging plays a key role in protecting your products during transit. Packaging materials, supply chain risks, and packaging reliability testing are all scrutinized to give you a good … [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 … [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 … [Read more...]