Category Archive

What has been happening? This week I was discussing with colleagues the ‘state of play’ concerning promotion of logistics as a profession. Our conclusion was that nothing much has been achieved in the past thirty years. In Australia there are five associations concerned with aspects of supply chains. For planning there is APICSau; for transport it is CILTA; distribution has … Read More

Plan your business. With most countries of Europe and America in a situation of either recession or no growth, many businesses will not experience an increase in sales. But for businesses in all regions of the world, profitability can be improved through a focus on improving business flows. Flows consist of items, money and information and too often they are … Read More

A recent forecast. When reading forecasts of economic effects on the performance of countries, logisticians are looking for indications of trends that may affect the flow of items and importantly, the business models of logistics service providers (LSPs). A recent forecast is the Manufacturing Competitiveness Index study, developed by Deloitte, in which 550 CEOs from around the world responded to … Read More

Tax effective supply chains. Does the design of your supply chains have an impact on corporate taxes paid? If your business is a multi-national, it certainly does. For those who imagine that supply chains and logistics is solely about moving and storing things, the recent French government demand for U$252m in back taxes from Amazon and the Australian tax office … Read More

Risks are not always the same. When considering the risks associated with supply chains, you could assume they would be the same for all businesses with similar products, or goods obtained from particular countries. But is this correct? In global supply chains, the majority of risks are actually generated within the buying organisation. The reason being that at least two … Read More