The SupplyChainBrain Podcast

A new year, and with it a new slew of regulations and stepped-up enforcement of international trade law. Brace yourself. On this episode, we welcome back international trade attorney Peter A. Quinter, practice group chair with GrayRobinson, P.A. Formerly legal counsel at U.S. Customs' Office of the Chief Counsel of the United States in Miami, he's a seasoned expert in global trade law. As before, he joins us to present his top predictions for key developments in that area for the coming year. Among the points of discussion: tougher penalties for making fraudulent statements to Customs, increased antidumping duties, new measures against counterfeit merchandise, the evolving notion of the ''trusted exporter'', and the coming of the so-called ''single window'' for streamlined filing of documents with government agencies.

A company's reputation rests on much more than the quality of the products that it makes. Reputation can make or break a global business. And, in the age of social media, it has become a more critical element of corporate health than ever before. But maintaining a good reputation requires that companies continually monitor every aspect of their supply chains. On this episode, we hear from Viktoria Sadlovska, research director with the Reputation Institute. (Its work forms the basis of Forbes' annual Most Reputable Companies ranking.) She distinguishes between the emotional and rational factors that make up a company's reputation, and lays out seven dimensions that must be considered. She also offers advice on how businesses can craft the best possible image in the eyes of the fickle public. Hint: good supply-chain management is key.

Retailers are scrambling to offer free shipping for online orders. Is it a money-losing proposition? E-tailing has become so competitive that many online sellers today consider it essential to provide free shipping on many, if not all, of their shipments. At the same time, they are speeding up delivery to the point where customers have come to expect a one- to two-day turnaround on orders. How can both of those perks be sustained, in a business where margins are so thin? Is it simply a game of chicken, with rivals racing one another to the edge of the cliff? Our guest on this episode is Tom Barone, vice president of North American operations with eBay Enterprise. He explains why free shipping has become the price of admission to e-commerce – and why it might not be so free after all. And he discusses how traditional retailers are balancing the cost and speed of peak-season shipping, while embracing all possible channels for getting product to the consumer. ''The omnichannel,'' he says, ''is quickly evolving from nice to have to need to have.''

Is China guilty, as charged by U.S. traders, of keeping its currency artificially weak? Despite some movement upward in recent months, the value of the yuan has remained relatively low against the dollar for some time now. And the Chinese have reaped the benefits, in the form of cheaper prices for their exports. American trading interests have repeatedly called on the Obama Administration (and Bush Administration before that) to take punitive action against China for its alleged monetary hijinks. Last fall, however, the U.S. Treasury Department failed for the 12th time specifically to identify China as a currency manipulator, even as Treasury has acknowledged that there are grounds for making such a determination. On this episode, Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, explains why his group believes China is indeed deliberately keeping down the value of the yuan. He calls for retaliatory action on the part of the U.S. But would such a move trigger a trade war?

Call it the dark side of international commerce: fakes, frauds and thought thieves. Time to take action. On a global scale, companies are losing an estimated $657bn each year due to product counterfeiting and intellectual property (IP) infringement. And, with the explosion of trade over the past few years, the problem is becoming even more widespread. Previously, companies had only to worry about their finished goods being illegally duplicated and sold on the black market. Now, raw materials and key components are becoming subject to counterfeiting as well. That raises serious questions of public safety, when it comes to products such as food, jet engine parts and pharmaceuticals. Professor Michael R. Czinkota of the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University joins us on this episode to discuss why the issue of counterfeiting and IP theft has become more serious than ever before. And he explains why he's optimistic that steps might finally be taken to curb these illegal practices.

Electronic waste is threatening to overwhelm our landfills. Despite the popularity of global recycling programs, we're a long way from solving the problem of what to do with the waste from discarded business and consumer electronic devices. As much as 85 percent of electronic products were discarded in landfills or incinerators last year. And the release of the iPhone 6 has brought the issue to a ''tipping point,'' says Linda Li, executive director and corporate vice president of strategy with Li Tong Group. On this episode, she discusses where previous recycling efforts have fallen short, and why we're still not deriving maximum use from the materials contained in old devices. Li argues for a ''closed-loop'' approach to managing e-waste supply chains – ''the Holy Grail of the recycling business.''

Are cryptocurrencies like bitcoin gaining legitimacy in the retail and services sector? And what impact might they have on the supply chain? Bitcoin is an online, peer-to-peer payment system that sidesteps traditional currencies. The virtual instrument has had a rocky existence since it was invented in 2008 by the mysterious ''Satoshi Nakamoto''. Among its setbacks was the U.S. government's seizure of assets of the Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange known as Mt. Gox, followed by the FBI's shutdown of the Silk Road website, accused of being a marketplace for the sale of illegal drugs funded by bitcoin. Now, however, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are beginning to gain acceptance as legal tender by a number of online merchants. One of them is eGifter, the seller of digital gift cards, whose founder and chief executive officer Tyler Roye joins us on this episode to explain why he believes bitcoin is an idea that's here to stay. He also speculates about the currency's possible impact on supply-chain transactions.

Five years from now, the global work environment will look a lot different than it does today. But many companies aren't prepared to deal with the change. Jettison those full-time employees who have spent their entire working lives with the same company. Bring in the independent contractors and contingent employees who are making up an increasing share of the workforce. That's the picture painted by Workforce 2020, a new study by Oxford Economics with support from SAP SE. The survey covers more than 5,400 employees and executives in 27 countries. What it finds is a radical shift in the way that businesses are calling on managers and employees to perform key tasks. At the same time, it pokes holes in some of the myths that we've harbored about the so-called Millennials. Turns out they want many of the same things from their careers that their predecessors demanded – to a point. Explaining the study's findings is Tim Minahan, chief marketing officer with SAP Cloud. He talks about what companies must do to prepare for the changes that we'll see in the very near future.

The nationwide driver shortage just won't go away. And shippers are paying the price. It seems as though nobody wants to drive a truck anymore. So much for the romantic image of the long-haul trucker: the job has lost any appeal that it might once have had. The hours are long and grueling, and the compensation inadequate. That, at least, appears to be the main reasons behind the persistent shortfall of qualified drivers – around 30,000 each year, according to the American Trucking Associations. The average age of U.S. truckers today is 55, and younger people aren't interested in taking their place. Yet nearly 70 percent of total freight volumes are carried by the trucking industry. Something's got to give. On this episode, we talk to Bobby Harris, chief executive officer of BlueGrace Logistics. He explains how we were brought to this state of affairs, what it's costing shippers and American consumers, and what might be done to alleviate the problem.

Traditional retailers aren't taking the challenge from pure e-tailers lying down. They can deliver on same-day orders, too. Amazon.com, Google, eBay and others have been ramping up their same-day delivery capability in select cities. Now brick-and-mortar retailers have a way to match that service. Deliv is a provider of same-day delivery on behalf of major retailers. Drawing on a pool of independent drivers - much like the business model of crowd-staffed taxi services Uber and Lyft - the company can consolidate multiple orders from stores and meet consumer demand for time-specific delivery. Our guest on this episode, Deliv founder and chief executive officer Daphne Carmeli, explains how the service works, and why she believes that it's economically feasible to provide this premium option at a reasonable price. She also refutes arguments that the model isn't scalable, or might run into reliability problems because of its contracted workforce. As for whether consumers will embrace the innovative idea, she quotes Steve Jobs: ''A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them.''