The SupplyChainBrain Podcast

Time to scrap your legacy I.T. systems. But how exactly should you go about it? Old and outdated applications lie at the heart of many global supply chains. There's a pressing need to bring them up to date, but companies risk undermining their operations if they attempt a wholesale change. How, then, should they make the decision about which systems to tackle first? What are the criteria for deciding whether a given application has outlived its usefulness? And what's the role of the cloud in future I.T. deployments for supply-chain management? On this episode, we get answers from Dominick Paul, national vice president of strategic solutions for Sungard Availability Services. He discusses what supply-chain managers should consider before updating their legacy applications, and why it's important to proceed with caution.

For international traders who are sick of filing documents with multiple regulatory agencies, help is on the way. Get ready for the Single Window. The term describes a means by which importers, exporters, carriers and third parties can submit standardized information and documentation via a single entry point. In other words, one filing satisfies the requirements of multiple agencies – 48 in the U.S., to be precise. And other countries are embracing the method as well, under the Trade Facilitation Agreement, negotiated by the World Trade Organization at its ministerial conference in Bali. International legal consultant Donald J. Lewis, former visiting associate professor and lecturer at Stanford University, joins us on this episode to explain the thinking behind the Single Window, and how it will transform international trade. For once, it seems, government red tape really is being cut.

Avnet, Inc. just celebrated its 10th anniversary as a Lean company. But the company's search for waste and inefficiency is far from over. Avnet is a leading distributor of electronic components, semiconductors and computer products. It's been ranked by Fortune magazine as one of the ''world's most admired companies'' for eight straight years. Avnet's strategy draws on classic principles of Lean, Six Sigma and the Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model. In this episode, chief global logistics and operations officer Mike Buseman talks about how far the company has come in driving waste out of the organization – and how far it has to go. Lean is a journey without end, he says. But companies must be careful not to cut so close to the bone that they undermine their ability to keep product flowing in the event of a supply-chain interruption.

It might seem like a throwback to the dirigibles of the 1930s, but a new type of airship is another animal entirely. The Aeroscraft is a fixed-wing, rigid-structure vehicle that's designed to carry up to 250 tons of cargo. It's the brainchild of Igor Pasternak, chief executive officer of Aeros. The Ukrainian-born entrepreneur joins us on this episode to talk about his plans for a fleet of airships that will contain more cubic footage than a modern-day freighter, cruise at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour, and fly at altitudes of up to 12,000 feet. According to Pasternak, the Aeroscraft will provide an economically viable option to trucks, both in terms of price and transit time. Can he raise the $3bn he says he needs to make his dream a reality?

Should foreign-flag vessels and crews be allowed into the U.S. domestic maritime trades? They've been barred entry for nearly a century, thanks to the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, better known as the Jones Act. The law states that all goods moving by water between U.S. ports must be carried by ships that are built, flagged and crewed in this country. It has been subjected to repeated attacks over the years, including during the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. A recent report by the Heritage Foundation argues that repeal of the Jones Act would save the American economy $682m per year. Others say that number doesn't account for the thousands of jobs that the act reserves for American workers. In this episode, attorney and Jones Act expert Charlie Papavizas provides valuable background on the Jones Act, and clears up some key misperceptions about the law.

There's a new method for benchmarking the resiliency of your supply chain. It's called the Global Resilience Index, created by commercial and industrial property insurer FM Global. More than a year in development, the index ranks the business resilience of 130 countries. It was designed to help executives assess and manage supply-chain risk in those regions, as well as identify weaknesses within their own organizations. Results are tied to nine key drivers of resiliency, covering such factors as economic trends, political conditions and potential natural disasters. FM Global chief operating officer Jon Hall (he was executive vice president at the time this podcast was recorded) discusses how the index was developed, and how it can help companies to shore up their operations against unexpected occurrences. He also talks about some of the index's key findings.

Fraud can happen anywhere in your supply chain. Are you doing enough to stop it? As companies extend their supply chains through partnerships with distant suppliers and manufacturers, the risk of fraud increases. So, too, does the possibility of misbehavior within the organization. Adding to the complexity is a sea of data that can be tough to sort through and utilize in an effective manner. One solution lies in the use of sophisticated analytics, which can help companies make sense of all that information, establish strict metrics for ethical behavior, detect any wayward activities, and allow for instant action. In this episode, John Joseph, vice president of marketing with Lavastorm, talks about how analytics can be deployed within global supply chains to tackle the many forms of fraud that can plague an organization. Billions of dollars are at stake, he says.

When it comes to assessing supply-chain risk and opportunity in emerging markets, the landscape never stops changing. Today, China is the go-to country for cheap manufacturing. Tomorrow, it's somewhere in Southeast Asia, or even Latin America. Shifting political, economic, legal, environmental and labor conditions make it tough for businesses to decide the best places for sourcing and selling their products. One key resource is the Security Supply-Chain Risk Outlook report from the Christian Science Monitor's Monitor Global Outlook service. It examines dozens of ''frontier or emerging'' markets, providing detailed reports on local conditions. MGO supply chain specialist Joseph Schatz joins us on this episode to discuss the findings of the 2014-15 report. He identifies the current hotspots where risk is highest, as well as the locations with the high potential for sourcing by global companies.

The shift is happening. Baby Boomers are beginning to retire, and Millennials are on the rise. But how to entice them into a career in supply chain? One way is to recognize excellence in those younger individuals who are already on the job. ThomasNet.com has joined with the Institute for Supply Management to create a ''30 Under 30 Rising Supply Chain Stars'' recognition program. The idea is to highlight accomplishments by high achievers, as well as attract other Millennials – job seekers between the ages of 18 and 32 – to the field. Joining us on this episode are Linda Rigano, executive director of media relations with ThomasNet, and M.L. Peck, senior vice president of programs and product development with ISM. They describe the ''30 Under 30'' program, and also talk about how Millennials differ from their predecessors in their expectations of job security and career satisfaction.

There's a new tool for ranking the world's best supply chains. The Supply Chain Index was developed by Lora Cecere, founder of Supply Chain Insights, in partnership with Arizona State University. The idea, she says, was to come up with a way to benchmark global supply chains based on hard financial data. Thousands of publicly traded companies are rated on the basis of economic strength, balanced portfolio, resiliency and peer ranking. The result is a tool that can be accessed by all companies, regardless of size. The three-year effort culminates with release of the very first Supply Chain Index, at Supply Chain Insight's Global Summit in Scottsdale, AZ on September 10-11, 2014. Lora joins us on this episode to explain how the index was developed, and how companies can use it to improve their supply chains in the years ahead.