Archives November 2022

Chain Reaction Podcast News Round Up 26th Nov

  • Thanksgiving in the US with Black Friday and Cyber Monday – what's it all about? Grabbing a bargain or shifting inventory
  • Find out more about Peak Season Demand listening to the episode of the same title with Mario Paginini from Stord
  • Rail strikes move closer in the US how damaging could they be?
  • Saudi Arabia says it is unlikely to increase oil output any time soon
  • OECD says the global economy should avoid recession
  • UK still feeling the cold winds of Brexit as labor problems continue, trade with EU down and increased friction in supply chains
  • ESG and greenwashing – regulators might get tough
  • Australia ratifies trade deals with the UK and India
  • Catch up any episodes you missed
  • In December we have the year in review special edition coming along
  • Royal Mail strikes in the UK affecting Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sales
  • Rail Strikes continue throughout December and January in the UK
  • Civil Service strikes too in the UK will affect many services including driving licenses
  • Foxconn disruptions in China impacting Apple premium phones
  • Ford recalling SUV's world-wide because of fire risks
  • Tessla recalls cars too
  • Amazon sites in Germany and France disrupted as Black Friday approached
  • Amazon Food trials end in India
  • Footfall down as Black Friday begins in the US hit by bad weather

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Chain Reaction Podcast Peak Season Demand And More with Mario Paganini from Stord

Tony Hines speaks to Mario Paganini, VP Marketing at Stord to learn how supply chains are meeting the challenges of peak season. Stord is a fast-growing business building customer centric supply chains. 
“Stord untangles and centralizes your supply chain in a single dashboard, so you can focus on what matters.”

Well it was my pleasure to talk to Mario Paganini this week about the peak season and we had a much wider ranging discussion about all things happening in supply chains and if you want to find out something about supply chains and listen to what Stord are doing to make that customer centric supply chain of the future a reality then stay tuned. So, let's get to it hi Mario great to see you today it's really good to have you on the chain reaction podcast I'm sure we're going to have a great discussion and I'd like to hear what Stord are doing to make this peak season work and of course to develop that supply chain of the future. So perhaps you could introduce yourself and tell us what's going on at Stord. 
Mario
Yeah thanks so much for having me Tony always fun when I get to chat about something that I am passionate about and it also is at least a little bit self-serving hopefully the insights we chat through are relevant to all listeners and not just a Stord sales pitch but you know absolutely excited to chat about what we're doing here in Stord and kind of how some of the logistics companies, retailers, commerce companies out there can hopefully more smoothly navigate this upcoming and really at this point ongoing peak season. 

I’m Mario Paganini I run the marketing team over at Stord prior to that had a very similar role running marketing for another e-commerce focused company called Shippo there in the multi carrier parcel space they have technology that integrates all of the different parcel carriers everyone from the big three down through several of these smaller regional carriers that are serving specific niches such that you as a shipper you as a 3PL can integrate to one partner and get access to all the different carriers you need so certainly a very useful tool especially as we think about diversifying here throughout the peak season but more poignant today Stord. I joined Stord coming upon a couple of years ago and I still really vividly remember some of the first conversations that I had with Sean and Jacob the Co-founders of Stord you know when I first connected with them I kind of looked at Stord and said oh you know seems like a good company but you know they are just one of many third party logistics companies and I'm sure as you’ve seen you know they are a dime a dozen there's a bunch of large incumbent players that have been doing this for a really long time and doing it really well there's you know more than a few start up players that are emerging in the space trying to take on that SMV digitally native direct to consumer brand and then there's a slew of legitimately thousands of small businesses local 3 pl's across the country so I kinda remember myself thinking oh you know is this really like you know a space that I want to be in. There's certainly a lot of value but you know how do you differentiate it. How can Stord drive an outsized return that the average 3PL can't and that was really my scepticism when originally chatting with Sean and Jacob but I vividly remember the first couple of conversations that we had because I walked away from them with such a stark level of excitement and a strong understanding of how Stord is attacking these problems that were seen in the Omni channel commerce based differently. So, that is Stord in a nutshell and what really is the special sauce that we have that I think really sets us apart from many others.
 

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Chain Reaction Podcast SC News 19th November

SC News Round Up All things impacting global supply chains this week with Tony Hines

  • EU heads for recession and Germany is the worst affected country in the 27 country block. Shrinkage in Germany is forecast at 0.6%. Ireland looks to be the best performer.
  • Falling out of love with the tech sector as it unfriends employees.
  • Is China still a pro-business country? Covid lockdowns have forced many businesses away from China.
  • California ports ban diesel trucks by 2035.
  • Ports in New York and New Jersey lead the way at the expense of the troubled West Coast Ports.
  • End of life textiles you think you are recycling end up in Africa.
  • UK produced steel needs better policies to protect capacity.
  • Amazon warehouses employing more intelligent robots with AI.
  • COP 27 agrees loss and damage fund but most of the detail is deferred. There are too many big interests at play and politics is more important than the future.
  • China Covid 19 cases increase in Beijing forcing lockdowns.
  • Peak demand – Black Friday and Cyber Monday losing impact with consumers.
  • Listen to the episode on Peak Season.
  • FX insolvency poses questions about CEO moving funds to the Bahamas
  • Carvanna sheds labor with used car sales falling due to interest rate increases.
  • Tessla recalls 321000 cars because of a rear light problem.
  • FIFA under pressure as they renegue on beer sales having even though they have sponsorship from Budweiser.
  • Rail strikes could occur in the US.

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Chain Reaction Podcast SC News 12th Nov

All things impacting global supply chains this week with Tony Hines.

Now we could talk about lots of things happening in supply chains this week we've got inflation, we've got interest rates rising, we've got input costs going up, we've got freight rate prices lowering and that's because demand for shipping and container boxes has fallen. We've also got chip prices higher as a result of shortages of supply and we've got strikes building up with wages hit by inflation. So, what else could go wrong in the economy that could drive prices higher, increase inflation and disrupt supply chains?

COP 27

COP 27 taking place this week in Egypt at Sharm El Sheikh. Lots of world leaders, climate activists and other interested parties all attending. This of course is because of the climate emergency trying to stop that 1.5 degree increase by 2030 and strengthening the Paris accord.

ARRIVAL ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Arrival is one of those really great companies; it's innovative and it makes electric vehicles. Currently it's based in the UK but there is some doubt about its existence beyond 2023. 

  • UK Economy has a fall of 0.2% in output
  • Elon Musk says Twitter may not survive and is running out of cash
  • Solar Energy Components from China held up at US Ports
  • Earthquake hits Tonga a Tsunami warning was signalled
  • Apple reconfigures global supply hubs as Foxconn set to increase India production
  • Private jets flying into COP 27 produce protests over CO2 emissions
  • Just Stop Oil protests in UK cause chaos on road networks
  • 600 Delegate attending COP 27 have links to fossil fuels
  • Recession and the economic policies that might it worse
  • Central Bank's Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of 2-year recession
  • Recycling clothes and avoiding landfill – Infinna
  • Liverpool Dock Strike at an end
  • Northern Ireland Protocol back in the news
  • Daimler Truck Supply Chain Difficulties- Chips and more
  • Catch up with any episodes you have missed
  • Listen to my special guest Mario Paganini talking about Stord and the supply chain of the future

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Chain Reaction Podcast SC News 5th Nov

Welcome to the News Roundup all things impacting global supply chains this week.

  • Maersk announces downturn in demand for shipping logistics freight rates peaked and demand for container boxes falls.
  • Cop 27 runs from 6th to 18th November in Egypt -listen to what needs to be done to avert the climate emergency.
  • Russian retail sales fall as does employment as interest rates rise.
  • Interest rates up by 0.75%
  • British Volt secures additional funding to avert administration
  • One minute round up of other news
  • Twitter’s big staff cull ruffles feathers
  • Big clothing brands get polyester clothes from China and India fuelled by Russian oil.
  • Russia rejoins grain deal to move Baltic cargoes 
  • Bank of England expects recession
  • LNG incurs significant additional  CO2 in production
  • Stranger than fiction
  • Airbus increases output
  • Competition market blocks merger of two ready bake product companies
  • Car sales at their lowest since 1982 in the UK
  • UN Global Food Index falls
  • China about to ease restrictions
  • Trailer for next week’s edition with Marino Paganini from Stord

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Chain Reaction Podcast Get to the Future Fast

In this episode Tony Hines explains why getting to the future fast is necessary for survival and future profitability. He draws on examples from automobile industry and the race to establish giga factories to serve the electric vehicle industry.  Listen to how German industry turned to China to get to a new future.

The Key to Unlock the Future
In the second part of the episode the questions asked examines how to get to the future fast.  Are there lessons to learn? Is being first important? If you are late arriving in the future how much will it cost you?  Just how important is time? 

Understanding value, establishing and communicating purpose, harnessing diverse talent and recognizing the symbiotic relationships in the system are essential. Leadership more than management is required.

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