Chain Reaction

Supply Chain Management is critical to improving cash flows. When we think of supply chains we think of material flows and not about cash flows but it is the latter that is equally important and impacted by the actions we take in our supply chains. The big consulting firms bang on about profitability and return on investment both are important but there is one variable even more so. It is cash flo...

Tony Hines discusses all things impacting global supply chains this week. Price inflation is still cause for concern - Many prices have risen across the board in the US Russia is China's biggest supplier of Oil and Gas Some analysts are concerened that Elon Musk has paid too much attention to Twitter and not enough on Tessla as the share price is hit. Class Action Lawsuit against Facebook ove...

Tony Hines takes a look back at some of the key moments from 2022. You can catch up with the detail by exploring some or all of the many episodes published in 2022. If you missed any now is the time to catch up. Send us Fan Mail Support the show   THANKS FOR LISTENING PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW You can support the podcast by following the link here. It makes a big difference and helps us make great c...

All things impacting global supply chains this week with Tony Hines Demand for energy increases in Europe as cold spell takes hold. War in Ukraine continues. China may get back to normal in 2023. Peak season -what peak season? Manufacturing in the UK falls in 2022 Check out what has happened in US Tech sector jobs Freight costs soften but what happens when China reopens for business Chinese ports...

Change is about learning. Learning to do something new is central to change. In supply chains we have to learn and adapt to change practices and processes. Opportunities and threats emerge from change and we have to be ready to grasp opportunities and limit threats. Risk has to be assessed when we want to take opportunities. If you source and procure products and services you will know that risk i...

All things impacting Global Supply Chains this week. Strikes everywhere in the UK disrupting health, education, border checks, transport and other public services Energy prices still high Turkey has tankers lined up to enter or leave Russia is the world number 2 energy exporter but price caps on oil will impact revenue WTO case review of US Imposed tariffs by President Trump on steel and aluminium...

Every leader in every organizations has reached their level of incompetence according to the Peter Principle. Leaders rising up the ranks eventually reach a level at which they have no experience. There are many types of leader. This is why trait theories do not stand up to scrutiny. Some leaders are charismatic, some are competent, others are not. There is no single model of a leader. Leaders mus...

Tony Hines reviews all things impacting global supply chains this week. Black Friday Numbers are in for the US And UK China protests are leading to change in the Covid restrictions applied H&M second largest fashion business lays off 1500 workers in head office roles as inflation and increasing costs hit. Inditex and Primark are bucking this trend. SMMT in the UK reports on downturn in Sales o...

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 econom...

This is a short promo for the News Round Up 26th Nov Send us Fan Mail Support the show   THANKS FOR LISTENING PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW You can support the podcast by following the link here. It makes a big difference and helps us make great content for you to listen to. Follow like and share the Chain Reaction Podcast with colleagues and friends on social media: Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn . News...

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 se...

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 b...

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 hi...

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...

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...

All things impacting global supply chains this week. Inflation, one, two, three Prime Ministers in three months, big ships in Boston, Putin pushes the West faster to ditch oil and gas, Unilever raise prices, rail strikes and dock strikes. Japan’s driverless vehicles approved Tesco’s retail graduate scheme - Find out more about Tesco's Retail Graduate Programme and apply at https://lnkd.in/g4d...

Retail Detail with Tony Hines What is it like to be a retailer? Many are small businesses - Pop and Mom stores but others are some of the biggest businesses in the world. Leading retailers manage many product categories and lines. They deal with brands and they have their own brands too.  Keeping costs low and maintaining margins is critical. This is where sourcing, procurement and operations dete...

All things impacting global supply chains this week. The war in Ukraine continues and takes a new turn targeting energy supply Strikes everywhere and more brewing in the UK China's zero covid tolerance damages market share Xi Ping wants to serve another term The big news in the UK dominates the airwaves as the Prime Minister resigns. You will remember I asked the question last week would she...

All things impacting global supply chains this week with Tony Hines Inflation and strikes along with Russia's war in Ukraine continue to cause disruption Challenges in the automobile industry and aerospace industries Chip shortages continue holding up manufacturing Liverpool dockers strike for 19 days Peel Ports claim they have offered 10 per cent but the Unite Unions disputes that - Dockers...

News Round Up all things impacting global supply chains this week. We begin October with a full round up of what has happened. UK Government mini budget crashes economy with pound falling as Bank of England steps in Listen to the special edition on Casino Economics Economics the dismal science and a return to supply side economics with Thatcher's legacy having an encore with Liz Truss Governm...

All things impacting global supply chains. Employment levels, output and inflation Food inflation still on the rise Real fall in wages of 2.8% year on year in the UK Rail strikes could impact supply chains Inditex sourcing to ensure availability increasing inventory cost DHL contract logistics investing in warehousing in India Three tips to keep supplies flowing 'Balance' China and India...

This episode reflects on recent economic policy changes by the UK Government in its recent mini budget. Market reaction has been critical and this has resulted in lowering the value of the currency. Has the UK taken a big gamble with their economic policies? Is it one spin of the roulette wheel to go for growth? Markets think it looks like this given their response. The International Monetary Fund...

Government policies often follow a fiscal approach to manage demand and monetary policies through interest rates to attack inflation. These are not the only tools available but they are widely used. In this episode Tony Hines takes listeners through these choices before considering supply side economics and what that can achieve. Interest rates until very recently have been historically low. This...

This edition takes a look at the UK Mini Budget which is called a strategy for growth. Government policies shape the environment in which businesses operate.  The policies enacted give rise to conditions that governments hope are conducive to achieving growth. The newly formed government in the UK has taken a path to achieve growth in an uncertain world economy. An economy ravaged by disruptions f...

 Resilience is more than risk management. It is a capability to get to the future by limiting the impact of disruptions. Risk management is necessary to manage particular supply chains as well as the supply chain system. Anticipating risks from disruption is an important skill. Assessing risk and assigning probabilities to manage risk are parts of any risk management system. Beyond the immediate s...