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  • Microsoft, Mastercard Teamup Enables Small Businesses to Trade Globally

    Microsoft, Mastercard Teamup Enables Small Businesses to Trade Globally

    Mastercard and Microsoft recently announced their latest collaboration—the Mastercard Track. The program is described as a distinct trade platform that can be used worldwide. It will reportedly simplify and automate payments between companies.

    Payments are supposed to be a fundamental and essential aspect of any business transaction. However, a lot of companies struggle with late payments. These delays are caused by inefficiency most of the time and result in profit loss and the erosion of trust between the buyer and supplier.

    Mastercard and Microsoft believe Track has the potential to solve this dilemma. The Track platform can automate and streamline procurement-to-payment procedures. Instead of having payments and invoices in separate systems, all data will be placed in one location. This will give companies improved visibility into their cash flow and help them to comply and conduct payments in a more efficient manner.

    Mastercard said that Track builds on and augments the company’s range of innovation and B2B assets, including its card and account-to-account payment solutions, data analytics, payment gateway, and fraud management services. Meanwhile, Microsoft will provide its very own Azure cloud system to run the Track platform, thereby giving it the protection of the company’s strict security and compliance standards.

    Mastercard Track will also be supported by a partnership comprised of nine procure-to-pay solutions companies and B2B networks – Basware, BirchStreet, Coupa, Ivalua, Jaggaer, Liaison Technologies, the Infor GT Nexus Commerce Network, Tradeshift, and the Tungsten Network.

    Michael Froman, Mastercard’s vice chairman and head of strategic growth, said that Mastercard Track is a tool that will “help reduce frictions in the global trading system and promote increased exports—especially by small and medium-sized businesses.”

    At the moment, companies have to navigate the various mechanisms that are currently in place for payments. Aside from that challenge, brands also have to deal with the lack of transparency and copious paper trail.

    Mastercard and Microsoft say that all account-based, bank transfer, or card-based payment systems will be connected on Track. The platform will also integrate invoice information and purchase order and will streamline the back-office.

    The platform is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses, especially ones involved in global exports. However, Track will also offer banks, B2B, insurance, and technology companies a business opportunity by providing value-added services. For instance, banks can give supply chain and trade loans on Track while technology brands can offer better data analytics.

    [Featured image via Pixabay]

  • CEO’s of Adobe, Microsoft, SAP Announce the Launch of the Open Data Initiative

    CEO’s of Adobe, Microsoft, SAP Announce the Launch of the Open Data Initiative

    CEO’s of Adobe, Microsoft, SAP announced the launch of the Open Data Initiative, a new data repository in the cloud dedicated to facilitating collaboration across the global research community. This is an initiative squarely aimed at Facebook and Google, in effect challenging them to provide all customer related data back to the customer. Here is Microsoft’s portal to the Open Data Initiative.

    Below are key highlights from a discussion the three tech CEO’s had on CNBC…

    Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft:

    The insight that all three of us had based on the work we’re doing with many customers, such as Coca-Cola, Unilever, and Walmart, today as customers they’re all excited about this open data initiative. It’s their real insight that led us to do this, how do we work to put them in control of their own customer data, because that’s the real currency.

    Any brand out there cares deeply about the continuous improvement of their own customer data understanding. The three of us coming together is going to be central to them feeling in control of their own customer data.

    Bill McDermott, CEO, SAP:

    There isn’t a CEO in the world that does not want to have a single view of their customer and they have to connect their demand chain to their supply chain and do so in real time. If you think about the consumer whose social, mobile, they’re geospatial, they’re always on the fly, they’re going to shop different companies in all channels, direct to consumer and retail, and you have to make sure that connection point with that consumer is really intimate.

    These companies need to be intelligent enterprises because more and more AI and predictive analytics is going to rule how you engage with that customer. Ultimately, what you have to do is fulfill, so now you’re going to see the demand and the supply chain completely integrated and that data will be shared evenly among our companies so the customer is the major benefactor of the Open Data Initiative we announced today.

    Shantanu Narayen, CEO, Adobe:

    All three of us shared this vision of how do we enable enterprises to put customers at the front of the digital journey. Getting behavioral data, getting transactional data, and getting customer engagement to be the front and center is the most important thing that enterprises can do so that digital is actually a tailwind rather than a headwind.

    What Marketo does is add to our offerings in the Experience Cloud of being able to create this unified profile for all customers. The thing that every customer will tell you today is that they want an engaging experience with whoever they’re doing business with, whether it’s financial services, automotive, or retail. Adobe focused a lot more on B2C customers, but the same requirements that were true for B2C customers are now true for B2B customers and that’s what Marketo provides.

    Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft:

    The name itself should tell everything, it’s an open data initiative. It’s about really unlocking the data that is our customers’ data about their own customers. I think what is foundational here is trust. In other words, ultimately customers will decide.

    Also, compliance with their own customers trust in them is also going to be very key, because if you think about it one of the top considerations for anything around customer data is privacy and regulation around privacy. So the most important thing here would be for each vendor to think through how they participate here and ensure that there is more trust in the entirety of the value chain, starting with the end consumer to the brand and to us as software vendors or tech companies.

    I think the real challenge is going to be for some who may want to join but their business model is probably not going to allow them to join. I think overall though what we have all anchored on is if we can create an architecture and an incentive system that turns the tide to put customers in control of their own customer data I think the overall economy will be better off.

  • Oracle’s Autonomous Database Cloud is a Huge Technological Advantage

    Oracle’s Autonomous Database Cloud is a Huge Technological Advantage

    The release by Oracle of its AI-powered Autonomous Database Cloud earlier this year and just adding Transactional Processing to its abilities last week is huge for Oracle and its customers who need this cutting edge technology. Oracle considers the Autonomous Cloud a generational release because it literally is the first database in the world that can build itself and update itself without human help.

    Oracle CEO Mark Hurd recently spoke to CNBC’s “Squawk Alley” about it:

    Oracle Autonomous Database Is a Generational Release

    Probably our most important generational database release is the Autonomous Database. This is where the database is integrated with AI and machine learning that really just self-patches and self-tunes. It actually creates a position where your security issues go down, you get higher uptime, and you pay less money. We really never in our history had a database release that had as many positive business outcomes as opposed to just technology.

    This is a place where you get better performance, more uptime and you will eliminate tons of labor. Most of our customers, for example, I know this has become a bigger issue with C-Suites now where the amount of time it actually takes to patch software can be months for most of our customers.

    This release of the Autonomous Database literally eliminates that need to patch. This is a generational release for us as we bring it to market.

    Oracle BYOL Explained

    Let me explain BYOL (Bring Your Own License). That is simply where you can buy a license and you can use it on-premise or in the cloud, so it’s basically a currency that you can move across platforms. We’re one of the very few companies that allow you to do that, so we believe it’s an advantage for our customers and what they want and that’s why we utilize that strategy.

    Second,  I think you need to divide up what’s happening in the applications market versus what’s happening in the infrastructure and platform market. In the applications market, there’s an opportunity now for most companies to modernize all of their systems.

    ERP is Moving to the Cloud

    Let’s start with the back office systems, the biggest category of back-office applications is called ERP. ERP is basically companies financial supply chain manufacturing systems, etc.

    All of those are really going to get replaced over the next several years as companies move to the cloud where there are much more innovation and much more work done by somebody else as opposed to by the customer. We’re in the very early innings of that market.

    Oracles Technology is a Competitor Differentiator 

    We have a significant lead technology wise in ERP and we went through a ton of customer wins in the quarter. That market is going to over the next several years be very exciting. The technology infrastructure market, that’s as you move further up the stack, meaning from compute and storage to database to other tools and systems, Oracle gets more differentiated from competition the further you move up the stack.

    Just replacing somebody’s computer with somebody’s infrastructure, while that’s interesting, the more technology you have and the more IP differentiates Oracle. Oracle has always been differentiated by doing the hardest jobs the best, by investing in R&D and investing in innovation.

    Oracle Autonomous Database for Transactional Processing Announced

    Larry Ellison, Oracle Co-Founder, CTO, and Executive Chairman, made the announcement:

    We’re announcing the immediate availability of the Oracle Autonomous Database transactional processing. Now the machine learning based technology not only can optimize itself for queries for database warehouses and Data Marts, but it also optimizes itself for transactions.

    It can run batch programs, reporting, Internet of Things, simple transactions, complex transactions, and mixed workloads. Between these two systems, the system that is optimized for data warehousing and the system that’s optimized for transaction processing, the Oracle Autonomous Database now handles all of your workloads. All of them.

    Larry Ellison also recently gave his take on the Autonomous Database Cloud:

    The cool thing about the Autonomous Database Cloud is because it is autonomous the database is fully automated.  Human Beings don’t create the database, the database creates itself. Human Beings don’t tune the database, the database tunes itself.

  • Holler.com: Supply Chain Excellence is Our #1 Focus

    Holler.com: Supply Chain Excellence is Our #1 Focus

    Jonathan Um, Cofounder, and COO of Holler.com, the world’s first online dollar store, recently spoke at Retail (R)Evolution 2018 about how important the supply chain and automation is to his young start-up.

    We are on the extreme end of the online spectrum. For us, carrying about 10,000 SKU’s, providing the ultimate digital hunt to our 6 million users, the number one thing we focus on, first, second and third, is supply chain excellence. We take a holistic view of the supply chain, from the way we buy, what we buy, how we source, how we bring it in, how we pay, to the way we fulfill and ship. It was inevitable for a bunch of scrappy guys trying to squeeze every ounce of fat from that supply chain to turn to automation. Not just your run of the mill automation, but robotics.

    Speed Isn’t Everything

    I think with Amazon out there in the market there is a misconception that speed is everything. You have to deliver next-day, same day, and that’s simply not true. In fact, what rings the most true is free is king. And customers will do amazing things to try to get to free shipping. It is the end all, be all for the extreme value segment. For us, we are very focused on how to deliver free shipping and make our unit economics work. That’s number one. Number two is transparency. Customers want to know what’s going on with their order?

    If it’s getting picked, packed–there are actually features in our WMS with HighJump Software where you get a Facebook notification if the order is being picked at that very instant. For the customer, it’s really about not worrying that you have our attention on your order because you receive regular updates. That whole stat about 8 contacts per package is a real cost and that is a reality that we’re living through. Every time we update and add transparency is a win for our business.

    Same Day: The Exception for Delivery but Not for Notification

    In terms of click to ship, it is same day, that is the expectation. When you place an order on Holler.com, the expectation is that you get a shipping notification the same day. The constraint is that we have a 5-day work schedule, we don’t have a 7-day work schedule, so we need to catch up on Monday and Tuesday very quickly. But that same day ship notification, that is the standard.

    Small Start-Ups Must Outsource Automation to be Successful

    We are a well-funded company, but we don’t have the capital to deploy traditional automation. You ask us to spend $2 million, $5 million we are just going to say no out of the gate. It’s a non-starter for us. There is no scenario that would payback for us, ever. I don’t know what my order volume is in Q4 five years from now. I can barely tell you five quarters from now. So I cannot put up $5 million, $10 million or $15 million.

    We are working with a solution called Invia Robotics. It’s basically a little robot, costs no more than a couple thousand dollars to build, and it’s a pay as you go service. So in the day of Uber and Lyft and Airbnb, why would you pay for your own capX as a small company like us? We pay by the pick, the replenishment tasks, and the inventory tasks. This is a great solution for where we are as a business, doing about 3,000 orders a day and 30,000 lines.

    If we were to scale up to 100,000 lines in a couple of years, I’d be totally open to insourcing.

  • Brands Are Waking Up to the Inevitable of Selling on Amazon

    Brands Are Waking Up to the Inevitable of Selling on Amazon

    “Ecommerce is essentially digital disruption,” says David Spitz, ChannelAdvisor CEO, at the recent Retail (R)evolution 2018 conference. “If you are a brand or retailer and you are in that supply chain, or flow of commerce, digital disruption for ecommerce is like what Netflix did to Blockbuster. There’s a lot of retail disruption. The alternative of being able to click and get products very quickly, where you can now get deliveries in as little as an hour, makes the value proposition of getting in your car and going to the store very diminished.” Spitz says this leaves retailers looking for what they can do to remain relevant.

    He says that if you are a brand, manufacturer or CPG type company the path to the consumer is changing very rapidly. “In the US, ecommerce is still only 10 percent of total retail spend,” notes Spitz. “Most companies are still driving 90 percent of their revenue through the traditional retail channels, but the growth is in that (ecommerce) 10 percent. The path to the consumer is changing and it’s creating a new world order with the landscape shifting very rapidly.”

    Spitz is focused on the challenges of retailers. “I’ve spent a lot of time talking to a variety of brands such as paint manufacturers, tire manufacturers, apparel companies, etc. They are in this interesting crossroads because the bulk of their revenue still comes from the traditional retail channel and those are partnerships that are important to them and they don’t want to upset those partnerships. On the other hand, if you look at the rate of growth of Amazon, they are approaching half of US ecommerce. It continues to grow at roughly twice the rate of the industry so it’s not hard to imagine waking up in a world where Amazon accounts for 60-75 percent of US ecommerce.”

    If you are a brand, how do you reach those consumers? “Consumers are saying this is how I like to shop, it’s an easy app, I click and know I’m going to get the product quickly,” says Spitz. “Last summer, Nike decided to start selling on Amazon, and Nike had resisted selling on Amazon for the last 10 years. I think there was some dawning realization at some point that this is how customers want to shop. So a lot of these brands see it as inevitable, that’s how consumers like to shop and why make life hard for your customers?”

    “I think that channel mix conflict is very much real for brands but at the end of the day, the customer is what matters the most. If the customer says this is how I want to purchase your product if you are a brand you have to listen to that.”

    New world order indeed…

  • Walmart Joins Forces With Microsoft to Fend Off Amazon

    Walmart Joins Forces With Microsoft to Fend Off Amazon

    In its bid to overtake its largest rival, Walmart announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft on Tuesday. According to the biggest US retailer, the company inked a five-year deal with the tech giant to speed up its digital transformation for a faster shopping experience online. Walmart will be utilizing an array of Microsoft’s cloud solutions as its preferred provider.

    It’s no secret that Walmart and Microsoft are two of Amazon’s closest rivals in retail and cloud computing, respectively. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that the battle against Amazon was “absolutely core” to his company’s teamup with Walmart. He further stated, “How do we get more leverage as two organizations that have depth and breadth and investment to be able to outrun our respective competition?”

    Under the deal, Walmart will use Microsoft’s machine learning and AI technologies to optimize the retailer’s entire supply chain and improve its delivery system. With the Internet of Things platform on Microsoft’s Azure, the retailer can better manage which products should go on the shelves from the ones that go into the refrigeration units. This is one way to reduce costs in operating its physical stores.

    Utilizing technology to assess operations seems to be one of Amazon’s strong suits, one that Walmart appears to lack. Over the past few years, the online retailer has developed its cloud computing business, Amazon Web Services, to become the leading cloud service provider. Microsoft, however, remains second in terms of market share with Azure, but still a worthy alternative for other companies.   

    Although Walmart has developed its own cloud computing operation, it wasn’t as extensive as Amazon’s or Microsoft’s. The retailer only began using Azure recently when it acquired Jet.com, whose operations ran entirely on Microsoft’s cloud platform.  

    Walmart has been more open to the idea of working with tech firms to enhance its systems and improve shopping experience. Last year, it teamed up with Google by adding some of its Walmart.com products on Google Express to allow for voice-ordered purchases, directly competing with Amazon’s Alexa. And for its back-to-school offering, Walmart has also launched its app for faster location of items in-store.   

    Microsoft, on the other hand, has been teaming up with other brick-and-mortar retailers, such as Macy’s and Marks & Spencer, for better retail experience using artificial intelligence.

    Despite the strategic alliance, Walmart won’t be using the tech giant’s services for its planned cashierless stores – another area where Amazon has taken an early lead with its Amazon Go store in Seattle. Microsoft, however, is still keen on developing hardware and software solutions for automated grocery stores, even if it’s not for Walmart.

    [Featured image via Walmart.com]

  • Walmart Competes Against Amazon for Flipkart Buy-In, $12 Billion Offered for Controlling Stake

    Walmart Competes Against Amazon for Flipkart Buy-In, $12 Billion Offered for Controlling Stake

    US companies Walmart and Amazon are competing to acquire a controlling stake in Flipkart, India’s leading eCommerce company. Walmart has completed an in-depth due diligence on its proposed majority ownership in the Indian firm. However, rival Amazon also wants to put in a bid and offers a ‘breakup fee’ of $1 billion to $2 billion, a penalty to be paid in case the deal fails to proceed.

    Unnamed sources revealed that Walmart is willing to pay $10 billion to $12 billion for a controlling stake of 51 percent or more, valuing Flipkart at roughly $20 billion. But the deal isn’t sealed yet because Amazon is reportedly interested as well.

    Insiders privy to the matter disclosed that Flipkart’s board recently discussed the competing proposals. They seem to agree that Walmart’s offer is better since the US retailer will face fewer regulatory hurdles. On the other hand, Amazon is considered as Flipkart’s primary competitor. It will face tighter scrutiny for possible monopoly since both companies control the majority of India’s online retail market.

    Founded by two former Amazon employees, Flipkart is taking on the eCommerce giant to have a piece of India’s expanding online retail market. According to Morgan Stanley estimates, eCommerce in the country is predicted to grow annually by 30 percent and will be worth $200 billion by 2026.

    Because of its vast potential, Amazon is investing heavily in the emerging market. The eCommerce giant has spent $5 billion for its India operations but is losing to homegrown startups like Flipkart that know the market well.

    Flipkart announced recent plans to construct a 4.5 million sq. ft. logistics facility in Southern India. This is significantly bigger than Amazon’s largest warehouse measuring 400,000-sq. ft. in the country. But the US online retailer also has 62 fulfillment centers and delivery stations located all over India.

    Walmart’s entry will give the startup its much-needed funds to compete head-on with Amazon. Flipkart will also benefit from the retailer’s unparalleled experience in logistics and supply chain management.

    The largest US retailer’s stake in Flipkart will depend on which of its shareholders are willing to sell. SoftBank, Tiger Global, and Naspers are just some of its largest investors. Insiders said that SoftBank prefers a deal with Amazon because of its success in online commerce. Tiger and Naspers will likely sell their holdings to Walmart for the right price, according to sources.

    As of writing, Walmart, Amazon, and Flipkart have declined to comment on the matter.

    [Featured image via Flipkart website]

  • Blockchain: How Will it Impact Digital Marketing?

    Blockchain: How Will it Impact Digital Marketing?

    The marketing industry generates billions of dollars every year. After all, every company needs ads and various marketing strategies in order to reach their target consumers.

    Forrester, a leading market research company, even said that by 2021, digital marketing costs will reach $120 billion. Unfortunately, about half of ad traffic is created by bots. It’s a decidedly dishonest practice, especially when you consider how much money companies put out just to reach prospective clients. But this practice might soon come to an end once businesses have a greater capacity to focus on specific customers.

    Related image

    Graphic via Techspot.com

    It’s a good thing then that digital marketing is very dynamic and open to change. It easily adapts to new technology and the shifting perceptions of customers. At the moment, there’s one tech advancement that has the potential to change digital marketing (and the world) like never before – the blockchain.

    What is Blockchain?

    Blockchain might seem too technical for most people to fully grasp, but it’s a fairly simple concept. The technology is essentially a public ledger that stores and distributes data. More importantly, everyone that uses blockchain can see and share all its data and by doing so, each user plays a role in keeping it updated and transparent.

    The system works by keeping data stored in a chain-like pattern and the transaction history is stored in “blocks.” Information stored in a blockchain can only be added to. It can’t be changed or copied. If someone were to attempt to change the history or hack the system, the ledger would have to be updated on all the users’ computers. Considering the number of users in a blockchain, this would be almost impossible to do, making the service very secure.

    How Will it Impact Digital Marketing?

    Blockchain is often linked to cryptocurrency. It’s decentralized nature, the freedom it offers, and heightened cybersecurity features makes it perfect storage for virtual money. However, blockchain also has a major impact on digital marketing.

    It Will Take Out the Middleman

    There’s always a middleman in digital marketing which means businesses only get half the value of what they have paid. Blockchain can do away with these intermediaries and help create better value for marketing campaigns.

    Related image            Related image

    Graphic via Linkedin.com

    With a blockchain, companies can forego the ad buy process and just target their prospective customers directly by paying them to view the ads. Businesses can use “microcurrencies” that customers can avail of once they’ve proven that they have watched the ad. The Brave browser has already started this, using their Basic Attention Token (BAT) to ensure that companies only pay for the ads that have been viewed by a real person.

    Trust is Built With Transparency

    One concern that companies have with online advertising is that it’s virtually impossible to know if the stats provided are accurate. There’s no way to check if the counted site clicks or followers are real customers, or even real people, for that matter. After all, ad companies can hire “clickers” or use bots to boost ad stats so distributors can charge higher fees.

    Blockchain will definitely have a significant impact here. Since the system is encrypted and transparent, companies can easily check if those viewing their ads are part of their target audience or not.

    Improves Accountability

    There’s nothing more disheartening than spending your hard earned cash on a counterfeit product. Blockchain can lessen the odds of this happening by improving merchants’ accountability in every step of the supply chain.

    Blockchain’s vaunted digital ledger system enables transparency that cannot be tampered with. Customers can check details like where the product came from, if it’s legit or fake, whether it’s bought from a physical store or an online action. Simply put, blockchain empowers the customer and improves their buying experience.

    There’s no question that the idea behind blockchain is a powerful one. The technology has the potential to impact cryptocurrency, digital marketing, and customer experience. The system is still in its infancy but is expected to see significant growth in the coming year.  

  • Gartner Releases Supply Chain Top 25, Apple Leads For 7th Consecutive Year

    Gartner Releases Supply Chain Top 25, Apple Leads For 7th Consecutive Year

    Gartner has released its 10th annual Supply Chain Top 25, and Apple is at the top of the list for the seventh year in a row. McDonald’s came in second for the second consecutive year.

    A couple of new companies entered the list this time: Seagate and Kimberly-Clark.

    The composite score is calculated using the following equation: (Peer Opinion*25%) + (Gartner Research Opinion*25%) + (ROA*25%) + (Inventory Turns*15%) + (Revenue Growth*10%).

    “2014 marks the 10th year of our annual Supply Chain Top 25 ranking,” said Stan Aronow, research vice president at Gartner. “As we reach this milestone, we have several longtime leaders with new lessons to share and a number of more recent entrants from the high-tech, consumer product and industrial sectors in the Top 25.”

    Gartner points out three trends for supply chain leaders including: understanding and supporting the fully contextualized customer; a convergence of digital and physical supply chain delivering total customer solutions; and supply chain as trusted and integrated partner. Gartner elaborates on each of these in a press release.

    Image via BusinesWire

  • Supply Chains To Be Significantly Impacted By Huge Growth Of ‘Internet Of Things’

    Supply Chains To Be Significantly Impacted By Huge Growth Of ‘Internet Of Things’

    Gartner is predicting a 30-fold increase in Internet-connected physical devices within the next six years, and says this will “significantly” alter how the supply chain operates, and create more “cyber-risk exposure”.

    So how much is a 30-fold increase exactly? We’re talking about 26 billion devices on the “Internet of Things”. For comparison, it was more like 0.9 billion just five years ago (Facebook just turned 10 if that helps add some perspective for you).

    With regards to how this will change the supply chain, it’s all about the flood of information that comes along with having so many connected devices. This will, of course, vary by industry.

    “It’s important to put IoT maturity into perspective, because of the fast pace at which it is emerging, so supply chain strategists need to be looking at its potential now,” said Gartner managing vice president Michael Burkett. “Some IoT devices are more mature, such as commercial telematics now used in trucking fleets to improve logistics efficiency. Some, such as smart fabrics that use sensors within clothing and industrial fabrics to monitor human health or manufacturing processes, are just emerging.”

    “Supply chain leaders must design their processes to operate in this digital business world,” said Burkett. “This includes fulfilling the new expectations of customers and the volatile demands that digital marketing will create. A future supply chain will meet those expectations by converging people, business and things in a digital value network, and incorporating fast-emerging capabilities such as IoT and smart machines into this design strategy.”

    The firm makes the point that as the quantity of connected devices increases, greater fragmentation will occur while marketing budgets continue to increase. In other words, marketing efforts will have a broader array of devices to target, but all of that data from said devices should open up some interesting targeting opportunities at the same time.

    You can find a lot more insights into the subject in Gartner’s new report “Digital Marketing, Internet of Things and 3D Printing Are Digital-Business-Driven Disruptions for Supply Chains.”

    Gartner will discuss issues facing the supply chain industry at its Supply Chain Executive Conferences in May and September in Phoenix and London respectively.

    Image via Gartner

  • New iPad Mini Again Rumored to be in Short Supply

    New iPad Mini Again Rumored to be in Short Supply

    During its big iPad announcement event last week, Apple unveiled its latest version of the iPad Mini. Though the tablet’s hardware has remained much the same, the Mini did get one bit upgrade – its screen. The 7.9-inch display on the new iPad Mini has been upgraded to a 2048 x 1536 Retina display. Though the addition will be a welcome one for Apple fans, it may also be that this new feature is severely limiting the number of the devices Apple is able to manufacture for the holiday quarter.

    A new DigiTimes report today stated that the new iPad Mini will be in short supply in the coming months. The report’s unnamed “sources with Taiwan’s supply chain” are placing the blame for the tablet’s rarity squarely on Sharp. The manufacturer is reportedly having trouble with the new display’s Oxide TFT manufacturing process and is seeing very low yields.

    This new report comes just days after a market research firm also predicted low shipment numbers for the iPad Mini. That report also blamed the shortage on manufacturing problems surrounding the Retina display.

    Though the report about Sharp is concerning, it does not mean that dedicated Apple fans won’t be able to get the new mini-tablet this holiday season. According to DigiTimes, Sharp makes up only 40% of Apple’s Retina display orders for the iPad Mini. The other 60% are coming from LG Display, which hasn’t been rumored to be having any trouble producing the displays.

  • Samsung Will Continue to Supply Apple, Says Report

    Samsung Will Continue to Supply Apple, Says Report

    As Samsung grew into Apple‘s main competitor in the high-end smartphone space, Apple used all of its might to hold back the Korean company while at the same time still using Samsung as a supplier. Apple did attempt to weaken its ties with Samsung last year, ordering DRAM chips from a different company, but it seems now that Samsung is one of the only companies in the world capable of supplying Apple with certain iPhone and iPad components.

    DigiTimes Research today reported that Samsung will remain a major Apple supplier throughout the next year. Apple will be ordering panels from Samsung for the foreseeable future.

    Apple had been rumored to be switching more panel orders to companies such as LG and AU Optronics, but it seems that is no longer the case. DigiTimes cites unnamed supply chain sources as stating AU Optronics is running into difficulty manufacturing Retina displays for the upcoming refresh of the iPad Mini. Samsung, LG, and Sharp are expected to land extra orders due to these difficulties.

    Samsung and LG are also reported to be the major suppliers for iMac panels, with LG supplying the majority. As for iPhone panels, LG and JDI are rumored to be expanding capacity to draw orders away from suppliers such as Samsung and Sharp.

    (Image courtesy Apple)

    (via DigiTimes)

  • Samsung To Supply Displays For iPad Mini, Says Exec

    Samsung To Supply Displays For iPad Mini, Says Exec

    The iPad Mini is one of those perennial rumors that never seems to go anywhere. Ever since the launch of the original iPad in 2010 people have been speculating that Apple would launch a second, smaller iPad, with a display somewhere around seven inches. Steve Jobs vehemently denied that a 7-inch iPad was workable, and criticized Apple’s competitors for making tablets in that size.

    In the months since Jobs’ death, however, rumors of an iPad Mini have been resurfacing with more frequency. In December we reported on rumors that Apple was purchasing 7.85-inch displays from a variety of manufacturers, including LG. Last month there were reports that Apple had an iPad Mini design in the testing phase. Two weeks ago there was another report that Apple was sending samples of a 7.85-inch display to various manufacturers. Most recently, there were reports that Apple was distancing itself from Samsung by getting the displays for the iPad Mini from AU Optronics.

    Now, however, an executive from Samsung has contradicted that last report. Despite Apple’s ongoing patent war with Samsung over several of the latter’s smartphone and tablet designs, Samsung remains a major supplier of certain components for Apple’s devices. Specifically, Samsung is the sole supplier of retina display panels for the new iPad. The executive, who wished to remain anonymous, bragged to the Korea Times about Samsung’s position in Apple’s supply chain. He said that Apple’s contract with Samsung was approaching $11 billion, and that “Apple’s top management still believes Samsung is the only parts maker in the world ideally-positioned to meat all of the critical conditions.”

    In the midst of talking about how much Apple depends on Samsung, he let slip a little detail that may confirm the rumors about the iPad Mini. In addition to all the components Apple currently gets from Samsung, he said that Samsung would be supplying LCD displays for a new, smaller iPad. He apparently did not go into any further detail about the characteristics of such a device, however.

    Assuming this report is genuine, this is the best confirmation yet of an iPad Mini. Even so, the iPad Mini has looked like a sure thing in the past, and never materialized. That being so, a wait-and-see approach is still probably best.

    In the meantime, there’s also Steve Jobs’ famous proclamation that 10 inches was the lower limit for a tablet, because anything smaller would sacrifice quality of experience. Jobs made the statement during an Apple earnings call in 2010. A YouTube video with Jobs’ thoughts on the matter can be seen below. Check it out, then let us know what you think about these latest rumors in the comments.

  • Apple’s New iPad: Supply Chain Ramping Up Production

    Apple’s New iPad: Supply Chain Ramping Up Production

    Last Thursday we brought you news that rumors of a release date for Apple’s next generation iPad had hit the web. In an email to clients, Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner said that he saw no obstacles to a February launch of the iPad 3. Well, this morning reports have begun circulating that Apple’s supply chain may be ramping up production in order to meet Apple’s initial order of the device.

    DigiTimes, citing “sources in the supply chain,” is reporting this morning that the component manufacturers will maintain production levels of the iPad 2 until the end of 2011, but that in the first quarter of 2012 they will slowly stop making tablet in order to clear the way for the iPad 3. Meanwhile, Chinese newspaper Commercial Times is reporting that Foxconn will begin production of the device in January, ramping up to full-scale production in February.

    This last bit conflicts with speculation that Apple will release the device in February, since the unit will only be going into full production at that point. There had been speculation, based on Gardner’s analysis, that Apple might launch the iPad 3 in February, in order to upstage Samsung’s (also rumored, but much more likely) February launch of their own next-generation Galaxy Tab. Samsung’s device is rumored to have specs – including a retina display-like screen – that will put it into serious contention with the iPad, at least in terms of hardware. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is already regarded as Apple’s nearest competitor, although it remains in a distant second place.

    In all likelihood, Apple will maintain it’s release schedule and announce the device in March, for a release in either March or April. The first generation iPad was announced in January of 2010 and released in April, while the iPad 2 was announced in March of this year and released later in the same month.

    While there is no hard data iPad 3’s technical specs, rumors abound. Most agree that the device will finally be getting a retina display to match the iPhone 4 and 4S, a rumor supported by Apple’s announcement last month that it would be contracting with Sharp to make the LCD screens for the new device.

  • Meijer Launches Online Grocery Service

    Meijer Launches Online Grocery Service

    Retailer Meijer has introduced a new online grocery service called “MeijerDoorstepGrocer.com.”

    "This is a very important step for our e-commerce operations," said Rick Keyes, executive vice president of supply chain operations and e-commerce for Meijer.

     

    Meijerdoorstepgrocer

     

    "While we have provided bulk grocery and multi-pack products in the past, Meijer is now able to serve a broader audience with a greater number of selections. This new site will truly have something for everyone, including international customers."

    MeijerDoorstepGrocer.com features 5,000 items including baby supplies, pet food, cleaning supplies, laundry products, health food and other groceries.

    The new online grocery site is available to people in all 50 states. Shipping costs start at $7.95, and our based on the value of the individual order.  Most deliveries are received within two-to-four days of ordering, and there is no minimum order requirement for delivery.  International shipping is also available for an additional charge. For a limited time, Meijer is offering a 10% discount on orders exceeding $100