innovative approaches in response to leglislation designed to tackle conflict-mineral sourcing demonstrate how very substantial obstacles can be overcome to achieve reliable supply-chain transparency.

Over the last week world headlines has been dominated by the news of the collapse of a garment factory complex in Bangladesh, leading to questions about the effectiveness of supplier audits.

Dr. Copper, as its known to some, provides analysts with an indication into the health of the global economy while to others, specifically CPOs, it is a material that is integral to the goods they produce.

Having spent a lot of time over the last year investigating what the future might hold, it is interesting to hear the views of those who are making decisions now to prepare for what’s next.

The 2013 Procurement Leaders Forum Chicago got underway today in the illustrious surroundings of the Palmer House Hilton Hotel. One of the early presentations was delivered by Harry Moser, founder and president of the not-for-profit Reshoring Initiative, who passionately believes in the need to rescue the US manufacturing sector from ill-advised offshoring.

It seems as if the news surrounding Apple’s CSR conflicts are here to last for a while. The manufacturing giant just reported multiple cases of child labour in its supply chain, following increased audits of working conditions at major suppliers last year.

There has been a lot of debate recently about whether the outsourcing trend is finally grinding to a halt and companies are now looking to insource, bringing back those manufacturing or administrative operations they sent out to be managed abroad.

The appetite for procurement teams to invest in new technology is there but the question is into what systems is it going and will this appetite ever wane? Surely once a technology has helped you achieve a particular goal, say managing your spend or collecting e-tenders, there’s no need for a new one.