After many years of moving technical manufacturing and other jobs overseas, where labor is cheaper, tech giants such as Apple and Google are finally reversing the trend and opening their newest manufacturing facilities here in the United States. Silicon Valley might once again be the thriving electronics metropolis it once was.
According to a new report entitled Small Wind Power, released by Navigant Research, installations worldwide of small wind turbines are expected to double in the next five years. Small wind turbines (SWTs) produced 86 megawatts of energy in 2012, but should be producing 172 megawatts by the year 2018. A single megawatt of energy is…
According to the latest reports and research, hiring trends heading into the second quarter of 2013 are slowly, yet steadily, gaining momentum. One such report, the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey released by the Manpower Group, predicts that hiring overall in the United States will increase by 11 percent in quarter two. This is 1 percent…
According to a report issued by the Freedonia Group Green Building Materials, green building materials will experience a greater rise in demand between now and 2017 than traditional building materials. The rebounding economy is spurring the overall growth of the construction and building materials industries, but consumer awareness of environmentally responsible alternatives, renewable energy sources,…
In 2011, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration made big changes to its previous regulations regarding how truckers handle their mandatory rest periods. Previously, drivers had a lot more flexibility in handling their hours of service regulations, which require drivers to get a certain number of resting hours per work day, along with a longer…
Following DNA testing which revealed some meat products marked 100-percent beef actually contained about one-percent horse meat in European countries, supply chain and procurement leaders are re-thinking their risk strategies. The scandal has been spreading, with more companies jumping in on precautionary testing and even recalling meat products.
The procurement industry is undergoing a transformation, harnessing the power of cloud computing for improved visibility, stronger data analysis capabilities, and lower data storage costs. While the government is taking strides towards becoming one of the biggest adopters of big data, regulation-heavy industries, including procurement, can take advantage of streamlined process and better data management…
After 7 years on the High Risk List, interagency contracts may find a place in the US federal supply chain again. Contract sharing across departments has several benefits, but is the current system ready to manage the risks involved?
South African Minister in the Presidency, Trevor Manuel, announced plans for supply chain management reform across the public sector to develop consistent and uniform rules that will help the government obtain better value on public purchases. At the same time, Manuel discussed the need for performance agreements and stricter consequences among public employees.
Local level governments take various approaches to procurement. Many use a traditional centralized purchasing system, while others have deregulated public procurement and allow departments more control over their purchasing decisions. Sullivan County, New York isn’t the only government adopting a hybrid system that combines the benefits of both centralized and decentralized processes.