Volvo

Volvo AB, a global manufacturer of trucks, buses, marine engines, and construction equipment, is in the process of re-engineering their entire global service parts network from suppliers to central warehouses to support warehouses, and then out to dealers. This is an undertaking of considerable magnitude—to develop a platform sufficiently scaleable to plan, forecast and balance every part at worldwide locations throughout the supply chain. Volvo is taking a phased approach to their rollout by starting with one business unit with central and support warehouses, implementing global process improvement and then incrementally adding geographies to the application and database.

Kang Kok Hua: Strategic Development Manager, Greater Asia Logistics, Intel Corporation

American firms responding the to lure of the Far East would do well to take a cautionary note from Kang Kok Hua of Intel Corporation, who has been viewing Asia with a focused eye for the past two decades.

Before sinking money into ground-based manufacturing operations, Kang says, potential investors should first put their own people on the ground to ask questions, like “how good is the logistics capacity?”

As an example of ‘what not to do,’ he says that many of the first corporations that went into China were persuaded by their own ‘best case’ reasoning, exactly the wrong kind of logic. Instead, they should invoke due diligence to determine that the business case can pass muster even in a ‘worst case’ scenario. 

Baxter

One firm that has played a lead in the greening of the supply chain is the pharmaceutical concern Baxter.

In 2002, Baxter began operating workshops for its suppliers on such topics as the environment, health and safety. Since 2005, it has recruited its suppliers to take part in the Green Supplier Network, an industry collaboration with the U.S. EPA and Department of Commerce. Through this process, five suppliers in the health care sector—four recruited by Baxter—identified potential water, waste and energy savings of $8 million a year. That savings, of course, shows up as another form of green.

The BRIC Nations: Brazil, Russia, India, and China

As industrial nations re-invent themselves to prosper in the era of globalization, the emerging BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India, and China—are seemingly one step ahead. According to the OECD, the BRIC countries are on a steady growth path “whereas the developed nations will see slower progress.” In its latest report, the OECD points to the steady expansion of the BRIC countries as a key driver in growth of the global economy. Using the organization’s Composite of Leading Indicators, the OECD found the 29 developed countries of Europe, America and Asia-Pacific rising half-a-point while China rose 3.3 points, Brazil 2.4 points, India 1.6 points, and Russia 1.4 points.

William H. Sardo, Jr.:Virginia Tech University, Pallet and Container Research Laboratory

Did you know that wood crating is corrosive? That’s just one of the discoveries coming from the only lab in the U.S. that provides comprehensive R&D, technical assistance and education specifically on pallets and crates and the materials and fasteners from which they are made. 

The results are being translated into pallets and crates that resist mold, mildew, insects, and corrosion, as well as crates and pallets that can be washed, repaired and recycled. The lab also is studying the strength, stiffness and durability of various pallet and crating materials and how their structure interacts with the unit load, to determine the vibrations of various pallet materials and their transference to the products.

Sun Microsystems

After the high-tech bubble burst in 2000, Sun Micros ystems faced extreme financial pressure to reduce its overall operating expenses by improving operational efficiency and leverage its global scale. In a gutsy move, Sun redesigned its entire supply chain logistics system (125,000 parts spread across locations in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Canada, the U.S. and Latin America).

By starting at the beginning, Sun was able to incorporate best practices from other industries and eliminate legacy systems that no longer made sense. One outcome—Sun now services customer specifications much earlier in the production process and is able to ship completed machines from multiple locations. Net net: lower logistics costs, less finished inventory.

Commecial Vehicle Safety Alliance

When Seattle encountered a string of highway accidents caused by loose wheels breaking off commercial trucks, who did they turn to? The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.

A non-profit organization of government officials responsible for the administration of motor carrier safety laws, launched in the 1980s, now includes members from Canada and Mexico, as well as ‘associates’ representing nearly all the major trucking companies. Among its services is the North American Standard Inspection Program, a voluntary safety certification that some three million vehicles undergo annually (“the inspection results are used to identify motor carriers that present a high degree of risk to the motoring public”).

The problem in Seattle? “Basically, it all comes down to the people who are doing maintenance on these trucks,” was the conclusion. “They’re not following the manufacturers’ recommendations.”

Hank Shechtman: Vice President, Operations, American Eagle Outfitters

Shechtman has been at the helm of AEO’s international supply chain as it has quadrupled sales (and associated inbound air and ocean shipments) four-fold over the past decade. Facing the limitations of a supply chain that had reached its limits of scalability, he implemented a technology solution that would support growth of the clothing chain aimed at preppy 15-25 year olds.

In what is considered a case study in ‘how to do it right,’ AEO first developed an on-demand platform to leverage existing integrations with logistics providers and subsequently a software solution customized to its specific requirements. In doing so, the company avoided a mistake often made in comparable situations of imposing ‘off-the-shelf’ software solutions on complex global supply chains.

In addition, Shechtman teaches a course aptly titled “Hands On Supply Chain Logistics” at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pa. “Read what you want,” he tells each class at the opening session, “I’m here to tell you how it really is!”

Boeing

To manufacture its category-busting new Dream Liner 787, Boeing had to first develop a delivery system capable of transporting the enormous sections of the aircraft from their global suppliers to Everett, Washington for final assembly. The solution: the 747 Dreamlifter.

 With 65,000 cubic feet of cargo space, it can carry a greater volume of cargo than any plane in the world and is considered a vital integrator that has changed the way Boeing manages its supply chain by allowing extremely large components to be developed far from their final assembly plant. The first flight, last April, delivered the horizontal stabilizer from Italy in a shipping configuration that measured 42 x 13 x 9 feet. These modified 747-400 passenger planes are reducing delivery times from a month to as little as one day.

Richard Wool: Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware

Supply chain innovation can come from unlikely places; like chicken feather and soy composite, which is what Professor Richard Wool is using to build circuit boards.

Wool’s work researching alternative chemical pathways is part of the university’s ACRES team, Affordable Composites from Renewable Sources (another project is making plastic out of soy).

Why is this significant for the supply chain? Besides being an environmentally friendly alternative to the fiberglass and epoxy circuit boards currently used, they are “a lighter, stronger, cheaper product with high-speed electronic properties,.” wWhich could mean lots of currently unimaginable ways to integrate chips into logistics and transportation processes (think RFID tags on steroids!).

Chris Coppersmith: President and CEO, Target Logistic Services

Sometimes the real measure of a company’s expertise and abilities can be gauged from the praise it receives from its customers, which comes in abundance for Coppersmith and his ever-expanding transportation and logistics network at Target Logistic Services.

In 2001, the company began working with DMSI, the Internet and catalogue merchandiser for Sears, Montgomery Wards, and other well-known names. Target handles large products, such as furniture, that comes directly from the vendor to the consumer, dealing with everything along the way—delivery appointments, customer service issues, and special delivery requests.

Not many pure-play transportation and logistics companies could perform as well as Target has in the B2C environment. “From a professional and personal standpoint, I can’t think of a better relationship that I have ever established in my 40 years of retail merchandising,” says Dick Rothberg, Director of Operations, DMSI.

CBP and C-TPAT: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Office of Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT)

With 80,000 shipments of goods daily ($1.5 trillion annually) processed at 325 U.S. ports of entry, insuring safety from terror at 100 percent levels is impossible, but that doesn’t mean a balance can’t be struck.

Leading the charge is the CBP agency, formed in the Homeland Security governmental reorganization of 2003. Securing America’s Borders at Ports of Entry is its five-year strategic plan to reduce threats while still facilitating legitimate trade. 

A central piece in this strategy is C-TPAT, a voluntary program that requires participants to enhance their supply chain security. More than 10,000 enterprises are C-TPAT certified, effectively policing the security of their vendors and transportation providers before they get to U.S. ports.

Jeffrey Lipson: Director of Purchasing, Legal Sea Foods

Talk about supply chain centric! This East Coast chain supplies its 34 white linen seafood restaurants in eight states and the District of Columbia with fish routed to them via its Boston headquarters. 

Jeffrey Lipson oversees the process, which begins with the purchase at fish auctions on piers along the Atlantic coast and Florida, then continues through to the company’s quality assurance testing facility in Boston and then shipped back out to individual restaurants.

“Even though it may seem somewhat inefficient to buy some species from Florida, bring it all the way up to Boston for quality assurance and send it back, it is the only way we know to make sure it is the freshest fish possible,” Lipson says. While the company trucks product to most of its facilities, it flies shipments daily to Florida (often returning fish originally caught there).

Subaru

Subaru was way ahead of the curve in adopting a ‘green’ supply chain and environmentally friendly manufacturing.

The company’s manufacturing facility in Indiana was the first in America to achieve zero landfill status (in 2004)—meaning 99 percent of all the plant’s waste is recycled. The remaining 1 percent is turned into electricity. 

Reducing supply chain costs is the added benefit with this type of ‘green’ manufacturing, which puts Subaru further down the road than any other automaker in the world.

Meanwhile, the company manages its shipment of some 750 tons of automobile parts per year via air from Japan to the U.S. with equal attention to efficiency, shipping freight directly to regional distribution centers.

Lynn C. Fritz: Chairman, Fritz Institute

Having built his father’s customs brokerage company into a Fortune 1000 global logistics corporation, Lynn Fritz could have easily taken some well-deserved time off after selling Fritz Companies to UPS in 2001 for $450 million. Rather, he parlayed his logistics expertise into founding a non-profit organization dedicated to improving global disaster relief. 

According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), technology developed and provided by the Fritz Institute has made the IFRC’s delivery of humanitarian aid much quicker and far less expensive. It took 18 days for the IFRC to set up its supply chain after the 2004 South Asia tsunami, but after the 2006 Jakarta earthquake and tsunami, the supply chain was established in only three days.

The Hershey Company

The venerable American icon started out in the late 19th century as the Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Caramel Company and then rose to prominence when founder Milton Hershey figured out how the Swiss made milk chocolate and successfully marketed what had previously been a luxury item to the masses. 

Now a global company exporting to ninety countries, Hershey recently announced a strategic supply chain alliance with Barry Callebaut, among the world’s leading confectionaries. The Swiss company, opening manufacturing facilities in North America, will supply premium ingredients and liquid chocolate to Hershey.

In addition, the companies will partner on product development focusing on “driving innovation in new chocolate taste experiences.” They will also work together in efforts to build a sustainable cocoa supply.

Henry Paulson: Secretary of Treasury

The Wall Street honcho came to Treasury last year to salvage (among other things) the Bush trade agenda, with particular attention to China. True to his reputation as a voice of reason, he has diligently pursued highest-level economic dialogues with the Chinese (drawing on his personal experience with their leaders from his days heading Goldman Sachs). Unlike Congressional trade hawks demanding punitive sanctions, Paulson’s approach is to appeal to the Chinese’ self-interest in addressing concerns about its undervalued currency, trade imbalances and product safety. 

During a recent trip, he underscored his essential point-of-view, that the greatest fear is not China’s role as an economic competitor to the U.S. but rather a China “that overheats and de-rails.”

Autozone

This national auto parts retailer based in Memphis, Tennessee, has turned moved towards global sourcing, predominantly in Asia. To better manage this expanding supply chain, it has tapped into an online trucking consortium to provide both shipping data visibility and logistics management. Its integrated supply chain platform is considered one of the leading examples in the United States.

Whirlpool Corporation: Indirect Procurement-Supply Chain Sourcing Team

Whirlpool Corporation is the world’s leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances, with annual sales of approximately $18 billion, 73,000 employees, and 70 manufacturing and technology research centers around the world. Playing off the success of consolidating its annual global ocean freight bid, Whirlpool’s supply chain sourcing team is working to globalize all logistics commodities over the next 12 to 18 months. The team is evaluating best practices in each global region to establish standards and baselines for warehousing, transportation, and third-party providers. The success of this strategy is dependent on adapting to the unique challenges and opportunities facing each region.

George Cummings: Director of Port Security, Port of Los Angeles

Maintaining a continuum of deterrence, prevention, response, and recovery is critical to security initiatives at the Port of Los Angeles, that along with the Port of Long Beach handle over 40 percent of containerized freight entering the U.S. The port has a two-pronged security mission: improve security of the port and work with partners to increase global supply chain security, says George Cummings, director of port security.

Supply chain security involves cooperative initiatives to ensure that the legitimate movement of goods is not exploited and that port recovery planning is in place, says Cummings. “We coordinate with federal, state, and local agencies and work closely with terminal operators, shippers, carriers, the lines, and overseas ports so we can get the system going again as quickly as possible, if necessary.”

Vermont, The 'Green' State

While its nickname is the Green Mountain State, Vermont is green in other ways too: it boasts the lowest per-capita carbon-emission rate in the country and its ‘green’ lifestyle is one that has ingrained in the residents’ culture for decades. Hundreds of environmental technology-based companies and institutions focusing on wind, hydrogen, solar, organic, and methane energy sources are thriving in the state. Additionally, 71 percent of the state is oil free from foreign sources, and Vermont’s consumption of biodiesel increased by an estimated 73 percent in 2006.

Now that supply chain executives are putting green logistics at the top of their agenda, the R&D occurring in the state is all the more vital.

Nokia

The Finnish telecom giant ($54 billion revenue in 2006), long celebrated for its technical and marketing leadership, is equally reputed as a supply chain leader. Its agile reaction several years ago when the factory of a critical computer chip was ravaged by fire is a classic tale of supply chain resilience (in contrast to a competitor that was slow to react and ultimately forced to exit the cell phone business).

As a result of that experience, Nokia designs products with a focus on multiple-sourced components. The management culture has reacted correspondingly, with cross-functional teams empowered to take fast action to make necessary changes.

The World Trade Organization

The next stage in spreading global trade liberalization hinges on negotiations over agricultural subsidies. But, the political clout of the agricultural sector (and, more to the point, agri-business) make that easier said than done.

The WTO drew a big line in the sand recently when it ruled, in behalf of Brazil, that the U.S. unfairly subsidizes the cotton industry. The case against the U.S (which accounts for 40 percent of world cotton exports), has drawn attention to efforts from poor cotton-growing countries like Benin, Chad, Mali and Burkina Faso to secure subsidy reform in global trade talks.

The dispute is unlikely to be settled until next year, at which point either the U.S. will agree to implement the ruling or Brazil will apply trade sanctions.

Ricoh Americas Corporation

West Caldwell, N.J.-based Ricoh Americas Corporation is an office automation equipment and electronics provider with revenues of $3.3 billion annually. Three years ago, the company began dramatically changing its logistics model to eliminate inventory imbalance, reduce obsolescence and increase order fill rates. Today, product demand is forecast by brand and model and customized with accessories at a centralized configuration center. Now, product assembly is postponed until the demand signal is received. As a result, products are configured closer to customer demand, reducing product deployment lead-time by 60 days and allowing the company to react quickly to demand changes.

The Suez Canal

Along with the Panama Canal, this vital channel is a vital cog in the global supply chain (7.5 percent of the world’s sea trade passes on its waters). In its current configuration, passage is limited to ships of 150,000 tons displacement; which is no longer good enough—especially for super-tankers (which now must off-load part of their cargo at one end of the canal and re-load at the other).

Plans approved this year are in place for expansion, which will enable Suez to take vessels larger than 220,000 tons. Estimated cost: $440 million (to be entirely financed by Egypt). Upon completion (scheduled for 2010) the canal will be able to accommodate 90 percent of existing ships. 

M. John Vickerman: Principal, TranSystems

World trade is a complex system, which, as John Vickerman might be inclined to point out, isn’t very systematic. In trade, he suggests, we do not so much have an intermodal system as an intermodal aggregation: individual pieces of rail, road and port are better aware of their own needs than of what a smoothly running system would require. Vickerman is a founding partner of TranSystems, the Norfolk, Virginia-based consulting firm that is impressive if for no other reason than for the range of topics it attacks. On any given day, many in the supply chain are running as fast as they can just to stay in place: Vickerman is one of those who look down that road a decade or so to suggest where all those runners should be heading.

Bosch

Best known as a major automotive technology manufacturer, this multi-billion dollar transnational giant was an early adopter of supply network collaboration management platforms (SAP) and is considered the largest implementation based on global reach, number of suppliers and functional use of the product. Bosch is sharing inventory levels, forecasting plans, integrating environments and increasing the synchronization of resources with its suppliers.

Broadband

Now that broadband penetration is viewed as a key economic indicator, the performance of the U.S. in this arena—both in terms of speed and price—is middling. Japanese prices for broadband per megabyte per second are the lowest in the OECD at 22 cents; the least expensive in the U.S. is $3.18. And, in terms of per capita broadband users, the U.S. ranks twelfth.

The ultimate impact on the U.S. depends on point of view. Critics say a cabal of cable and telecoms that control broadband are keeping the U.S. behind the curve. “The major impediment to U.S. adoption is price, not lack of availability,” counters Forrester Research.

William Gray & Phil Klotzbach: Professors of Atmoshperic Science, Colorado State University

Bob Dylan sang: “A hard rain’s a-goin’ fall.” Actually, you don’t have to tell Dr. William Gray that; it’s something he learned long ago in a career that has made him perhaps the country’s leading forecaster of hurricane activity. Now retired, his long-time assistant Phil Klotzbach takes over. This year’s prediction: Their 2007 forecast calls for a hurricane season “much more active” than the average of the past 50 years, with nine named storms—the average is 5.9—and total cyclone activity about 85 percent above the long-term average. Hurricane forecasting is, among other things, one tool in global supply chain risk management.

1-800-USA-TRADE

Can you imagine phoning the federal government to inquire about exporting and actually getting to speak to someone? It happens when you call 1-800-USA-TRADE. For online resources, the companion website, www.export.gov, offers a wealth of resources, including market research, trade leads, and export finance information, to name a few.

The federal government also operates over 100 export assistance centers throughout the U.S.

Jonathan Benner: Partner, Troutman, Sanders LLP

It’s generally conceded that the U.S. faces major difficulties with its major seaports. One reason: the port function in the U.S. is chopped into a welter of competing jurisdictions, agendas, outlooks and industries with very little overall perspective. One who can help to provide that perspective is Washington D.C., attorney Jonathan Benner, former General Counsel to the Federal Maritime Commission and recognized as one of the country’s leading shipping lawyers. The big problem in developing a national maritime policy, he believes, is because political interest in ports is largely limited to members of Congress with one in their district—meaning there is a serious shortage of expertise.

FIDM--The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising

FIDM/The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM)

This co-ed specialized, private college, with four campuses in California, is truly a “perfect marriage between education and industry.” According to Barbara Bundy, Vice President, Education, “Our commitment to preparing students for today’s global economy goes beyond developing classroom curriculum. We also take students on international study tours giving them the opportunity to see firsthand today’s business realities.” With majors such as International Manufacturing and Product Development, which immerses the student in all phases of the product development cycle, including international sourcing, the college is keenly aware of what kinds of courses and experiences graduates need to hit the ground running. At FIDM, they recognize that educating a new generation of fashion students calls for just as much emphasis on global sourcing, manufacturing, and supply chains as strutting your stuff down the runway.

Christine Gregoire: Governor, State of Washington

Governor Gregoire has made international trade the cornerstone of the state’s economic plan. Washington already exports more than any other state in the nation on a per capita basis (one in every three jobs is tied to trade). To promote even more growth, planning is being directed to alleviate transportation bottlenecks. One example: Governor Gregoire has encouraged the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma to stop competing directly with each other and, instead, to develop complementary strategic plans addressing land use, increased rail capacity and improved land transportation.

Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble gets the nod for taking an already admirable global supply chain and squeezing out even more efficiency—to the tune of $1 billion in gains for the company. According to the P&G’s Global Product Supply Officer, Keith Harrison, even that figure “is a very conservative number.” A big part of the strategy is reducing out-of-stocks at the shelf level and focusing even more on the company’s consumer-driven supply network.

For as big as the consumer goods giant is, it always impresses with its ability to move swiftly. Recently, for instance, the company was quick to acknowledge that it needed to reduce its DCs from 450 to 225 to shore up profits and also started to look for ways to optimize the management of its truckload and LTL shipments. P&G is also on the move in developing countries, not only for sourcing opportunities, but as new markets for its extensive line of products.

Avon Products

Ding, Dong, Avon’s calling—on more foreign countries that is, especially in China and other emerging markets. Already, 70 percent of the company’s revenues come from overseas markets, but the company is restructuring both its manufacturing and marketing to gain a better foothold. As part of its makeover, Avon has recruited 399,000 sales people in China in less than a year.

The company got its start in New York in 1886, when a door-to-door book salesman began giving away a bottle of cheap perfume with every purchase. He soon realized that women liked perfume much more than they liked books (well, maybe not all women). Soon after, he signed up his first sale rep, Mrs. Albee, a New Hampshire widow, and the Avon Lady was born.

Now, the company is a well-known global brand with 90 per cent brand recognition and more than five million representatives ringing doorbells in 100 countries, and is worth $8 billion.

SSA Terminals

“We are a company that is willing to take chances for the overall good of the industry,” remarks Ed DeNike, COO of SSA Terminals, which captures the corporate vision of the company’s drive for innovation in global supply chains.

 SSA Marine is the largest privately held container terminal operator and cargo handling company in the world, handling approximately 22 million container TEU’s per year. The nearly 60-year-old company serves more than 120 locations in the  U.S. and throughout the world.

The company is also a leader in embracing new technology. As an example, they were the first terminal operator in the world to adopt an active RFID-powered marine terminal management solution that enables “virtual tagging” of every container in a seaport yard. 

Italy

Sometimes lost in the shuffle of more conspicuous European neighbors (Germany, France), Italy retains its historic status as the center of Mediterranean trade, ranking among the world’s ten biggest importers-exporters. If suffering some competitive disadvantage because of the relatively small scale of its manufacturing enterprises (90 percent of industrial companies have less than 100 employees), strategic location makes it a valued prospect for direct foreign investment, all the more so now with opportunities associated with relatively recent privatization of the energy and telecommunications market.

The Milken Institute

Independent economic think tank the Milken Institute’s annual Global Conference gets kudos for bringing together the brightest minds from a multitude of disciplines to tackle current issues, such as reducing oil dependency to ensuring access to a good education, quality health care, and well-paying jobs.

Equally important is the organizers’ increasing focus on world trade, sustainable and responsible supply chains and manufacturing strategies, and sharing the wealth with developing countries throughout the world.

Andy Pollak: CEO, Railex

A cross-country train is probably the last mode of transport any Washington state farmer would want their produce traveling on; traditional rail service can take up to 18 days and if a car of perishables is left in a switching yard the loss could total up to $40,000.

Yet, Washington produces huge volumes of potatoes, onions, apples, pears, cherries, asparagus, broccoli and carrots and its largest customer base is on the East Coast.

Pollack’s idea of a dedicated rail line with refrigerated cars to carry produce from the West to East Coast was a hard sell at first. But now, the five-day transit matches the speed of trucks at about the same cost and often times with more certainty.

Hau L. Lee: Stanford Graduate School of Business

This professor of Operations, Information, and Technology also directs Stanford’s Global Supply Chain Management Forum.  Among his key findings: sustainable supply chain competitive advantage requires more than individual agility and adaptation.  The ‘community’ counts.  Sustainable advantage means they align the interests of all the firms in the supply network so that companies optimize the chain’s performance when they maximize their interests.

Robert Zoellick: President, World Bank

The World Bank is ‘the great equalizer’ amongst the nations of the world, its original mission of re-constructing industrial capacity after World War II now, half-a-century later, changed to improving the standard of living around the globe with comprehensive development projects. To be charged with responsibility for directing such an institution (a role traditionally given to an American because of the U.S.’ position as the Bank’s largest share holder), is no small thing.

Robert Zoellick’s appointment as President of the World Bank was received with general satisfaction. Although critics were quick to note his long-time connection to the Bush administration (as U.S. Trade Representative and then Condolezza Rice’s number two at the Department of State), there was agreement that he is more experienced trade professional than political neoconservative ideologue.

Kathleen Hoertkorn: Founder and CEO, New Vine Logistics

Kathleen Hoertkorn, a veteran in the transportation and logistics industry, saw an opportunity in the wine industry, particularly with the interstate sale and distribution of wine.

She brought together executives from the wine industry, technology and transportation sectors and formed New Vine Logistics in 2001.

New Vine Logistics makes it possible for wineries of all sizes to dramatically increase revenue through a broader consumer base. Wineries simply transfer product to New Vine Logistics’ Napa Valley distribution center and they take care of the rest. Regardless of size, any winery can now legally access up to 90 percent of the U.S. market.

Hallmark

Hallmark, the world’s leader in greeting cards with net revenues of $4.1 billion, is a supply chain powerhouse shipping 20,000 products to 43,000 retail outlets in the U.S. and 100 countries. Because of the nature of its business, these shipments are typically quite complex, comprised of small amounts of different items to individual stores. Hallmark is continuing to improve its global supply chain operations by using technology to establish an end-to-end source of order and shipment information enabling the company to better pinpoint transit delays and resolve issues before they impact the demand plan as well as centralize tracking and analysis of inbound shipments across their partner network.

Biewer Lumber

Michigan-based giant Biewer Lumber has been in the timber shipping industry for more than four decades, manufacturing and distributing a range of construction products across the United States, Canada and Europe. In a $151 billion wood industry with 86,000 manufacturers, Biewer is using new business processes and supply chain technology to distinguish itself from the pack. In the past two years, the company has significantly lowered its bottom-line logistics costs, centralizing its transportation system and realizing savings of $120,000 annually. As a result of the new centralized system, Biewer Lumber has reduced carrier shortages, prevented double freight bookings and improved service levels to carriers.

J. Paul Dittmann: University of Tennessee

Researchers and those working in the same often don’t speak to each other much, but that’s Those who research in a field and those who practice within it often do not much speak to each other. This is  hardly the case at the University of Tennessee’s Supply Chain Strategy and Management Forum, where twice annually, corporate and academic leaders meet to collaborate around industry issues central to the supply chain. This forum is one aspect of the University’s activities in supply chain, activities that have brought it recognition as a leader in the field. Helping bridge that gap is Dr. J. Paul Dittmann, director of the university’s Office of Corporate Partnership, through which he and others work with industry on the practical supply chain tasks they face. Before taking on his campus role, he had a 30-year career in the logistics field; coming to Tennessee directly from his post as vice president, supply chain strategy, projects and systems, for the Whirlpool Corporation.

Brad Huther: Senior Advisor of IP, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Protecting intellectual property has become one of the top priorities for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, says Brad Huther, senior advisor of IP. “In the knowledge-based economy, protecting America’s intellectual property is a new dimension of the Chamber’s work, compared to 30 years ago when we were primarily a manufacturing exporter.”

Intellectual property—patents, trademarks, and copyright—now represent about half of all American exports. “We rely on our ability to be innovative entrepreneurs and we must protect IP if we are to remain competitive in world trade or we lose our American way of life.” wt

Sidebar: 5 U.S. Brands That Have Made It Fabulously Big In 5 Years

American entrepreneurship is still hard at work. Of course, the power of the Internet greased with globalization makes it easier than ever to bring ideas from the kitchen table to the marketplace, as these companies clearly illustrate.



Crocs

When the three founders of Crocs decided to launch a new line of footwear five years ago, it’s doubtful that they would have imagined the incredible success of their product. What started out as a boating shoe with slip-resistant soles has grown into a casual and recreational shoe that is fun and attractive to men, women, and even kids. The mass appeal of the product alone is remarkable. The marketing strategy is also unique: the company sells shoes in traditional footwear outlets, as well as gift shops, uniform supply stores, bicycle dealers, health and beauty stores, and on the Internet.

Crocs are manufactured in the company’s own facilities in North America as well as in third-party manufacturers’ facilities around the world.



Jibbitz

You might say that Jibbitz followed in the footsteps of Crocs, literally. Two years ago, Colorado mom Sheri Schmelzer decided to decorate her children’s Crocs. She came up with whimsical items that snapped into the holes of the shoes. The business that started in the basement of Schmelzer’s home now makes over 250 different styles of the cuff-link like accessories, which sell for $2.49 each by the millions.

Last October, Schmelzer sold her company to Crocs for $10 million, which will operate Jibbitz as a subsidiary. “Jibbitz isn’t just a family-business fairy tale: It’s a study in piggybacking on a product phenomenon,” remarked one business journalist.



Ugly Dolls

Co-creaters of the Uglydoll—Sun-Min Kim and David Horvath—met in New York while both were attending art school. Horvath’s drawing of the character “Wage” at the bottom of a letter to Kim came to life when she created the first handsewn doll. The dolls are now handsewn in China, and are sold in specialty shops such as Barneys NY and in museum stores at the Whitney, MOMA, MOCA, and the Louvre.

“There’s a reason that the dolls sell in places more suitable to a fashionable bit of home décor than Hokey Pokey Elmo,” commented a New York Times reporter. “Early interest in the stuffed toys came from hipsters who were into design and ambivalent about adulthood.” It turn outs that the primary demographic for Uglydolls are not even children, but the twenty- and thirty-something crowd; another example of how success is just as frequently found in the exception than the rule.



Mozilla’s Firefox

It’s not a stretch to say that in the world of computers, changes to hardware and software occur almost daily. The pressure on consumers is intense, which is why when something comes along that’s both easy to use and free, it’s cause for celebration.

Mozilla’s Firefox Web browser was officially released in November of 2004. Aside from being free, it’s also open source software, which means anyone can view, modify, or redistribute the source code.

During its first year, there were 100 million downloads of Firefox, and the company’s share of the browser market has grown steadily since then, mostly at the expense of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. According to Web data provided by NetApplications, as of March 2007, Firefox’s market share had grown to 15.1 percent globally.



California Born

Last year, sales of women’s jeans fell for the first time in five years, according to research firm The NPD Group. But, you wouldn’t know that at California Born, a premium, women’s denim apparel and lifestyle company.

What makes their jeans appealing to women is their “Second Skin” denim, a fabric developed in Italy that stretches four ways, unlike regular denim that pulls only side-to-side. This allows the garment to fit and flatter each body shape.

And, like the name suggests, the company and owners (Leslie Ungar and Tessia Thomas) were not only born in California, but the jeans are made there as well, which is unusual in an industry that sources so much from low-cost manufacturing countries. But, according to Thomas, the ability to keep a closer watch over production is well worth it. In the meantime, global sales continue to climb.