Don’t be Scared; Be Prepared! Gearing Up for Fall 2018

Autumn is here, which means the holiday shopping season is just around the corner. The store shelves are already stocked with some Christmas holiday goods, which signals that the products are already sitting in the local DCs and stores. Companies aren’t wasting time to get the holiday shopping season underway, and better inventory management will give them some extra advantages this season. It’s also important to understand why product testing matters in today’s complex safety and compliance world, and how to keep from being blindsided by custom laws and regulations. Amber Road’s subject matter experts provide best practices across the supply chain in a range of published articles from industry publications. 

source https://blog.amberroad.com/blog/dont-be-scared-be-prepared-gearing-up-for-fall-2018

It's Time to Digitize Your Supply Chain - Here's How to Make Your Case

As global supply chains become more and more complex - and as international shipping costs continue to rise - you know that digitizing the data and collaboration tools in your supply chain is more crucial than ever. The companies that are truly thriving these days have something significant in common: a digitized supply chain. Leveraging structured data can help ease external pressures while also providing high levels of visibility, improved efficiency and minimized risk. 

source https://blog.amberroad.com/blog/its-time-to-digitize-your-supply-chain-heres-how-to-make-your-case

C-TPAT – Modernizing Cargo Security Criteria

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has long been an advocate of transparency and risk reduction in global supply chains through the Customs-Trade Partnership against Terrorism (C-TPAT), a voluntary cargo security program for global transactions. Since its inception in 2002, C-TPAT has been the basis of how the government manages and monitors cargo security. 

The security threats the nation faced in 2002 are vastly different from today’s security and terrorism concerns. Each day brings a new cargo security concern based on more complex supply chains, and greater risk of data breaches and cyber-attacks. Changing players in company supply chains can also impact cargo security and put companies at risk.

To address today’s risk, CBP has released a more comprehensive cargo security program, with the support of the trade, to mirror the threats now prevalent in global supply chains. The newly released Minimum-Security Criteria (MSC) replace the previous Minimum-Security Guidelines (MSG), changing the landscape of the program for current members, and future volunteers to the program.

source https://blog.amberroad.com/blog/c-tpat-modernizing-cargo-security-criteria

Brooke Markley, Shining a Spotlight on Compliance

When Brooke Markley was nominated to participate in our Compliance Professional Spotlight campaign, we knew immediately that she was going to be our next Compliance Champion.

With her extensive experience as an agricultural economist and policy analyst, Brooke has spent her entire career helping others grow their agricultural businesses. In her role as the Trade Compliance Manager at Leprino Foods, Brooke helped revolutionize her company’s processes with respect to compliance and accuracy. As the first person to fill this new position at Leprino, Brooke has gone above and beyond. Not only has she defined the role and navigated the difficulties of being the first with grace, she’s created policies to fit Leprino’s unique compliance requirements associated with the cheese and dairy nutrition products that Leprino Foods exports to more than 40 countries across the globe.

source https://blog.amberroad.com/blog/brooke-markley-shining-a-spotlight-on-compliance

Webinar: How the Digital Model of Your Supply Chain is Like a Planning a Potluck

Imagine you're planning a potluck. Each friend is assigned to bring their specialty - a tasty homemade dish, the centerpiece honeybaked ham, their secret-recipe apple pie - and you, the host, need to coordinate it all. Thing is, one of your friends is in Vietnam. The other is on a cargo ship in the North Pacific. And the only tools you have at your disposal are a fax machine and an Excel spreadsheet that no one else can see. How is your potluck going to be a success?

Of course, that's not how anyone plans a party these days. Individuals can easily communicate and collaborate across borders to share plans and ideas instantly. But creating a digital model for your company's global supply chain is a lot more complex than simply downloading Venmo. You'll need to transform your entire ecosystem and technology stack - no simple task.

Who should be included in your new digital model of your supply chain, what will they contribute and how will that be shared and consumed? What are the benefits?

It's just like a potluck, only a lot bigger. And more complex. 

Join ARC Advisory Group and Amber Road for a webinar to discover how you can begin to build a truly digital supply chain.

Webinar: Building a Digital Supply Chain is Like Hosting a Potluck:  What You Need to Know

Wednesday, October 24, 2018 at 2PM EDT

source https://blog.amberroad.com/blog/webinar-how-the-digital-model-of-your-supply-chain-is-like-a-planning-a-potluck

Blockchain & Purchase Orders - A Match Made in Heaven?

Global trade and global trade management are becoming increasingly more complex without the right tools on hand. The solution to navigating the numerous potential complications and their impact on supply chains worldwide has always been technology in the form of a digitized supply chain. If you haven't heard, the big new thing in technology right now is blockchain. But how could this work in the supply chain?

As we delve deeper into blockchain’s potential capabilities and uses, we’ve found that one thing remains the same – blockchain for the supply chain just seems to make sense. In our first whitepaper on blockchain for the supply chain we found that there are a multitude of ways that blockchain could be used, including supplier management and end-to-end visibility.  In our second and newest white paper we further explore blockchain’s potential for use with smart contracts and purchase order management. 

source https://blog.amberroad.com/blog/blockchain-in-the-supply-chain

Lessons Learned at the CSCMP EDGE Conference: Amber Road's Recap!

Last week, international shippers and supply chain experts gathered in Nashville for the CSCMP EDGE Conference to share cutting-edge supply chain solutions and best practices. Top talent from Nike, IBM and Amazon started off the event by exploring what the future of supply chain may look like - and how top brands are approaching their own value chains.

So, what does the future hold for your international supply chain? 

An overarching theme this year was the need for true, real-time supply chain visibility, and how to achieve that visibility through some truly transformational technologies like Internet of Things/ IoT, blockchain, and the move to digital platforms. Shippers know they need to adjust to the complexity of today's global trade landscape and are finding innovative ways to automate and digitize their supply chains. 

So what are the top strategies to keep in mind?

source https://blog.amberroad.com/blog/lessons-learned-at-the-cscmp-edge-conference-amber-roads-recap

EU-Vietnam Trade Agreement Underlines Environmental and Social Considerations

One indicator of the impact climate change is making on Vietnam is the migratory shift of inhabitants from the agriculturally-rich Mekong Delta to urban areas. According to government statistics, more than 1.7 million residents have relocated out of the vast expanse of fields, rivers and canals over the last ten years. Natural disasters have vexed the regional farmers trying to make a living of rice, shrimp, and fruit production and harvesting for export. One in-depth study on migration in deltas revealed that climate factors such as extreme floods, cyclones, erosion, and land degradation play a role in making natural resource-based livelihoods more difficult, further encouraging inhabitants to migrate.

source https://blog.amberroad.com/blog/eu-vietnam-trade-agreement-underlines-environmental-and-social-considerations

Meet Our Captain of Compliance: Bethany Nelson

In honor of National Compliance Officer Day, Amber Road will be recognizing one compliance officer weekly from October 3^rd through November 4^th. With all the changes in trade agreements, product testing and ethical sourcing standards, maintaining compliance in any part of your supply chain is becoming increasingly more difficult. We believe in the magic that compliance professionals bring to their company. Therefore, we are spotlighting Bethany Nelson, the Export Control Coordinator for the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

source https://blog.amberroad.com/blog/meet-our-captain-compliance-bethany-nelson

Amber Road Customers Closing High Performance Gap with Digital

Despite store closures, sluggish sales, and demanding consumers, at least 50 of the most profitable  retailers still managed to keep growth going. Their success is in large part related to the technology they use to keep their supply chains running at optimal performance and beat the competition in a tough marketplace. Industry resource Apparel magazine has released its annual “Top 50 Report,” not just listing the most profitable US apparel companies, but shedding light onto how they came out swinging in 2018, despite the industry challenges they faced.

In order to hold a position on this list, retail companies need to exceed $100 million in sales, even though most reach into the billions. As publicly traded US companies, these organizations have demonstrated profit margin increases over the last year, grading them in order of these strides in revenue gains.

Amber Road is proud to congratulate 10 of the Top 50 companies who we also have the honor to serve as customers. These are the companies on this year’s Apparel Top 50 list that are customers leveraging Amber Road’s software solutions for supply chain collaboration and execution:

• Tapestry (Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman)
• Nike
• Cintas
• PVH
• VF Corp
• Chico’s
• Ralph Lauren
• Vera Bradley
• TJX
• L Brands

“Some of these notable names have been long-time customers. The year-over-year performance of these winners is impressive, and we believe software solutions do play a hand in their achievements,” said Cheryl Layne, Customer Success Director for Amber Road. “We have always maintained a customer base of growing apparel and footwear companies and we congratulation them for their hard work.”

When asked about challenges, Robert Wallstrom, CEO of Vera Bradley replied: “Over the last few years, retail has been going through a very disruptive cycle, and the industry has changed forever. Technology has revolutionized retail: the e-commerce channel has become the primary growth engine; marketing has transformed to a ‘digital-first’ strategy; the physical store has moved from a place of purchase to a place of brand experience; and artificial intelligence is becoming the core engine to drive change faster than anyone could have previously imagined.” You can read the entire Apparel article here.

It’s apparent these companies understand the business value of automating and optimizing their supply chain execution operations for greater visibility, agility and lowered risk, while reducing sourcing costs across the board. To do it right, organizations need to take a holistic, integrated approach that encompasses every phase in the lifecycle. Amber Road offers companies solutions across the entire supply chain. To learn more about today’s global trade management solutions, click on the download below from Aberdeen Group.

source https://blog.amberroad.com/blog/apparel-magazines-top-50-closing-high-performance-gap-with-digital

The New NAFTA Takes Shape as USMCA

After months of discussion and to-and-fro activity, the US and Canada reached a late hour agreement on a framework for a renewed trilateral trade agreement that will replace NAFTA. The “US-Mexico-Canada Agreement” or USMCA is a “new, modernized trade agreement”, according to the joint statement released on Sunday evening by US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland — the two top negotiators on USMCA.

source https://blog.amberroad.com/blog/the-new-nafta-takes-shape-as-usmca