@Risk

For Toyota, the bad news just keeps coming.

Now, ABC News is reporting that U.S. regulators are reviewing more than 60 complaints that the fixes made on Toyota cars recalled for unintended acceleration have not solved the problem.

Toyota says a partial review of these complaints has found no evidence of failure in the electronic throttle system or in the repairs. The company also says it hasn’t found problems in the brake override system.

Still, there’s no doubt that news like this is making a very bad situation even worse.  As Toyota technology chief Takeshi Uchiyamada told ABC News, “The Toyota brand is in a deep crisis.”

How did we get to this point, where long-revered Toyota supply chain management strategies are now a cautionary tale? What lessons can be learned from this devastating series of global safety-related recalls? (more…)

In her speech last week at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Commissioner of Food and Drugs, announced that the FDA is deploying a new web-based information technology system designed to more reliably monitor imports of food and medical products at the port of entry and to target high-risk shipments for further inspection.

The new system, called Predictive Risk-based Evaluation for Dynamic Import Compliance Targeting (PREDICT), uses a variety of assessments to rank import shipments according to risk. It considers everything from whether a product is intrinsically risky (raw seafood, e.g.) to information the FDA has acquired from previous examinations of shippers or producers. Officials can even factor in transitory data such as floods, hot weather or market conditions which might imply that a particular shipment is at risk of being spoiled.  Taken together, these elements add up to a risk score—and the riskiest items are the ones that FDA investigators will check first, Dr. Hamburg said.

In addition to the announcement about PREDICT, Dr. Hamburg’s speech included several statistics that really drive home the message about : 1) the enormous complexity of the challenges faced by the FDA and 2) the dire necessity to improve the status quo at our ports. For instance, she explained that: (more…)

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In the videoclip above, Matt Lauer from NBC’s Today Show interviews Jim Lentz, president and Chief Operating Officer, Toyota Motor Sales. Recorded earlier this morning, this is Lentz’s first interview since the troubled automaker has recalled nearly nine million cars worldwide because of sudden unintended acceleration problems.

Lentz says that the unintended acceleration stems from either:  1) entrapment of the gas pedal in the floor mat (an older problem that has been addressed with redesign of components), or 2) a sticking accelerator pedal (the newer, more serious, concern). (more…)

Loyalty and rewards programs are more popular than ever. In fact, Jupiter Research found that more than 75 percent of consumers have at least one loyalty card; one-third of consumers have two or more.

But, does simply carrying a loyalty card in your wallet or on your key-chain make you a “loyal” customer? Is brand loyalty becoming a thing of the past, or are companies learning to tap into the enormous potential offered by loyalty and reward programs?

The CMO Council polled nearly 700 consumers for answers to questions like these and released its findings in the new report, “The Leaders in Loyalty: Feeling the Love from The Loyalty Clubs.”

As you might expect, the survey revealed a complex picture –but one that ultimately shows that businesses still have a lot of work to do when it comes to fine-tuning strategies for effective targeted marketing aimed at retaining loyal customers.

For example, the study found that: (more…)

Increased globalization introduces new risks throughout every company’s supply chain –but the challenges are particularly formidable for food manufacturers and distributors.

As remarkable as it sounds, statistics from the U.S. government show that food illnesses now sicken one in four Americans and kill 5,000 each year.

Of course, the food industry suffers from these outbreaks, too, losing not only precious consumer confidence, but billions of dollars in sales and legal costs, as well.
New food safety standards, certifications, and industry guidelines are evolving, as are long overdue updates to food safety legislation.

But, what can companies do today to ensure the safety of their business and their consumers?

A new report from Deloitte deep dives into this issue and suggests companies follow a holistic approach to manage food safety risks. According to the report, this type of comprehensive approach involves three fundamental steps: (more…)