@Risk

As The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend, Apple Inc. is “increasingly finding itself pinched between the promise and perils of doing business in China.”

Last Friday –and for the first time ever –Apple released a comprehensive list of its major suppliers and a detailed report on factory inspections throughout the company’s sprawling supply chain.

In addition, Apple recently became the first technology company accepted by the Fair Labor Association (FLA), an organization that monitors workplace environments worldwide.

These moves come on the heels of stepped-up pressure from activists worldwide. Earlier this month, workers from a Foxconn Technology factory in China waged a large protest that involved threats from some to commit suicide.   (more…)

The semiconductor industry heard some welcome news last week.

Despite a challenging global economy and natural disasters that impacted production in Asia, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said it expects continued growth in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

More specifically, the SAI endorsed the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization’s Autumn 2011 global semiconductor sales forecast which has projected semiconductor sales to grow to $302 Billion for 2011. If that forecast holds, it will be the first time semiconductor sales have reached the $300 Billion mark and will represent a 1.3 percent growth rate over the record-breaking year in 2010.

WSTS tabulates its annual forecast by convening an extensive group of global semiconductor companies that provide accurate and timely indicators of semiconductor trends.

Beyond 2011, the WSTS expects steady, modest growth: a 3.7 percent increase for 2012, and 5.8 percent increase for 2013. (more…)

As we have seen across other sectors, the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry is now in recovery mode, with companies focused on growth and opportunities for global expansion to enhance both their top and bottom lines.

But, new research shows that CPG companies will sorely miss one newly critical capability as they expand to places like China and other emerging markets. Which critical capability is lacking in developing economies?

Digital technology.

Thriving in a Connected World, an intriguing new report from the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and PwC US, points out that today’s CPG companies have become quite savvy at leveraging digital innovation to optimize service to consumers and trading partners.

For instance, the report suggests that mobile devices have improved workforce productivity in three specific areas: (more…)

Businesses today want to enhance their performance, and intriguing new research from KPMG indicates that firms are turning to shared service models and internal process improvements in order to meet those goals.

More than half (59 percent) of those polled in the KPMG 2Q11 Sourcing Advisory Pulse Survey said they anticipate greater demand from clients for shared services delivery models.  Most (51 percent) also saw more demand for internal process improvement. Interestingly, outsourcing demand remained flat, including both business process outsourcing (BPO) and IT outsourcing (ITO).

In other findings:
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The nation’s electrical power grid is becoming increasingly interconnected through the internet, and while this technological sophistication provides significant benefits, it also comes hand-in-hand with considerable risk:

Enhanced interconnectivity means the power grid is now more vulnerable to cyber attacks.

Fortunately, researchers are now hard at work, designing safeguards to help protect the grid from computer viruses trying to wreak havoc on the system.

For instance, Errin Fulp, professor of computer science at Wake Forest University, is developing an army of “digital ants” that can scour computer networks looking for threats such as computer worms and self-replicating programs designed to steal information or facilitate unauthorized use of computers. When one of these digital ants detects a threat, it is designed to send for more ants to converge at that particular location, drawing the attention of human operators to investigate further.

“The idea is to deploy thousands of different types of digital ants, each looking for evidence of a threat,” Fulp said in a press release. “As they move about the network, they leave digital trails modeled after the scent trails ants in nature use to guide other ants. Each time a digital ant identifies some evidence, it is programmed to leave behind a stronger scent. Stronger scent trails attract more ants, producing the swarm that marks a potential computer infection.”
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