So true online marketing startegies are really less expensives and more productive, especially in case of electronics. Good amounts can be saved if someone carefully analyzes the search patteren and product interest. Now a days most of us likes to buy online rather than driving in cold weather.
Do you see this approach as a reactive one, or can it (or is it) used in a predictive fashion? In other words, do you see a possibilty that the supply chain could make early decisions based on significant weather predictions, or is that too risky?
Maybe that explains why Google took a stake in energy consumption. A little off track here, but one of Google'a philanthropic projects include monitoring energy consumption. A blog post last year talks about offering a widget that can help consumers save power and money. At the time the post was written, the company only offered the service through local utility companies in the United Kingdom, San Diego, and Germany. You can find the sign-up page here: http://goo.gl/H6Dqw
The international supply chains especially for commodity items , heavily depend upon the individual government's import and export regulations. Whenever there is a shortage of a commodity in a country , the local goverment will ban export of that commodity from that country to contain the resultant shortage and price rise faced by the consumers in that country.
But as it usually happens , governments are always slow to react to such situations and as a result of this the imposing of export restriction to contain the shortage or allowing imports to increase the availability are so much skewed that many times they affect the supply chain adversely. So by the time a govt makes a decision to allow import of some goods, the shortage situation of that goods has already passed over and now there will be actually a surplus of that particular commodity which in turn results in the prices crashing and importers suffering heavy losses.
This requires that the governments need to be agile to quickly respond to disruptions in the demand supply patterns because of reasons such as unruly weather. Technology can only help those decison makers to make the decisions at the right time.
Not only will it affect the transportation of goods, it will also affect the generation and distribution of energy from Power Plant to households. It is very likely that energy companies will have to either produce or buy more energy during rough weather. Buying extra capacities will cost energy company more money because this extra cost cannot be passed to the customers. So search engines can help to determine when harsh weather will cause severe impact of the supply and demand of the Energy market as well.
Laurie, Thanks for the article. Learnt something new today :). Didnt knew changing weather pattern has so many other impacts. With weather pattern changing so drastically offlate I think these tools will definitely help companies to manage their profits.
Just like private business entities it can help governments as well. Take for example in India, untimely rains affected onion crops and the rate of onions shot up by 400% from .5$ to 2$. I think tools like this can easily help the governments to track the commodity market as well.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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