California Transparency in Supply Chains Act is a step in the right direction. I am sure this act will help reduce illegal labor practices.Just wondering if this act applies to only California state ?
Marc, when we look in social aspects view, I think the bill is in right direction. Because, there should be always a watch dog eye from government otherwise fraud things can always at any time. Due to certain reasons like export/ import of banned items under different names, not paying taxes to federal govt. etc, government may ban some companies. But as you pointed out labour conditions in most of the Asian countries are not in good health. Child labours, under paid labour etc are some of the issues with most of the Asian counties. Moreover, different counties defined different standards based on the internal living standards of citizens. So I strongly believe that there should be some normalizing scale, for comparing the labour standards across different countries. That could be the better and easy way to compare
Does this law also covers the outsourced software services. If not then that also should be covered by this law. Many of the Software services companies in Asia force their software professionals to work more than 12 hours a day ( sometimes no weekends) in the name of meeting the tight project schedules given by the overseas companies. These highly qualified professionals are left with no personal life of theirs by the demanding nature of their jobs.
"What’s the cost of not doing so? Getting fined; being taken to court and dragged through the press. Ultimately, it potentially means losing business partners."
While the cost of not complying is high, the cost of adhering to the standards and changing the processes to comply with the requirements is also pretty high. The major savings in costs for OEMs are only possible because of cheap manufacturing costs in Asian countries. If these manufacturers will have to comply with standards, it will essentially increase their production costs which will roll back up to the OEMs and ultimately to consumers in the form of higher prices.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. My take: great idea, wrong forum. The state of California should not be the "watchdog" or oversight organization for something that is well beyond a state issue. There is also the usual problem of the state (CA) or even the US government requiring transparency when the local or national transparency practices are so abyssmal. It's good to hear that Asian companies are actually taking this seriously, but CA needs to clean up its own house before requiring others to do so.
That's a surprising reaction to me, insofar as California isn't just any state. It's the hub of much of the information industry, and even in its moment of crisis, still one of the world's massive economies. As it happens, I was raised in Southern California, and was pretty pleased to see the state government taking the initiative to say that if you want to do business there, you have to comply with stringent laws on an issue that most of humanity was pretty much in agreement about a cool 200 years ago. That's not to say I disagree entirely; it's an issue for a national government. But to me it's a bit like the auto makers and emissions controls: California has some of the world's most stringent emissions regs, and they can do that because they have a market that the world's automakers can't ignore. And, surprise, not only is LA's air a lot better today than it was when I was a kid there, but the rest of the world is slowly taking CA's lead. That feels to me less like meddling than leading, but that's just one Californian's opinion.
That's a good point. I certainly don't disagree CA has been a leader in many initiatives that have set an example for the rest of the country and parts of the world. I guess it's the idea that many states--indeed, the entire US-- wouldn't stand up to the same scrutiny if the roles were reversed. Imagine if China closed its market to any business that hired undocumented workers?
I've have experienced that usually, it is a matter of culture or in other way, how long a given country has started an organized economy in terms of international market - manufacturing processes, supply chain, sales and post-sales operations. Most of emerging countries are playing in a worldwide economy very recently and, from my point of view, the process to align any steps to transparency rules will take a few years (at least).
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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