Summary: Guest: Bryan Ball Title: Vice President and Principal Analyst, Supply Chain Management, Aberdeen Group Guest: Rick D. Blasgen Title: President and CEO of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) In the new global economy, how can manufacturers create value, cut costs, and reduce their exposure to volatile commodity price swings that squeeze profits? Perhaps by collaborating with suppliers and customers to extend the lifecycle of products, components, and materials while rethinking their business model to retain ownership of recoverable materials and then recycling them back into use. This suggests a supply circle rather than a supply chain. While it looks great as a hypothesis, is this concept practical? Just how do you pull such strategies off? And just where, around this supply circle, can IT intervene or be leveraged to make it happen?
