“Folks from Dell to HP to Nike to Hasbro to Sony to Apple to Google to Goldman, they're all looking back at India and saying, let's go double down, triple down and build a presence here.” - Samir Kapadia, Managing Principal at Vogel Group and Founder and CEO at India Index

Most companies are obsessed with moving their supply chains out of and away from China - whether it is for regulatory, risk, or human rights-related reasons. That obsession is so strong, that in some cases, they are willing to embrace an “ABC strategy” as you will hear from this week’s guest: anywhere but China.

Samir Kapadia is a managing principal at Vogel Group, a lobbying and trade organization based in Washington, D.C. In 2019 and in 2020, he was ranked the number one tariff exemption lobbyist in Washington D.C.. Samir is also the founder and CEO of a B2B marketplace called India Index, which helps U.S. companies source from India, so he is uniquely qualified and also entirely willing to be honest about the opportunities and challenges of looking to India as an alternative to China.

In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner takes the opportunity to ask Samir for his professional opinion on:

• Why China looms so large over global supply chains
• The mindset and culture that play into corporate decisions about where to source internationally, and when to make a change
• Reasons India deserves serious consideration as an alternative to China as well as what companies should be aware of before they make new plans
  

Links:

• Samir Kapadia on LinkedIn
• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

“The way we were running distribution, the processes we were using, it wasn’t a matter of, ‘Well, just incrementally improve what you’ve got.’ “We needed to rethink, take a step back and say, ‘Are we really set up the way we need to be set up?’” - Marcia Brey, VP of Logistics for GE Appliances (via the WSJ)

GE Appliances recently made news for a series of planned investments in their supply chain. As interesting as their efforts are today, they are the next step in an ongoing series of advancements and adjustments… and advancements and adjustments.

Now owned by Haier, a Shanghai-based company, GE Appliances has been on both sides of the outsourcing - reshoring divide. As they respond to macro conditions and competitive pressures, their supply chain is what connects production with customers, and the top line with the bottom, regardless of continual change.

In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner addresses three key questions about their operation:

• Is GE Appliances really (successfully) reshoring manufacturing?
• How is the Department of Transportation’s FLOW program helping them manage potential supply chain disruptions?
• What role do metrics play in how they manage high stakes decisions about labor and inventory?

Links:

• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

Procurement and supply chain professionals rely upon competitive market dynamics. After all, competition drives innovation, cost savings, efficiency, and - profit.

Anything that changes the dynamics around the benefits associated with disclosed innovation has the potential to alter how companies invest, how much of that information they make public, and, ultimately, the value and diversity of solutions available to consumers of all kinds.

In this week’s episode of Art of Supply, Kelly Barner welcomes back Wen Xie. Wen is a Washington D.C-based patent attorney who is tuned into how changing policies and regulations alter the value proposition associated with the patent process, one that exists to benefit the general public in exchange for certain protections.

In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly and Wen discuss:

• The basic premise behind the current U.S. patent system
• Pending changes to how the government gets involved in patents they invested to support
• How changes in cost and associated protections may affect how and when companies invest in patents

Links:

• Wen Xie on LinkedIn
• Guarding Private Incentive to Innovate featuring Patent Attorney Wen Xie
• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement