security

China launches 6-month intensive campaign to set Big Tech straight

by with No Comment Supply Chain Resilience News

China will engage in a concerted effort over the next six months to police the technology sector over improper antitrust and consumer protection practices, government officials said Monday.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology held a meeting that officially kicked off the action plan to collect information on corporate misdeeds, list specific problem areas and hold offenders legally responsible. Technology companies will be told to launch internal probes to correct practices that violate the law and other directives.

The move follows the wide-ranging investigation of Didi Global initiated shortly after the ride-hailing leader listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The Chinese government appears to be expanding the regulatory backlash against the larger domestic tech industry as a whole.
trucking

Trucking M&A intensifies as carriers seek ‘holistic’ portfolio

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Transport-related mergers and acquisitions are underway with gusto. Two sizable carriers bought two smaller but significant trucking companies, and a major 3PL with a familiar name indicated it is making moves that will disrupt the marketplace.

For Knight-Swift, the $1.35 billion purchase of AAA Cooper, an Alabama-based LTL firm, was a first. Knight-Swift is the largest U.S. TL carrier,

Uber Freight said the move “will create one of the leading logistics technology platforms.” The two companies said carriers will benefit from improved operating ratios and reduced empty miles. And as Uber disrupted the taxicab business, Uber Freight could likely disrupt the load-matching and 3PL business, one expert predicted. The trend isn’t just American. In Canada, major carriers are also scooping up smaller fish.

manufacturing

Nike, Adidas Output Snarled as Covid Shuts Asian Factories

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Some of the world’s biggest footwear and garment companies are seeing production pinched as factories in Southeast Asia struggle to keep the lights on amid one of the world’s deadliest COVID-19 resurgences.

A number of firms that churn out products for global giants like Nike Inc. and Adidas AG have reported plant suspensions in Vietnam over the past few weeks as authorities impose restrictions to stop the virus. Other industries, such as Toyota Motor Corp. factories in Thailand, also are scaling back as multiple countries in the region see record high cases and deaths.

Trade in goods has been a rare buffer for the Covid-ravaged global economy — especially for export-heavy Asian countries — but the latest reports show cracks in this growth pillar. The delta variant-driven surge has hit Southeast Asia especially hard, underscoring the delicate choices for policy makers who are balancing vaccination drives and mobility restrictions while trying to keep their economies afloat.
ai2

TSMC Considers EMEA and APAC expansion

by with No Comment Supply Chain Resilience News

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the industry leader in chipmaking, renowned globally for providing the cutting-edge silicon components that make smart technology, ranging from cars to mobile phones, run at break-neck speed with technological ability that was only dreamt of a few decades ago, is currently in the early stages of considering a new chipmaking plant in Germany. This news came from Chairman Mark Liu, who today told shareholders of the potential change.

It has also been known for some time that TSMC, which is also the world’s biggest chipmaker, has been conducting due diligence in Japan, where it is considering building another semiconductor facility to alleviate the struggle of its Taiwan-based plant caused by surging demand as the global economy strives to rebound after the damaging effects of COVID-19. Liu reportedly told shareholders that the potential Japanese plant continues to depend on customer demand, which the company is said to be closely monitoring they are supposedly in weekly talks to assess the overall viability of the project.

smart city

Ecommerce Fuels 150% Growth for DHL Supply Chain Fulfillment

by with No Comment Supply Chain Resilience News

Booming ecommerce trade supercharged growth in DHL Supply Chain’s fulfilment business since the end of 2020.

The segment grew by 150% over the past eight months, primarily fuelled, the logistics giant said, by an influx of new customers in need of agile and dedicated solutions for their online businesses.

DHL also benefitted from a wave of small and mid-sized customers joining its shared fulfilment solution. The service gives SMEs greater opportunity to compete in the market by offering storage, picking and packing, and carrier management solutions to streamline direct-to-consumer deliveries.

iot 1

Saudi Aramco confirms data leak after $50m cyber ransom demand

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Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer, confirmed on Wednesday that some of its company files had been leaked via a contractor, after a cyber extortionist claimed to have seized troves of its data last month and demanded a $50m ransom from the company. Aramco said in a statement that it had “recently become aware of the indirect release of a limited amount of company data which was held by third-party contractors”. The oil company did not name the supplier or explain how the data were compromised.
The statement came after a hacker claimed on the dark web that they had stolen 1 terabyte of Aramco’s data, according to a post from June 23 seen by the Financial Times. The hacker said it had obtained information on the location of oil refineries, as well as payroll files and confidential client and employee data.