Category Archives: Supply Chain

Energy, FInance, Investment, News, Supply Chain, Sustainability

TechMet closes $200m equity raise to further develop critical minerals operations

● TechMet, the global critical minerals investment company backed by the US Development Finance Corporation, closes $200 million fundraising round.

● Business is set to exceed a billion-dollar valuation in the next few months.

● Funds will be used to build and expand production, refining and recycling projects which enable the clean energy transition.

● In the last 12 months, TechMet has invested more than $180 million into critical minerals projects around the world.

 

TechMet, the leading global critical minerals investment company, has closed its latest $200 million equity fundraising round.

The successful capital raise puts the company on track to exceed a billion-dollar valuation in the next few months.

The latest $200 million funding is being deployed across TechMet’s existing portfolio of ten assets which are expanding extraction, processing, recycling and manufacturing capacity.

 

TechMet, founded in 2017, is a permanent capital vehicle focused on building businesses across the critical minerals value chain from mining and processing to recycling and battery component manufacturing. TechMet develops environmentally and socially responsible projects which are essential for the production of clean energy technologies.

The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is a key shareholder in the company, following an initial equity investment in 2020.

Both the US President and Vice President have cited TechMet’s role as a leading critical minerals company in the global effort to combat climate change.

 

Brian Menell

TechMet Founder, Chairman and CEO, Brian Menell, said: “We are grateful that we have such a strong shareholder base, and the US Government’s direct backing, as we deliver on our mission to build environmentally responsible supply chains for the metals needed for the clean energy revolution.”

 

Alongside Menell and his management team, TechMet’s largest shareholders are the DFC and Swiss-based Mercuria Energy, one of the world’s largest energy and commodity trading groups, both of whom participated in this funding round.

London-based Lansdowne Partners also increased its investment, and was joined by a number of significant new investors including US-based S2G Ventures, the direct investment team of Builders Vision.

 

Menell added: “Recent US legislation supporting the critical minerals sector, and supply chain investments by major automakers, represent significant steps forward. The EU has also announced its long awaited Critical Raw Materials Act and, like the UK, is seeking to strengthen supply chains.

“However, there is much more work to be done, particularly in the UK and Europe, if we hope to adequately feed the production of batteries, EVs, wind turbines, and other clean energy systems.”

 

Last week, TechMet, the UK Infrastructure Bank (“UKIB”) and The Energy & Minerals Group (“EMG”) announced a landmark $67 million investment in Cornish Lithium to develop a UK supply of lithium for EV battery production and battery storage solutions.

In the last 12 months, TechMet has invested more than $180 million into critical minerals companies around the world, including Brazilian Nickel, US Vanadium, Rainbow Rare Earths, TechMet-Mercuria, REEtec, Xerion Advanced Battery Corp, Energy Source Minerals, Momentum Technologies, and Trinity Metals.

 

Admiral Mike Mullen (ret.), Chairman of TechMet’s Advisory Board and former Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: “TechMet’s rapid progress in the face of adverse market conditions, is a testament to the team’s vision and focus. As national security challenges escalate, supply of critical metals is a crucial area of concern. Nations and companies that act quickly and imaginatively to secure adequate supplies will have a great competitive advantage over the next decade.”

 

TechMet’s current portfolio includes a diverse group of projects across the supply chain for the critical minerals needed for clean energy technologies, including: both hard rock Lithium mining and Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) projects in the US and Europe; Nickel and Cobalt extraction and processing in South America; Rare Earth extraction and processing in Southern Africa and the EU; Tin, Tungsten and Lithium mining in East Africa; next generation cathode manufacturing and Lithium-ion battery recycling technologies in the US; and the largest high purity Vanadium chemical producer in North America.

Headquartered in Dublin, with an office in London, TechMet’s $200 million fundraising round follows a maiden dividend paid to shareholders last year.

Given the extent of investor appetite and the range of compelling opportunities to deploy further capital, TechMet is expecting to launch a further fundraising round in Q4 this year.

 

Climate, Fashion, News, Supply Chain, Sustainability

Four in five UK consumers to boycott apparel brands who fall short in their ESG efforts by 2024

‘Ticking timebomb’ for retailers failing to put social and environmental improvements at the heart of operations

Fashion brands must prioritise an environmental and social agenda in order to survive or risk losing a huge percentage of custom, according to new consumer research* commissioned by e-commerce growth specialists Quickfire Digital and digital performance marketing experts Climbing Trees.

The research identified that four in five UK consumers (81%) will boycott apparel brands who do not prioritise sustainable fashion within the next two years; potentially having a detrimental impact on those brands who do not uphold their social and environmental responsibilities.

Slave labour practices were the top reason for almost half of UK consumers (49%) turning away from brands, followed by wasteful packaging (32%), lack of sustainable materials and fabrics (22%) and not enough variety of sustainable products (21%). Other factors included unsustainable supply chains and delivery options, not demonstrating an approach to carbon off-setting and proactively trying to reduce waste.

To put this in context, George at Asda proudly boasts it is one of the fastest growing online fashion businesses serving over 800,000 customers a week. The business reported revenues of £20.4bn in 2021, yet if the greenwashing claims are confirmed true, this piece of research predicts revenue could be expected to shrink to £3.87bn** by 2025.

 

“These results confirm the conviction of many that businesses’ approach to environmental and social practices needs to become an intrinsic part of boardroom discussions,” says Nathan Lomax, co-founder of Quickfire Digital.,“Consumers are all too familiar with some of the practices within the fashion industry and the impact that fast fashion, in particular, has on the environment. This is a massive wake-up call for apparel brands to get your house in order and make doing the right thing your priority. Or face the alternative of a future without customers.

“Treat your workforce properly – and work only with others who do the same – pay them a decent wage, and offer people what they want: items made from sustainable material and the chance to recycle clothes. The golden rule is always listen and respond to your customers.”

 

Another issue highlighted by the research was about consumer demand to buy from sustainable brands.  Despite increased awareness about the importance of sustainability, the fashion industry’s environmental footprint remains significant. In total, the fashion industry emits about the same quantity of greenhouse gases per year as the economies of France, Germany and the United Kingdom combined, and about 300,000 tonnes of used clothes are burned or buried in landfill each year in the UK.

The research reveals a genuine appetite for UK consumers actively checking to ensure their purchases are sustainable. A quarter of respondents (25%) said they read the clothing labels and / or product description, 23 percent claimed they lean to buying secondhand clothing or renting clothing and a fifth (20%) chose retailers who offer a clothes recycling option.

 

“Despite some brands making improvements to support the demand for being more sustainable, the sad reality is there is still so much more to do,” adds Climbing Trees owner Alex Holliman. “We need better working practices, transparency and more options which allow people to upcycle and recycle their old clothing. Consumers are speaking. It’s time for brands to listen!”

 

For more information about Quickfire Digital, visit https://www.quickfiredigital.com

For more information about Climbing Trees, visit https://www.climbingtrees.com/

 

Quickfire Digital and Climbing Trees have created the Green Fashion report. To find out about what we search for and how our attitude to sustainable fashion is changing, visit: https://www.quickfiredigital.com/the-green-fashion-search-report/

News, Supply Chain

Navigating Supplier Collaboration: Short, Medium & Long-Term Wins

Written by Sarah Clarke, Head of Marketing, Vizibl 

CDP’s disclosure scores, announced in December 2022, showed a large uptick in the number of responding companies on the previous year (41%) and strong performances from many familiar names. However, despite the obvious progress made on encouraging corporates to measure and manage their environmental impacts, more than 29,500 businesses with market capitalisations of US$24.5 trillion received failing grades from CDP last year, for either declining to respond to disclosure requests from their clients and investors, or for responding with insufficient details.

With sustainability efforts now seen as a priority for stakeholders, it is imperative that all large businesses successfully deliver on sustainability targets. The good news is that procurement teams can take a leading role in ensuring this happens.

Procurement has historically been viewed as a back-office function, tasked with quality, cost reduction, and receiving all goods and services on time, but it’s moving into an expanded role – and as a result of new challenges, supplier sustainability through collaboration and innovation is emerging as a priority.

Yet, most enterprise organisations don’t know where or how to begin, with many businesses struggling to achieve collaboration systematically and at scale. However, the development of short, medium, and long-term goals can certainly help:

 

Short term: 

Set an objective based on your strategic needs and align it with value trackers

Initially, it is vital that you define what you want to achieve by collaborating with suppliers and setting a strategic goal before you begin. This means you have a benchmark of achievement as you begin your collaboration.

Once launched, it’s important to align your collaboration project with value trackers. Procurement is typically measured on cost and time savings, finding it notoriously difficult to measure things other than transactional metrics on the value it brings back to the business. As procurement gains importance and new responsibilities, the value it adds to the business must be tracked in correspondingly new ways.

Having set a general objective for your collaborative projects and supplier collaboration programme, it is vital that you narrow down and focus on your strategic needs. Once defined, align the KPIs you set against the performance of your strategic suppliers so that you can have a metric for success as you progress through your supplier collaboration programme.

 

Identify innovation opportunities

Innovation is key to unlocking value and change at scale within any organisation and there are few better places to source innovation than the supply base. Through supplier innovation, your collaboration can lead to growth, new value streams, emissions reductions, and a faster track to customer of choice status.

Suppliers come armed with their own talent pool, a wealth and breadth of knowledge across competitor organisations, insights from other verticals, and an intimate understanding of local markets in an increasingly global landscape.

It is important to ensure that your business keeps an open mind to new ideas, new approaches, and new strategies for your procurement process, alongside communicating the value that supplier innovation can bring to your organisation.

 

Define success

For supplier collaboration projects to develop, it is vital to define what success will look like at the outset and to ensure that your objectives aren’t too wide-ranging and difficult to measure. Daunting and complex deadlines can often lead to disappointment as you try new things and learn what is effective.

To begin with, it is best practice to define smaller successes. Set leading metrics that you would like to accomplish throughout your supplier collaboration programme, and regularly check up on them. These definitions can be from the number of strategic suppliers you are collaborating with, all the way to tracking metrics on savings, sustainability, or customer of choice status.

 

Medium term:

Segment your supply base

Enterprise organisations tend to have thousands of suppliers, each of varying importance and strategic need, making it a daunting task to collaborate with each one.

Start by defining a small number of your most strategic suppliers and begin your collaborative & innovative projects with them. As you learn and further define success within your collaborative processes, you can begin to identify different tiers of suppliers based on their importance to your business and begin to scale your projects more broadly.

 

Standardise your processes

By standardising your processes, it will be easier to define what success looks like for your supplier collaboration journey. Collaboration with suppliers must begin with a collaborative mindset, so begin by working closely and transparently with your internal team, at all levels.

Clear, documented processes are the most straightforward way to track success and establish routines in the medium term of your supplier collaboration strategy.

 

Long term:

Define your motivational attitude

Motivation is a key aspect that should be a long-term consideration when establishing, starting, executing, and eventually scaling your supplier collaboration programme. It is an aspect of collaboration that should always be considered, even for the most mature collaboration programmes.

Although it seems like a simple mental step, it is a vitally important and complex element of supplier collaboration. Motivation and attitude must be monitored both with suppliers and internally to make sure that everyone is in the best mindset possible to deliver mutual value. Frequent check-ups with your team and suppliers at all levels are important to understand if any frustrations or doubts are being experienced. A positive, understanding approach is crucial to getting the most out of your supplier relationships.

 

Communicate and be transparent

Communication is another aspect of supplier collaboration that needs to be continuously monitored and adjusted. The best communicative practice for executing, and scaling in the long term, is to speak clearly, openly, and positively along your journey. This is a vital component of achieving customer of choice status with your strategic suppliers, who will respond better to buyers who have communicated with them clearly and regularly throughout the relationship.

To ensure long term success for your collaborative projects, it is also crucial to be open with your suppliers and to not withhold key information. Traditionally, procurement held an oppositional relationship with suppliers, withholding key business information lest it put the perpetual cost savings in jeopardy.

In the current business climate, this is no longer an option. Transparency and communication are the fastest ways to become customer of choice. Be honest, open, and communicative with your suppliers to define success for both sides of the relationship, so that you can work towards your goals together.

Supplier collaboration takes time and isn’t easy. It is a complex approach to managing your suppliers, but mature enterprise organisations have already seen vast benefits in profit, resilience, and sustainability. Navigating different stages of a supplier collaboration journey will require nuanced approaches, but if carefully monitored and nurtured, this will ensure that your programme drives value back to your business.

Climate Action, ESG/CSR, News, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Thought Leadership

The Greenwashing Has to Stop – Corporates Must Act Now

Written by Mark Perera, CEO, Vizibl

With COP27 completed, the urgency surrounding climate action couldn’t be more acute. Countries, governments, and organisations must immediately work together and act now if we are going to avoid a climate crisis. News that only 29 out of 193 countries have submitted tightened national plans to the UN since COP26 simply doesn’t reflect the urgency we must all adopt.

Additionally, I echo the importance of transparency and accountability shared by Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, in his opening COP27 remarks; without it, we will not meet our goals.

Seriously, with every five weeks that pass, we edge 1% closer towards the end of the 2020s – the most decisive decade of our lives for the climate crisis and for the sustainability of our planet more broadly.

As of 2022, the situation could not be more serious. We now have a 50% risk of exceeding the 1.5°C warming limit set out in the Paris Agreement before we even reach 2030. This year has seen record heat waves rip across Europe and beyond; Pakistan ravaged by deadly floods as a result of glacial melt and extreme monsoon rains; and record wildfires rage across Spain, Australia, and California. We are pulling more natural resources out of the ground than ever before; our aquifers are drying up; we waste one third of the food we produce globally; and at our current rates of deforestation, the planet may be left with just 10% of its forests by 2030.

As our natural environment suffers under the weight of unsustainable consumption patterns, so too do our communities. Climate change is exacerbating pre-existing social inequalities that persist across the globe, compounding the effects of poverty and marginalisation that increase in likelihood along lines of race, ethnicity, disability, geography, and gender. The result will be poorer health, safety, and socioeconomic outcomes, poorer food and water security, and ultimately poorer people.

Though they do not threaten us equally, these challenges do threaten us all – and while they might like to think otherwise, businesses are no exception. Businesses – particularly global enterprises – produce almost everything we manufacture, use, and dispose of; they touch just about every community and every person on the planet. As a result, much of the responsibility for averting what awaits us sits with these organisations, but so too does most of the room for positive change and concrete improvement.

Yet despite their longevity and even their very existence being endangered by the grave sustainability situation we all face, the corporate world is not acting quickly enough. So far, 2022 has seen more than its fair share of greenwashing, while many enterprise organisations have completely failed to make the necessary changes to the way they run their operations.

Instead, they have doubled down on measurement to quantify where we’re starting from when it comes to issues such as emissions and put out endless reams of PR implying that this is the same as actually doing something. In all but the most progressive and sophisticated of organisations, there has been startlingly little progress in actually pursuing more sustainable business practices.

It is imperative that we get started immediately; we are already behind. This will become all the more true as we see the results come in from 2022’s frenzy of running the numbers. As measurement becomes more robust and disclosures more comprehensive, it is likely that the current state of play will be revealed to be considerably worse than we anticipate.

Not only does failure to act now come with disastrous consequences for the planet and its people, it also signals true business risk. Some penalties already exist for flouting certain ESG issues; UK headquartered companies, for example, can face fines up to £20 million and their executives risk two year prison terms if found to be knowingly operating using modern slavery. Last year, we saw the Shell ruling in which the fossil fuel giant was taken to court by private citizens and ultimately deemed legally liable for the emissions of not just its own operations, but also of “the suppliers and customers of the group”.

More recently, the UN has called for the end of greenwashing and corporate inaction as its High-Level Expert Group On the Net Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities launched their Integrity Matters Report at COP27. In it, they make “a call for governments to regulate net zero commitments, starting with large emitters” – a rallying cry which should signal to all enterprise businesses that more scrutiny is coming. This rising tide will not – and should not – slow.

As businesses look to make improvements fast, it will be necessary to decide where it’s most efficient to pool our time and resources. The key lies outside our own four walls. With over 80% of large enterprises’ emissions impact and 90% of their impact on land, sea, air, biodiversity, and natural resources sitting within their value chains, it is clear that large corporates simply cannot be sustainable without involving their suppliers.

To address this reality, sustainable procurement has emerged – both as a movement, and as a distinct business unit. Yet, despite the huge growth in such departments and job titles over 2022, the maturity level is still low across the board.

That’s because sustainable procurement is broad-ranging and complex, touching multiple areas including technology, data architecture, finance, and more. As such, organisations need to consider how they go about selecting the right procurement platforms, how to harness supplier innovation, how they build their sustainable procurement priorities, how they change their current procurement practices and culture.

Perhaps of most importance is how they construct a robust business case for sustainable procurement and gain that all-important executive sponsorship. Proactively pursuing supplier sustainability delivers multiple benefits. It allows organisations to increase their awareness of possible risks, it future-proofs the business against ever-evolving legislation as well as delivers brand reputation and growth benefits.

Of equal importance is how an organisation goes about building a successful post-contract sustainable procurement programme and this is where Supplier Collaboration and Innovation really helps.

As COP27 finishes, let’s hope that corporate greenwashing stops and that organisations see the critical importance, as well as their responsibility and accountability for prioritising the climate crisis NOW.

Logistics Tech, News, Supply Chain, Sustainability

Vizibl Announces Significant 2022 Momentum with Platform Updates, CDP Partnership, ISO Certification, and Successful Sustainability Webinar Series

Vizibl’s momentum positions it strongly for continued growth and expansion in Q4 2022 and beyond

Vizibl, the world’s leading digital procurement platform for Supplier Collaboration and Innovation, has today announced significant market momentum with significant growth in its enterprise customer base, a strategic partnership with CDP, new ESG and innovation functionality added to its market-leading platform, and the achievement of stringent ISO 27001:2013 security certification.

Platform Enhancements and Customer Growth

The latest updates to Vizibl’s Supplier Collaboration and Innovation solution include the addition of its Supplier Sustainability Management module, launched in July. Expanding the platform’s existing sustainability functionality, the new module allows organisations to configure multiple ESG programmes quickly and easily, onboard suppliers, and attach common disclosure frameworks such as CDP and SBTi to robustly measure, monitor, manage, and improve supplier sustainability performance.

Present functionality allows for a roadmap of phased improvement targets to be set with suppliers, while coming updates to the module will see customers able to configure their own custom ESG frameworks, along with bringing further two-way integration with the rest of the Vizibl platform. This unique and powerful combination of Supplier Sustainability Management alongside Supplier Relationship Management, a Supplier Collaboration Workspace, and a Supplier Innovation Hub unlocks the ability for Vizibl customers to collaborate with suppliers on their strategic goals systematically and at scale.

The addition of Vizibl Supplier Sustainability Management in July followed extensions to its Supplier Innovation Hub in April, allowing customers to tap into the value of their extended ecosystem by providing one centralised location to source, triage, manage, and govern innovation from their supply base and beyond.

Another recent update to the platform has seen the addition of multi-language functionality, enabling an increasingly global cohort of enterprise organisations to capitalise on Vizibl services. Spanish, French, German, Brazilian Portuguese, and Vietnamese are now available in-platform for current customers, with Japanese and Simplified Chinese to be added in the coming months.

The list of Vizibl customers has grown again this year, with 2022 seeing the Supplier Collaboration experts sign significant enterprise clients in chemicals and pharmaceuticals, financial services, and fast-moving consumer goods, in addition to seeing growth across all existing customers.

Strategic Partnerships as a Catalyst for Growth

To complement its extended ESG functionality, Vizibl has earned accreditation by CDP, the global non-profit organisation that runs the world’s most prominent annual environmental disclosure programme. After a rigorous accreditation process, the partnership sees Vizibl join the organisation’s Accredited Solutions Provider roster to deliver value chain engagement, scope 3 services, and stakeholder engagement via the Vizibl Supplier Collaboration & Innovation platform.

In addition to this strategic sustainability partnership with CDP, Vizibl has formalised its partnership with Supplier Day, experts in delivering unique virtual events and team experiences that cement alignment with suppliers and partners, in order to strengthen its position in the market. This partnership reflects the many synergies in the two companies’ beliefs surrounding the importance of deep alignment and collaboration with supplier stakeholders, with their leaders foreseeing further integration between the two organisations as the partnership develops.

ISO 27001 Certification Achieved

In addition to CDP accreditation, Vizibl has also achieved ISO 27001:2013 certification for its information security management.

An internationally-recognised kitemark for information security, recognition by stringent ISO 27001:2013 standards is evidence that the Vizibl platform has robust and defined procedures in place, and that its services are delivered with quality and transparency in mind.

Mark Perera, CEO of Vizibl, says: “It has been a brilliant year for Vizibl with the continued expansion of the platform’s sustainability capabilities, the huge growth we’ve seen in our customer base, and forging our partnerships with CDP and with Supplier Day. Alongside this, obtaining our ISO certification is a huge milestone in demonstrating our commitment to the stringent security protocols of enterprise organisations, consolidating our reputation as a trusted SaaS provider for our customers.”

‘Decade of our Lives’ Driving Real Action on Sustainability

Following COP26 in November 2021, Vizibl launched the Decade of our Lives webinar series, discussing climate, carbon, and the scope 3 challenges that enterprise organisations – and their supply chains – are currently facing. The series has been widely acclaimed, seeing senior procurement and supply chain executives from enterprise companies such as Unilever, TetraPak, Heineken, and Bayer providing their actionable insights to an audience of their peers.

The next instalment will see Vizibl invite Johnson and Johnson CPO Len DeCandia for a session titled ‘Supplier Management: New Pathways to Growth”, while November’s finale session will feature a cast of procurement and supply chain speakers from top analyst firms and global enterprises to round off the series.

“The Decade of our Lives series has been a huge success, attracting respected thought leaders and experts to debate the most serious sustainability issues, with a particular urgency around businesses reducing emissions if we are to reach global decarbonisation targets,” adds Perera.

“Vizibl has experienced tremendous success in 2022 to date this is due to the entire Vizibl team making a difference for enterprises striving to achieve added value and innovation through active, collaborative supplier relationships. We look forward to continuing this upward wave of momentum in Q4 2022 and beyond, as we aim to enable many more large businesses to capitalise on the strategic value of Supplier Collaboration and Innovation,” concludes Perera.

News, Supply Chain

WCA CEO announces Keynote and speakers’ lineup for Big Data virtual event (Episode 2) on 27 July 2022, 2-5 pm BST(UK)

Register for free here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Em6an8plShucW7JLREdThw

LONDON, United Kingdom – World Coffee Alliance (WCA), a leading network alliance of coffee industry professionals and stakeholders, producing critical insights including market research, due diligence reports and technical advice to the actors in the global coffee value chain, will hold Episode Two of the WCA TECHNOCOFFEE INNOVATION SERIES: DEMYSTIFYING BIG DATA IN COFFEE virtual event on Wednesday 27 July 2022 from 2:00-5:00 pm BST (UK time)/9:00 am-12:00 EDT.

Joseph de Villiers, CEO and Founder of World Coffee Alliance (WCA) said, “As ever, I am delighted to announce that our Keynote for Episode 2 of our WCA Trilogy in Digital Traceability – Big data virtual event is Vanusia Nogueira, Executive Director, International Coffee Organization (ICO). I believe that with her vast experience in the private sector, she will bring new impetus and energy to the global coffee industry and will provide a dynamic leadership with a vision that can hopefully bring some real and meaningful changes where needed.”

Vanusia commented, “I am delighted to be the Keynote for WCA Trilogy in Digital Traceability – Big Data virtual event. Big data plays a very important role in the sustainability and traceability of the global coffee value chain. However, in the end, question will be whether coffee producers and consumers can benefit from the use of this technology and how it can help mitigate or enable adaptive measure to address Climate change, specifically deforestation.”

Other confirmed speakers include David Davies, CEO and Founder, AgUnity (Inspirational Speaker), Cees Homburg, CEO, FarmersDirectCoffee (Solution Provider Speaker), James McKay, Principal and Founder, McKay Research (Moderator), Paul Rooke, Executive Director, British Coffee Association (BCA), Dr. Memoona J. Anwar, Chief Compliance and Innovation Officer, Data Zoo, Helen Bellfield, Trase Deputy Director, Global Canopy, Peter Kettler, Senior Advisor, International Trade Centre (Moderator), Dr Aaron Davis, Senior Research Leader, Crops and Global Change, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew., Jade Saunders, Senior Policy analyst and Board member, World Forest ID, Priya Guliani, UK Pre sident, Government Blockchain Association (GBA).

Sponsors for this event include AgUnity (Episode Sponsor) and FarmersDirectCoffee (Solution Provider Sponsor). David Davies, CEO and Founder, AgUnity commented, “Did you know that most of the world’s coffee is grown by largely invisible micro-farmers? Current traceability occurs with big farms, but many small farms are left out. Collecting data from them is extremely difficult, resulting in millions of missing data points. We can solve this issue by tracking data from the source. However, with micro-farmers living in remote regions without connectivity, the challenge must first be addressed by enabling digital inclusion of the last mile, alongside the coffee industry following a path of standardised data acquisition. I look forward to inspiring the coffee industry on how this is possible.”

Cees Homburg, CEO, FarmersDirectCoffee: “Thank you for the opportunity to present at the WCA Big data virtual event. Our Coffee Coalition makes the coffee chain traceable and more transparent. With this initiative, farmers are co-owners. Using open source blockchain technology, a CO2 calculator, and the FarmersApp, we add value to data for the entire chain.”

Big data is the main topic for Episode 2 of WCA Trilogy in Digital Traceability. The areas of discussion will include its impact on the coffee supply chain and Climate change. Big data has an increasingly pivotal role in e-commerce and coffee retail, developing new methods of tracking and delivering orders, and maintaining compliance. The event will also focus on the role of big data in identifying some of the critical issues in mitigating Climate change, especially in deforestation cases, where they require urgent action.

The British Coffee Association (BCA) our event partner. Paul Rooke, Executive Director of BCA said, “BCA Is happy to support WCA in this virtual Big data event particularly with regard to its impact on the supply chain and the role it can play in delivering a sustainable coffee future. Increasing data volumes can give us all more precise knowledge and information to support the whole coffee community whether that be in better informing consumer choice, building best practice information for the producer or streamlining and enhancing the movement and production of the coffee – all to ensure we can continue to grow and enjoy this special beverage.”

Register for free here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Em6an8plShucW7JLREdThw

News, Supply Chain

OfficeTeam Group hits the ground running with the integration of parcel shipping software from Logistyx Technologies

Seamless integration of legacy systems ensures uninterrupted service, managing shipping processes for approximately 10,000 parcels a day

London – (16 February 2022) Workplace solutions and business services provider, OfficeTeam Group (OTG), has rapidly integrated Logistyx Technologies’ multi carrier parcel shipping software into its existing workflow solution to help maintain an uninterrupted service to the new-acquired contract customers it secured as part of a recent acquisition from Office Depot Europe. OTG now relies on Logistyx TME software to handle the shipping processes for approximately 10,000 parcels a day, providing full visibility into shipping status from purchase through to delivery to the customer.

OTG completed the purchase of Office Depot’s Contract Business, including Office Depot’s larger mid-market, major and public sector contract customers in the UK and Ireland, in late 2021. The acquisition also included a U.K. warehouse, inventory, and fulfilment systems, as well as legacy ERP, WMS, and label printing – all of which needed to be integrated into OTG’s workflow solution. It was essential the legacy systems seamlessly integrate with a parcel shipping solution to ensure continuity of service.

Following strong recommendations from Office Depot, an existing Logistyx Technologies customer, OTG determined very quickly that Logistyx was the best solution provider to support the integration. With just 12 weeks to complete the integration and go live, the Logistyx team configured its enterprise multi-carrier shipping software, Logistyx TME, to plug into the existing API and onboarded OTG’s carrier network.

Mark Fletcher, Group Operations Director, OfficeTeam Group, said: “Without the professionalism and experience of the Logistyx team, we would never have achieved such a successful go live in such a short timeframe.”

Dominic Potter, General Manager European Operations of Logistyx Technologies said, “Our extensive experience in these areas made for a smooth and efficient implementation, allowing each legacy system to fulfil its role in sending critical information to carriers for the efficient shipping and tracking of every parcel. It was vital that OTG’s B2B and B2C customers received an uninterrupted service following the purchase.”

Business, Business News, Business Reports, Business Research, Customer Experience, E-Commerce, ECommerce, Industry News, Industry Press Releases, Logistics, Logistics Tech, London, London News, News, Retail, Retail & E-commerce, South East, South East England News, Supply Chain

Point of no return: 89% of consumers identify returns as priority for ecommerce retailers

  • 81% of consumers would write off a retailer if they saw issues with return process
  • 61% say easy returns result in exchanges over refund

London UK; 1st February 2022: 89% of consumers identify ease of returns as top priority when purchasing online. That’s according to new data from delivery experience platform Sorted, which found that retailers who get the returns process right will reap the most consumer loyalty.

The survey, consisting of 2,000 UK respondents, found that those with strong returns processes in place will also see a return on investment, with 61% saying they would be more likely to exchange a product bought online than get a refund if exchanging was made simpler.

Adversely, 81% say they would avoid ordering from an online retailer if they saw issues with their return process, a concern for retailers when 29% of consumers claim to have had an unsatisfactory returns experience in the last 12 months. The data also revealed that 44% would not re-order from an online retailer if they had experienced issues with their return process, and 36% would be reluctant to reorder from those retailers failing to provide clear returns details.

The need for seamless returns

The research also demonstrated a real hunger for proactive communications, with 77% saying that getting timely updates on the progress of their return, refund or exchange would make them more likely to purchase from that retailer again. Additionally, a quick and simple refund process (42%) and the ability to return via a local shop or a convenient location (26%) was revealed as crucial for customers.

Consumer expectations were also identified, with respondents saying they are more likely to be lenient with smaller retailers when it comes to returns. Alternatively, over nine in ten believe it is important for large corporate retailers to have a seamless returns process (94%).

The findings come at a time when ecommerce continues to soar, following a trend that has polarised retail since the onset of the pandemic. Shipping volumes through the SortedREACT platform increased by 429% during peak season (October to December 2021 vs the same period in 2020), meaning UK retailers have reached a critical point with the delivery and returns experiences they offer to consumers.

“In the aftermath of the Christmas peak, retailers are going to be dealing with an influx of returns. However, at every opportunity, a refund could become an exchange. Those who fail to offer quick and convenient ecommerce experiences will no doubt suffer in this competitive landscape,” shares Carmen Carey, CEO of Sorted.

“Retailers must learn that they can’t simply stop the brand experience the very moment an order reaches the customer’s door, but ensure a seamless process is carried right through the customer journey. With returns now a major point of differentiation for brands, retailers – big and small – must invest in the full post-purchase journey in order to both attract and retain the modern customer.”

Appointments, News, Supply Chain, Sustainability

Vizibl Appoints Industry Heavyweight Jim Massey to Strategic Advisory Board to Enhance its Sustainability Services

Jim Massey will lead Vizibl’s Strategic Advisory Board to help it develop its industry-leading SaaS technology, enabling enterprises to realise a more sustainable future

Vizibl, the leading SaaS platform for Supplier Collaboration & Innovation, today announced the appointment of Jim Massey, a social entrepreneur and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) executive, to lead Vizibl’s Strategic Advisory Board. As a senior Strategic Advisor, Jim will provide high quality, objective, peer-to-peer advice that will assist Vizibl in developing its sustainability solutions and services.

A recognised and celebrated sustainability evangelist, Jim joins Vizibl with nearly 25 years’ experience in the ESG, sustainability, and compliance sectors. Jim has held leadership roles at MedImmune and AstraZeneca, where he served as Vice President of ESG, Sustainability, Ethics and Compliance. He subsequently became a Senior Advisor at Route 2, before moving into his current full-time role as Chief Sustainability Officer at biopharmaceutical company, Zai Lab.

Commenting on his appointment, Jim says: “Organisations need technology partners that help them to challenge the environmental, social and governance status quo, and to think differently about how to use sustainability as a business enabler. I’m excited about working with my fellow advisors to help Vizibl to drive that change forward through its innovative and visionary solution stack, while helping it to meet its short and long-term goals.”

Mark Perera, CEO of Vizibl, adds: “Jim will be a great asset to the Vizibl team. His experience, passion and drive for ESG initiatives is second to none – he understands the value and importance of embedding sustainability within the fabric of an organisation and its supply chain. Enterprise organisations are rapidly realising that Supplier Collaboration is no longer a ‘nice to have’, it is business critical, and they simply cannot tackle their Scope 3 climate commitments in isolation. We’re thrilled to welcome Jim as an advisor and his vast body of experience will deliver value to both the Vizibl business and the customers we serve.”

Jim will be a keynote speaker at Vizibl’s ‘The Decade of our Lives’ virtual event on Wednesday, 1st December, where he will join fellow experts to address how enterprise organisations, and vendors within their supply chain ecosystems, can take a collaborative approach towards tackling Scope 3 emissions, turning ambition into action to reduce their overall environmental impact. Register here.

Cybersecurity, Logistics, News, Supply Chain

2022 Predictions: Supply Chain Cyber Attacks to Increase and Ransom Demands by Hackers to Break Records

With 1 out 61 organizations impacted by ransomware each week, Check Point Research (CPR) issues its 2022 Cyber Security Predictions, stating that supply chain cyberattacks will become more common and proliferate next year.

  • Expect ransom demanded by hackers to break records next year. In May 2021, US insurance giant paid $40 million in ransom to hackers.
  • Mobile malware attacks will increase, as mobile wallets and mobile payment platforms are used more frequently
  • Cryptocurrency is anticipated to become a focal point for cyber attacks

Today, Check Point Software released its cyber security predictions for 2022, detailing the key challenges that organizations will face over the next year.

 

Why Supply Chain Attacks?

CPR believes that supply chain attacks will become more common and governments will begin to establish regulations to address these attacks and protect networks. They will also look into collaborating with the private sectors as well as other countries to identify and target more threat groups operating on a global and regional scale.

Supply chain attackers take advantage of a lack of monitoring within an organization’s environment. They can be used to perform any type of cyber-attack, such as data breaches and malware infections. The well-known SolarWinds supply chain attack stands out in 2021 due to its scale and influence, but other sophisticated supply chain attacks have occurred such as Codecov in April, and most recently, Kaseya.  Kaseya provides software for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and the REvil ransomware gang exploited the company to infect over 1,000 customers with ransomware.  The group demanded a ransom of $70 million to provide decryption keys for all affected customers.

Going into 2022 we will see an increase in data breaches that will be larger scale. These breaches will also have the potential to cost organizations and governments more to recover. In May 2021, US insurance giant paid $40 million in ransom to hackers. This was a record, and we can expect ransom demanded by attackers to increase in 2022.

 

Full List of Predictions

  • Misinformation campaigns will return and advent of fake news 2.0. In 2022, cyber groups will continue to leverage these types of fake news campaigns to execute various phishing attacks and scams.
  • Cyber-cold war to intensify. Improved infrastructure and technological capabilities will enable terrorists groups and political activists to further their agendas and carry out more sophisticated, widespread attacks. Cyber-attacks will increasingly be used as proxy conflicts to destabilize activities globally.
  • Supply chain cyber-attacks continue to grow, and governments will address the challenge. Supply chain attackers take advantage of a lack of monitoring within an organization’s environment.
  • Data breaches will be larger scale and costlier. We can expect ransom demanded by attackers to increase in 2022. Going into 2022 we will see an increase in data breaches that will be larger scale. These breaches will also have the potential to cost organizations and governments more to recover.
  • Mobile malware attacks are to increase. As mobile wallets and mobile payment platforms are used more frequently, cybercriminals will evolve and adapt their techniques to exploit the growing reliance on mobile devices.
  • Cryptocurrency to become a focal point for cyberattacks globally. As reports of stolen crypto wallets triggered by free airdropped NFTs become more frequent, Check Point Research (CPR) investigated OpenSea and proved it was possible to steal crypto wallets of users by leveraging critical security. In 2022, we can expect to see an increase in cryptocurrency related attacks.
  • Attackers to leverage vulnerabilities in microservices to launch large scale attacks. With microservices becoming the leading method for application development, and microservices architecture being embraced by Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), attackers are using vulnerabilities found in microservices, to launch their attacks. We can also expect to see large-scale attacks targeting CSPs.
  • Attackers to weaponize deepfake technologies. Threat actors will use deepfake social engineering attacks to gain permissions and access sensitive data.
  • Penetration tools continue to grow. Hackers will increasingly use penetration tools to customize attacks in real time and to live and work within victim networks.

 

Maya Horowitz, VP Research at Check Point Software at Check Point Software, comments:

“In 2021, cyber criminals adapted their attack strategy to exploit vaccination mandates, elections and the shift to hybrid working, to target organizations’ supply chains and networks to achieve maximum disruption. The sophistication and scale of cyber-attacks will continue to break records and we can expect a huge increase in the number of ransomware and mobile attacks. Looking ahead, organizations should remain aware of the risks and ensure that they have the appropriate solutions in place to prevent, without disrupting the normal business flow, the majority of attacks including the most advanced ones. To stay ahead of threats, organizations must be proactive and leave no part of their attack surface unprotected or unmonitored, or they risk becoming the next victim of sophisticated, targeted attacks.”