After cancelling 69 supplier contracts last year for failing to meet its ethical, health, safety and environmental standards, Dutch-Anglo oil group, Royal Dutch-Shell, has revealed it is also unhappy with the “unethical” behaviour of some of its large Europe-based suppliers.
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An insular geographic structure helped to fuel the decline of Railtrack, Martyn Pellew, director of Unipart Rail’s logistics division, told delegates. The company’s seven “zones” across the UK were a prime example of financial isolationism, in which overlapping profit centres infringed upon each other and best practice was not always passed on, he said.
NHS Supplies cut purchasing costs in the health service by £113.4 million last year, exceeding the Department of Health’s target for savings of £82.5 million. An NHS Supplies spokesperson said the reductions, unveiled last month in its annual report, were achieved by replacing regional and local contracts with national agreements and by benchmarking prices in specific areas.
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Amid concerns over online security for business-to-business trading, the UK is to get its first professional institute for IT security and forensic computing staff. The Institute for Communications Arbitration and Forensics (Icaf) will award accreditation to universities offering computer security in IT degrees and dispute resolution. It will also have a register of experts. a
The Welsh Development Agency has established an £11.5 million Technology Exploitation Programme to support small and medium-sized businesses in west Wales and the valleys. Among other initiatives, the agency has earmarked £5 million to support new products, processes and technology.
Increased collaboration between suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers would identify and reduce stock loss in the retail supply chain, according to a new report.
Supply chain solutions group Exel is to provide logistics for IT spares inventory and supply chain management group Logicom. Under the terms of the three-year contract, Exel will help Logicom secure 22 new UK stockholding locations.