Supply Chain Frontiers issue #6. Read all articles in this issue
Thought leaders from industry, government, and academia, including Edouard Michelin, CEO and managing partner, Michelin, and media representatives from Dow Jones, The Economist and the Financial Times, will gather at the second Zaragoza Supply Chain Summit, May 31-June 1, 2005, in Zaragoza, Spain, to discuss offshore manufacturing and globalization.
Companies reap big cost savings when they outsource to low-cost manufacturing centers in countries such as China. Across Europe and North America citizens see the strategy as an exporter of jobs. In the middle are governments that must reconcile the needs of these constituencies.
At the same time, the offshoring equation is changing. Rising costs are eroding the advantages, and distant manufacturing operations can stretch supply chains to breaking point in volatile markets. Yet companies that successfully adopt the strategy gain expertise that opens the door to new international markets.
Offshoring could represent the first step in a broader shift towards the globalization of business--if enterprises can develop a worldwide vision and avoid becoming fixated on narrow outsourcing issues, and policymakers can look beyond the rhetoric of job losses.
The Summit, "Beyond Offshoring: The Road to Globalization", will tie together the social and political aspects of offshore manufacturing with the commercial imperatives that drive it. Issues on the agenda include the economic and managerial challenges of contract manufacturing, government responses, changing consumer markets and employment patterns, and the evolution of global supply chains.
Confirmed speakers include Edouard Michelin, CEO and managing partner, Michelin, John Allan, CEO, Exel, Jagdish Bhagwati, author of In Defense of Globalization and a renowned authority on globalization, and Dr. Yossi Sheffi, MIT, a leading expert on supply chain strategy.
The annual Zaragoza Supply Chain Summit brings together experts from around the world to discuss supply chain issues that shape business strategy and public opinion. Over 800 industry, government and academic leaders attended the inaugural Summit in 2004. The event is sponsored by the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (CTL), The Zaragoza Logistics Center, and the Government of Aragon, Spain.
For further information go here. To register for the event contact Nancy Martin at nlmartin@mit.edu.