World Trade Magazine, March 2008 is now available. You can view the magazine online, or download the entire magazine in PDF format.

World Trade magazine: The trusted source of information and analysis for executives at the highest level of midsized to large U.S. manufacturers engaged in domestic and international trade.

Monthly, World Trade Magazine examines each sector of world trade - transportation, logistics and supply chain management, technology, finance and trade services, and domestic and international economic development. Emphasis is on executive interviews and in-depth company profiles designed to assist our readers in making their businesses more profitable.

COVER STORY: ASIA’S LOGISTICS HUBS

26 Right-sizing Your DC
Redesigning warehouses from the inside out is paying off in faster throughput and more cost-effective operations.
By Lara L. Sowinski

30 Maintaining the Momentum
West Coast logistics players are using the current ‘calm’ in trade flows to gear up for
long-term expansion.
By Lara L. Sowinski

36 Do Strong Ethics Hurt U.S. Global Competitiveness?
Sometimes, but the long-term goal of ethics and transparency is gaining global support.
By Gail Dutton

42 There’s More to Compliance
Cooperation than Just C-TPAT Under-utilized business-to-government relationships facilitate
supply chain risk management.
By Suzanne Richer

EXECUTIV E BRIEFING
10 Supply Chain Watch
12 Tradewinds
HOW WE DO IT
46 Integrating Different Logistics Systems After Acquisitions
Brunswick Boat doubled in size over two years, posing challenges to the supply chain.
By Mark Bernstein

INSIDE WORLD TRADE
7 “Establishing a Sustainable Business Agenda”
Companies are becoming increasingly aware that “green is the new black.”
By Neil Shister

POLICY PERSPECTIVES
8 Shoe Duties Exemplify Inequities in U.S. Tariff System
Cheap sneakers face the highest tariffs the U.S. imposes on any manufactured good.
By Edward Gresser and Daniella Markheim

GREAT MOMENTS IN WORLD TRADE
50 America’s First Railroad
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad got its start as a response to the Erie Canal.
By Jeremy N. Smith

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“Establishing A Sustainable Business Agenda”

“Green is the new black ” was emblazoned on a t-shirt at the Green Supply Chain Forum held recently at Florida International University.

The consensus among the hundredodd attendees, convened by the Ryder Center for Supply Chain Management at F.I.U to address “Best Practices for Global Supply Chains,” was that—whether or not global warming is real (most think it is)—there are compelling challenges facing us.

The first phase of response has largely been about retrofi tting existing business models to make them more environmentally supportive. Correspondingly, change has been largely incremental—recycling, waste reduction, conservation.

But it is becoming increasingly clear to those at the leading edge that much more is required. “What we’ve had so far,” noted one speaker, “has been a green party, not a green revolution.”

What’s prompting the sense of urgency? Well, of course there’s the ever-growing evidence of climate change. Ice caps melt as green house gases grow with more fuel usage (a gallon of diesel, after combustion with oxygen, produces 22.2 pounds of carbon dioxide); weather patterns turn more unpredictable and extreme. Not everyone is prepared to see in these trends leading indicators of an approaching Armageddon (Bangladesh under water? the U.S. agricultural heartland a desert?) although voices of reason advocate taking preventative measures sooner rather than later.

What serious people have come to accept, grudgingly, is that cheap oil, which has fueled the past century, is fi nished. At $50 a barrel, there was a business case to make for trading off the environmental damage of petroleum-driven energy and supply chains against economic development. At $100 a barrel, the case breaks down. And at $200 a barrel (which some see on the not-toodistant horizon) the rules of the game will need to be radically re- written.

Talk about your revolution!

In delivering his welcoming address, Ryder Chairman and CEO Greg Swienton defi ned the magnitude of the task: establishing a sustainable business agenda.

The gathering in Miami of supply chain folks was a harbinger of this embryonic change in consciousness. An oft-repeated remark throughout the day was a comment to the effect that “our management has told us to become environmentally pro-active but we don’t know what that means or where to begin, so that’s why we’re here.” Various starting points were offered during the session. None mind-blowing, but all concrete.

Like using plastic instead of hardwood shipping pallets, reorganizing inventory processes to minimize less-than-truckload deliveries, embedding emission management into supply chain strategy and operations, preventive fleet management to increase energy effi ciency. Or the success of UPS in eliminating left-hand turns from drivers’ delivery routes, a move that reduces engine idle time at intersections and has saved some 3 million gallons of fuel.

These measures are relatively painless with reasonably fast P&L paybacks. In the near future, though, observers anticipate a tipping point where environment-driven changes mandated by governments go from ‘cost neutral’ to ‘cost positive’. Political resistance, to be sure, will ensue, but as climate deteriorates worldwide this seems the likely endgame.

So do we stand poised at ‘the beginning of the end’? Gary Hirshberg, head of ecologically super-sensitive Stonyfi eld Farm organic yogurt (annual sales: $300 million), thinks not. “Is it possible to create an enterprise that can successfully compete without being environmentally irresponsible?” he asked the audience. Extrapolating from his experiences, he knew the answer: yes!

Neil Shister, Editorial Director

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This magazine is owned by BNP Media.

BNP Media publishes more than 40 business-to-business publications. Industries served include manufacturing, security systems, architecture and construction. Founded in 1926, BNP Media is a fourth-generation, family-run business headquartered in Troy, Michigan.

About World Trade (From Official Website):

World Trade Magazine is today’s most relevant U.S. logistics journal delivering news and information to 100% U.S. subscribers* active in domestic and international trade. Today businesses are sourcing abroad so they need information on how to operate overseas. 82% of our subscribers plan to enter foreign markets within the next year.+ World Trade reflects the priorities and diverse interests of its senior level and management subscribers to help them navigate today’s rapidly changing and highly competitive global marketplace.

World Trade covers every aspect of the global supply chain from the movement of products across the U.S. to the procurement from delivery to international markets:

• LTL
• Technology
• Express Delivery
• 3PL
• Air Cargo
• Trade Finance
• Private Fleet
• Warehousing
• Ports
• Ocean

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