Supply chain management is a critical component of any business operation and the concept of modularisation has become increasingly popular in recent years. Modularisation in supply chains can help to reduce costs, improve efficiency and allow companies to remain competitive.The field of international goods transportation has witnessed several great advances over the last 100 years.
Supply Chain Leadership In Tough Times The current business climate is challenging for many organizations, and the demand for creative and effective supply chain leadership
Executives face a constant challenge – how to transform their business rapidly to meet the changing market conditions. But business transformation is not easy.
Supply chain management has become an important factor in the success or failure of many businesses. The euro is a major player in the world’s supply chain, providing a single currency that facilitates international trade between European nations.
Supply chain is an essential part of the business and logistics operations of almost any company, from small businesses to large multi-national corporations.
The History of Sustainable Packaging Industry. It packs a lot in a small space, efficiently uses the minimum amount of resources, it’s not a product
Five fundamental questions that every environmentally pro-active CEO needs to ask about their Supply Chains?
Vivek Sood and Tony Fedorowicz
By Stuart Emmett Understand Leadership Principles of Supply Chain Before You Regret. This article puts over what I see as essential leadership principles. They are taken
By Doug Hudgeon The Weekend Cost Management Tips In Supply Chain On the weekends, I’ll give a short cost management tips without web or book
How To Get People To Like Re-Thinking Supply Chains A Look At Rethinking Supply Chains By Stuart Emmett Stuart Emmett co-operated with our very own Vivek
Doug Hudgeon is one of the leading experts on cost reduction and supply chain management. With years of experience in the field, he has a wealth of knowledge that can help companies reign in their costs and become more efficient.
By Doug Hudgeon The Cost Reduction Tip EFFECTIVE COST MANAGEMENT REPORTS PREPARATION. Effective management accounts are critical to a cost reduction initiative. Without it, your
Green Supply Chain Carbon Management With emerging regulations on coal emissions, all organizations will be probably affected by Green Supply Chain Carbon Management. Therefore organizations
Life Cycle Management (LCM) is an integrated approach to managing the total life cycle of products and services for sustainable consumption and production. LCM takes
Life Cycle Engineering On Supply Chain Advancement in technology and the abundance of raw material has resulted in the increased consumption of products and services
About More Software Development Estimates Reblogged from Startup Answers: (written by Michael Wolfe) Map Let’s take a hike on the coast from San Francisco to
The study of history is filled with valuable lessons that can provide us with insight into how to shape the future. From ancient civilizations to the modern world, the most powerful lessons of history can be used to inform decisions about our current societies and potential outcomes for years to come.
In the ever-changing world of technology, relevancy is key. Today, PC sales are on a steady decline as more and more businesses are turning to cloud-computing solutions.
In the business world, supply chain confusion can be a major problem. It is important to understand how it can affect the operations of a company and how it can even lead to business failure.
About Human Courtship on Supply Chain I vaguely recall reading a research paper on human courtship by a US professor, where he hypothesised a 13 stage courtship process starting with eye-lock to for-ever-after. He had studied several human societies – ranging from primitive isolated tribes to modern urban tribes and concluded that the process was
The Natural Gas Supply Chains Coming Re-Alignment Of The Natural Gas Supply Chains On A Global Scale, And Its Impact On Downstream Petro-Chemical Manufacturing Traditionally, the natural gas market in Europe was served by Russia, while Asia got most of its natural gas from the Middle East. That is why prices of natural gas in
Strategies of Supply Chain Company For every business or economic activity, there is a time when it falls behind its competitors. No matter whether the situation comes to you at the initial stages or you are facing a sudden challenge right after touching the tip of popularity, you surely have to find out the way
About Business Networks Global Business Networks are essential in nowadays’ business world, we have no choice but to accept this fact. In effect, no business can survive now without building a proper business network beforehand. This is the first reality anyone has to understand before starting his business. This is the root of all the
About Confronting Business Business networks have changed through the ages and they have become greater and greater, reaching a worldwide scale. Nowadays, companies have to learn how to manage the business networks’ changes and its expansion over the world. However, somehow, our current business networks are not new at all and have already existed in
Trends For Management Implied We have no choice but to accept that complexity is omnipresent in every organisation today. Complexity took a very important place in organisation because it is bigger than it used to be one century ago. For this reason, managers and executives have to learn how to run their business while managing
Supply Chain Networks Business The story started in the 19th century with the beginning of free markets. The world of free markets is the world where business exchanges started to expand to global organizations and relationships. Many exchanges were now possible thanks to the free markets. The allocation of resources is determined by supply and
Learn All About Business Networks Or Social Networks LinkedIn is a business network that allows you to socialise. Facebook is a social network that is trying to commercialise. Both are digital networks that allow you to do certain things and not do other things. Besides these, there are real world business networks made up of
About Business Relationships Although you may be good at building and maintaining relationships in your life, it can be very different when it comes to business. In effect, relationships between business partners are very specific relationships. As most relationships, they are based on a contract. The contract is the cornerstone of any relationship (personal or
Global Business Networks China, the giant economy has dominated the news agenda recently just like their dominance in the manufacturing arena. Several proposed reforms have caught more attention than others, such as the relaxation of the one-child policy, now that China’s population is aging. However, business reforms carry tremendous implications that are likely to affect
Demand In Supply Chain Business Taipei-based Foxconn Technology Group, whose biggest client is Apple, is to invest $US40 million in the United States to boost its high-end production chain. The move, welcomed by the US government, is part of the growing trend to seek a non-China outsourcing location. The world’s biggest contract electronics manufacturer will
The Story Of Supply Chain Models In his book The 5-STAR Business Network (http://bit.ly/5-STARBN), Vivek Sood exposes the results of his researches on the organizational structure of companies. Companies used to follow the model of a traditional organization structure as in the following figure: However, the global business world has changed and this structure is no longer
Although this title can seem a little absurd, this article aims at understanding better the principles of complexity management. In effect, complexity is a large concept, which usually seems unmanageable for most managers. Let us start with the pillars of complexity management for businesses. Strategy Alignment with Complexity Management Most projects fail because this condition
Supply Chain Business Amazon is known for its bold moves, innovation and customer centric thinking. Just yesterday it released a video of drone delivery of customer purchases from its warehouse and fulfilment centre which became the talk of the town. Regulatory and technological issues apart, I will only take a supply chain perspective in this
Different Products on Supply Chain Business Every company wants to improve its results, and to do so, they can use very different ways. The most common ways they use to achieve this goal are whether improvement of the quality or the reduction of their costs. How do they do? What methods do they use?
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING. Although social medias are obviously helpful tools of communication for your business, there are some things you should know before initiating any strategy. In fact, you cannot implement an appropriate social media strategy if you do not know the bases and the common traps. Then, this article aims at underlining a few
Complexity While Expanding Your Business We have to admit that the world has become more and more complex over the past centuries, and it is even truer for the past decades! We are interested in business and it is not less obvious about it. Interaction and interconnectivity between people are a proof of this increasing
Learn More Effectiveness Outsourcing Business In his book The 5-STAR Business Network (http://bit.ly/5-STARBN), Vivek Sood talks about prophecies coming from an article written in the Harvard Business Review in 1999. Efficiency And Effectiveness Outsourcing Business Although this article was written almost 15 years ago, the authors, John Hagel III and Marc Singer, were very forward thinking about companies.
About 5-STAR Business Network Owners of cars made by a range of manufacturers such as Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo will be able to voice-command their vehicles using iOS devices this year. Apple will unveil CarPlay, the integrated infotainment system, at the 83rd Geneva Motor Show, which takes place from Mar 6 to 16, 2014. The
We have compiled a list of 20 criteria you should consider before adding a 5-Star Business Network to your business strategy as well as how to evaluate your business network. 20 Questions for Business Strategy
About E-Bay And Amazon Beware of Alibaba’s coming IPO The world’s biggest e-commerce company is set to go public in the world’s biggest retail market, the latter is true at least for now. Alibaba announced its decision to “commence the process of an initial public offering in the United States” on Sunday.
About Australia Leads The Way To Globalisation Australia is talking with ministers from Japan, Korea and China to finalise Free Trade Agreements with the trio ahead of Tony Abbott‘s visit to Asia in April. On Wednesday, Japan’s Farm Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Australia’s Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb failed to reach a consensus on tariff elimination. However, they confirmed negotiations would still be underway to
Business books, blogs and literature are full of secrets of success. A recent experience taught me that it need not be too complex. Why Do I Call It The Only One Key To Success in Supply Chain? Hopefully, that will be clear in the next 5-10 minutes it takes to read about this incident.
I have set the scene in the first entry of this blog series. Things are changing, moving, and old business models are not working anymore. That is why I proposed even a new organisational model in my book The 5-STAR Business Network from which some of the following excerpts are taken with modifications. SUPPLY CHAIN
As you can see, supply chain 3.0 is for everyone, small and big companies. Now let me demonstrate the concrete benefits of having supply chain 3.0 and I promise these are not dull or irrelevant stories. Supply Chain 3.0 Helps Leverage Your Business Infrastructure Over the past several decades, both the global economy as well
Business Executives of Brazil’s Soccer In the early 90s, more than two decades since its last World Cup championship title, Brazil hungered for the trophy more than any other country on earth. Yet the scars from its 1950 campaign were still not totally erased. Dubbed as the saddest day in Brazilian soccer history, July 16
Business Model Transformation In the previous blog in this series I wrote about the Brazilian soccer teams transformation from an individualistic style of play to a network style game. In early 90s, more than two decades since the last World Cup championship title and Brazil faced an interesting juxtaposition – continue with what led to
Business Industry Network As predicted in my book 5-STAR Business Networks when a product category, its current form, reaches the end of its life-cycle, the supply chain interaction between the supply chain partners becomes rather unpleasant and coercive. The reason is clear enough. Long standing supply chain relationships are tested as a result of falling
SUPPLY CHAIN 3.0 I hope by now you have grasped the business model in which Supply Chain 3.0 resides. Before we examine all the concrete benefits of Supply Chain 3.0, let us briefly differentiate it from its predecessors. Table 1 sets out to do that: Table 1 – Supply Chain Metaphors Supply Chain 0.0 Supply
Not too long ago I wrote a blog series on the transformation of Brazil’s soccer playing model from an individualistic style to a Business networks-oriented style. In the early 90s, more than two decades since the last World Cup championship title and Brazil faced an interesting juxtaposition – continue with what led to past triumphs
Everything You Need To Know About Helping To Keep Sports Barrier-Free If there is one thing that could unite the spirits of mankind, amid all the chaos and turmoil in the world, it is sport. Whenever there is a large-scale sporting event, such as the World Cup or the Olympics, people gather, share and watch
The Art Of Harmonious Rebalancing The Supply Chain Company Many years ago, I was engaged in a strategic transformation project in a mid-size airline. For some curious reasons the airline was of critical importance to the national economy and occupied a very high position in the national political totem pole.
Why is the new Amazon Smartphone Is A Dud ? As a strategy – it is doing what Apple did with iTunes more than a decade ago – build a walled garden for your customers to play within. The strategy rests on two assumptions – first, that the customers will not find a jailbreak, and
Importance of KPI In Supply Chain Network I came across the following picture on the blog of Thaku Huni and the thought struck me about a situation I encounter quite frequently: Importance of KPI In Supply Chain If you asked any objective person about the KPIs of the group of six men above – most
The Corporate World In 2015 Changing Business Models – Push television/video to YouTube: Videos ad revenues from YouTube in the US would hit $1.13 billion by the end of 2014. In 2015, Google is making a huge change in the way it has been promoting YouTube: they are going to put significantly higher focus on
Business Networks of supply chain There I was – stranded at the Heathrow Airport again – and cursing myself for trusting British Airways and Heathrow once more. However, when it comes to its alliance partners, Qantas leaves a lot to be desired. Every time I fly out of Australia to Europe, I face a choice – whether
HAPPY NEW YEAR – 2015 As the clock strikes midnight it’s time to bid farewell to 2014 and welcome the current era! This is an
Most effective business leaders relish the challenge of answering questions such as the following: Which Business Models are Now Obsolete? Business Models Has The Answer To Everything. 1. Why did Apple sue Samsung while it continues to buy critical parts for its winning products from Samsung?
Topic: The 5-STAR Business Network Interview Interviewer: Ric Bratton of This Week In America Interviewee: Vivek Sood of Global Supply Chain Group (author of The 5-STAR Business Networks) Here is the entire transcript of the interview: 5 STAR Business Ric Bratton: Welcome back everybody!
Supply Chain Management (SCM) Supply Chain Management (SCM) is an essential element of operational efficiency. SCM is critical to business operations, therefore it is clearly important for a company to know, understand and master the supply chain. Supply chain’s evolution can be break down into three generations.
THE ASIAN BANKERS SUMMIT OF SUPPLY CHAIN Despite a high level of participation, and over 1,000 attendees, the mood was rather sombre. I enjoyed the frank and realistic discussions and tried to attend as many sessions as my limited schedule permitted. I am a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) for the last 14 years, and attend
Many professionals in the business world wonder how to increase income, at least every few weeks.How To Increase Your Professional Income. Want To Legitimately Increase Income in Supply Chain? No doubt, in the long run, you get paid for your results. Results are derived from two critical factors – skills and dedication.
The results are in, and for PC sales they are neither good nor bad – but ugly! The pundits are out to find a scapegoat – and the most convenient scapegoat at the moment is Microsoft. The PC sales Debacle. For example see this report in today’s Wall Street Journal – which hails Microsoft’s mea culpa.
There Are Lies, Damned Lies And Statistics. Benjamin Disraeli Benchmarks In Supply Chain Management. Benchmarks are a peculiarly virulent form of statistics which can be used to make a positive change, or misused to make a dodgy sale. On one hand a benchmark, such as a world record in 100m race, can motivate an athlete
Extract from the book “The 5-Star Business Network”, written by Vivek Sood Why Successful Business Networking Are Important? 5 Star Business Networks There was a time, not more than a few decades ago, if you were General Motors you would attempt to own every part of your business. The assembly lines, the parts manufacturing plants,
Green Supply Chain: Procurement Procurement also known as purchasing is “Securing supplies, materials, and services of the right quality in the right quantity at the right time from the right place (source) at the right cost price”. So the procurement in traditional supply chain could procure you the best possible cost to meet the needs
Traditional Green Supply Chain In a traditional supply chain, the flow of materials and information is linear and from one end to other. There is a limited collaboration and visibility. Each supply chain partner has limited information regarding, for example the carbon footprint and Green House Gas emission of the other partners.
Following are some of the key benefits of Green supply chains: Positive Impact On Financial Performance Despite ample evidence to the contrary, there persists a myth that going green costs additional expense. Some of the factors responsible for persistence of this myth are inertia, the lack of a systematic approach and an unwillingness to engage
There are five type of environmental stakeholders group who drive green initiatives within an organization: 5 Drivers Of Green Supply Chains Management That Will Actually Make Your Life Better 1. Regulatory stakeholders, who either set regulations or have the ability to convince governments to set standards 2.
Why Corporate Social Responsibility Matters ? One of the best definitions of Corporate Social Responsibility is perhaps provided by Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s The Benchmark Foundation. It states: “Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the decision-making and implementation process that guides all company activities in the protection and promotion of international human rights, labor and environmental standards
Seasons Greetings to all our Clients and Supporters
The Effects Of Enterprise Resource Planning To combat the symptoms of departmental silos many organizations implement a very rigid Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. This helps run their internal processes and coordinates inter-departmental communication. By their nature, these systems are very formulaic and prescriptive with a one-size fits all approach to planning.
Supply Chain Company Businesses are gradually being chained by a number of forces so ubiquitous and accepted by all of us, that we fail to notice their impact on businesses, economies, and people. Today, most organizations become veritable bureaucracies as they grow bigger.
Learn All About Revamped Business Model New challenges need new responses. The common organizational model looks like the generic drainpipe structure, meeting the mammalian need for an ordered hierarchy and flow of power within a business. Most companies have evolved in the last 2 decades and their functioning has become almost entirely customer centric.
5-STAR Business Networks As the economic centre of the world moves more and more towards its more populous nations in Asia, a number of businesses are realising that they must adjust their business models, as well as their 5-STAR Business Networks to this new reality. Take the example of airlines industry.
One of my posts on LinkedIn sparked a lot of interest and a healthy debate. I am not sure about the reason for interest but seems like people agree with the above statement, as well as its reverse: The person who does less than s/he is paid for, will soon be paid less that s/he
The Universe Of Workology I cannot claim to know everything in the universe of workology. But after starting work at the age of 17 and worked almost continuously (barring a few short breaks for full time studies), for the last 34 years I do have a perspective.
My last post “Supply Chain Confusion could kill your business“ generated several great comments from highly qualified professionals around the world, and in this post I want to explore the reasons for the confusion. Obviously, the confusion is debilitating, and unprofitable. I am sure readers will have their own experiences with the confusion in supply chain world,
About Mind The Gap Why do companies achieve far worse performance than what could be feasible with their superior hiring and training capabilities? It appears as if there are some invisible chains that are constantly pulling these companies back all the time. Something significant yet intangible is acting as a brake that inhibits the functionality
Ally In Supply Chain The digital revolution (aka tech revolution) has changed the way we live, work and play. The boom of software and IT solutions have caused disruption and realignment for businesses. When business intelligence is implemented and used effectively there is a real pay-off.
Supply Chain Optimisation / transformation. Optimisation has always been a hot topic for strategists and business transformations executives. Now, as the mantle for leading corporations is moving from strategists to the integrationists and supply chain leaders – optimisation is hotter than ever before.
Industrial Age Tools Vs Information Age Weapons This is the part 2 of my earlier post What I Learnt Fighting Pirates (Not in the Caribbean)! (that post was getting too long, so I had to break it into two parts). I asked bosun to send a repelling party to cut the ladder and the scrambling rope, While
Supply Chain Management Software, Executives, managers and businessmen encounter a multitude of problems while deciding, selecting, implementing and using supply chain management software. We have created a poll to stimulate discussion on the most common problems. Please participate in the poll and use comment section to share your experience. Here is the link to the
5-STAR Business Network I am always amused to see the starry eyed stories of success of the companies in the business press. Many of the stories do not go deep into the real reasons for that success or to trace how transitory it can be, if those reasons disappear.
Old Business Models Are Getting Redundant When General Motors filed for Chapter XI protection in 2008, it also marked the closing of a type of business models in modern commerce. General Motors was seen as the paragon of modern American management theory as popularized by Peter Drucker in the middle of the twentieth century.
You Will Never Believe This Bizarre Truth Of A Management Consultant. I was in a hard bind. I just came out of a meeting with a highly polished marketing professional, who was pitching to our company for outsourced marketing work. She had correctly diagnosed that similar to many small companies, ours did not have any
How Will Globalisation Be In The Future. No matter which country you look at today – you see big problems. Emerging problems are currently grappling with massive monetary expansionism triggered by a need to keep currency stability in face of periodic bouts of Quantitative Easings. For example see the article “Rajan Warns of Policy Breakdown as
CEO For Microsoft CEO FOR MICROSOFT. CEO Wires are abuzz with the talk about Satya Nadella – who seems to be the front runner for the job of Microsoft CEO. Many profiles have emerged online – e.g. see the article Satya Nadella: CEO For M The man who may soon become Microsoft CEO. Google’s Sunder
Troubles in big data are starting to emerge. Big Data in Supply Chain I have written about these earlier and warned the clients to first make sure their small data is working as intended before jumping into big data. If you cannot control your small data, your ERP system, your EIS or your cloud then
How Amazon Shipping Can Ease Your Pain After delivery drones, Amazon has created yet another news sensation! This time with predictive shipping and patenting it. In this article, Cathy Morrow Robertson describes Amazon’s latest leap: “Based on previous orders, product searches, wish lists, shopping cart contents and other online customer experiences,
Supply Chain Business 911 Although you keep looking for better ideas and new processes, your business keeps struggling to achieve the expected results? Here is some advice you could readily use when you need new ideas to improve your business. In this article, we will try to give you some guidance to help you with
Supply Chain Transparency. The global fast food franchise has recently released a video showing how McNuggets are made to curb rumours about nasty ingredients. In the clip, supply chain manager Nicoletta Stefou from McDonald’s Canada headquarters walks the audience through the process, with particular emphasis on how “pink goop” is never part of the production
SUPPLY CHAIN 3.0 In the last entry, I have talked about the first two pillars underpinning Supply Chain 3.0. So, what are the other three key cornerstones? Transaction Optimisation Profitability (TOP) measures the ability to simultaneously minimize the costs, and maximize the revenues on each transaction that a company enters into. Consider this – there are companies today that
Learn More Supply Chain 3.0 In the previous blog entry of this series, I have outlined a customer centric business model, which is also captured in my book The 5-Star Business Network. Now let us delve into the evolution of supply chain models, or how Supply Chain 3.0 came about. In the old model of supply chains, businesses used to relate to each other in
Miles Of Amazon Complexity Network Rivers become amazingly complex in their last few miles. If you have not yet done that try and navigate the Amazon delta from the sea up to the river – it is an enlightening experience. As a former ship’s master, I have had the privilege of navigating up a number
Following two benefits outlined in the previous entry, in this last entry of the blog series, let us go over the remaining benefits of Supply Chain 3.0. By Definition, Supply Chain 3.0 Improves Your Cash Position Recall from the previous blog series that “The second measure of interest to us is in Supply Chain 3.0
Trust & Care – Two Hallmarks Of Supply Chain Segmentation Supply Chain Segmentation Drives Today’s Digital Marketing – This is how I explained the situation to a group of a senior executives of the company I was consulting to recently. The profitability was falling, and customers were abandoning the company (I cannot go into too
The Miracle Of Supply Chain Is The New Electricity. Recently I did a small but quite interesting thought experiment with one of my sons. We
Ten Various Ways To Do The Rat Race. After a while, the rat race tires you out. Even if you are winning the race, you
About Supply Chain Job This blog post is relatively small and simple. Yet, as you will see, it is of immense use to anyone in
It appears a bit extreme now – but it was very common at time when I was a navigating cadet. Learn More Strategy Is An
Supply Chain Problem Maturity Differs At Each Stage There is a common assumption that every company’s supply chain should be similar, if not the same.
There Are Five Key Cornerstones Of Success In Building And Harnessing Effective Global Business Networks The 5-STAR Business Network So what are these 5 key
“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need
About Supply Chain Business Imagine if you were a small sized furniture seller, and suddenly your suppliers refused to supply furniture to you because they
About Supply Chain Company I was shocked when I heard of the bankruptcy of Hostess Brands Inc. The $2.5 billion maker of Twinkies and Wonder
How Will Asian Banker Summit 2015 Be In The Future On 14 – 16 April 2015 in Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong,
Strategic Thinking On Centralization The chief mate was on the forecastle with the bosun and 3 sailors preparing to anchor the ship. Master was on
About Business Transformations Industry I was reminded of this story because I was talking about it in a workshop on business transformation last week. I
Business Transformations Of Supply Chain Global shipping is a very cut-throat business where you can make a lot of money just by buying and selling
The Mysteries Of Supply Chains I have been asked this question a lot on Quora, as well in my board and other speeches. A lot
Business Transformations Process If I have seen it once, I have seen it a hundred times. A new person is brought in with a clear
The 5-STAR Business Network – Make Your Business Network Great In his book The 5-STAR Business Network (http://bit.ly/5-STARBN), Vivek Sood mentions the concept of synchronicity,
Ways to Improve your supply chain The meeting room was as sparsely appointed as most meeting rooms used for supplier meetings these days. There were
Supply Chain And Logistics Recently, obstetrician Dr Liu Hongmei hit global headlines when she disclosed the story of a young couple who came to her
About Supply Chain Security I know that Supply Chain Security is not the top of mind of anyone. Least of all for people who are
About Supply Chain Strategy This is a million dollar question for most companies – start-ups or conglomerates. A lot of time and money is wasted
Unique Supply Chain Challenges One of the common problems cited by the boards and senior management is that the consultants they hire do not understand
Startling Statistics Consultants Supply Chain I came across startling statistics which prompted a new line of thinking that I wanted to share – hence this
How to cope with Supply Chain Disruptions Resulting From Covid-19 I was prompted to write this blog post because of emails on LinkedIn like this
Business Transformation Is Different Than Change Management Almost everybody who has anything to do with creating any change inside a company calls himself or herself
All You Need To Know About Transportation Management System. Many companies make do with Excel spreadsheets, paper invoices and back of the envelop calculations for
Supply Chain Group Without Corresponding Skills As the concept of supply chain management became increasingly popular in the mid 2000’s or so, many companies renamed
