Consumer Products

The Future of Pharmaceutical Supply Chains (Or, Unpacking the Drug Quality and Security Act)

On November 27, 2013, President Obama signed into law the Drug Quality and Security Act (DQSA), HR 3204, legislation that will have broad-reaching effects on pharmaceutical supply chains. The DQSA was enacted to help protect consumers from contaminated, counterfeit, and stolen pharmaceutical products, and was enacted as a response to a meningitis outbreak in 2012, … Continue Reading

Coming to America: Foreign Manufacturers Looking to Produce in the U.S.

By Sarah Rathke and Ayako Russell on August 6, 2015 Posted in Consumer Products, Industrial Products, International

There’s been buzz about Keer Group lately, the Chinese textile company that opened a cotton mill this year in South Carolina. China has long been seen as the global capital of textile manufacturing, due in part to their low production costs and seemingly endless supply of cheap labor. But Keer Group found the rising costs in … Continue Reading

Announcing SPB Recall Publication (Or, “A Guide to Product Recalls: United States & European Union”)

By Sarah Rathke on July 10, 2015 Posted in Aerospace, Automotive, Consumer Products, Food & Drug, Industrial Products, International, Legal Analysis, Tech, Uncategorized

As we have discussed in a previous post, recalls are part of life for many manufacturers, and the trend is for more frequent, and more geographically broad, product recalls.… Continue Reading

Supply Chain Disputes With China (Or, How To Protect Your Interests) (Or, How To Avoid Really Pointless Litigation)

By Sarah Rathke on June 24, 2015 Posted in Consumer Products, Fashion, International, Legal Analysis

In terms of supply chain relationships, China is often alluring. Known as a low cost manufacturing country, China (among other non-US locations) often strikes some industrial buyers as a good place from which to source components, or to assemble finished goods. Chinese contract manufacturers (CMs) are amongst the largest in the world, and can provide … Continue Reading

California Asserts Its Transparency In Supply Chains Act (Or, Letters To Retailers And Manufacturers) (Or, Seeing Through Supply Chains)

By Sarah Rathke on April 15, 2015 Posted in Aerospace, Automotive, Consumer Products, Fashion, Food & Drug, Industrial Products, Legal Analysis, Tech

It’s springtime, which apparently means… that the California Department of Justice has begun what looks like enforcement measures with respect to California’s 2010 Transparency in Supply Chains Act. If you are a manufacturer or a retailer who has received a letter inquiring about your compliance with this (relatively) new legislation, don’t be surprised. It is apparently … Continue Reading

Legal Fallout From The West Coast Ports Labor Dispute (Or, How To Take Risk Into Account In Supply Chain Contracts) (Or, We Like Meaty Meat)

By Sarah Rathke on March 26, 2015 Posted in Automotive, Consumer Products, Food & Drug, International, Legal Analysis

Although the West Coast Ports labor dispute has more or less resolved, the consequences continue to be felt across supply chains both in the U.S. and internationally. Especially hard hit have been the retail, automotive, and agricultural industries, with several companies (such as the Gap, Lululemon, and Williams-Sonoma) negatively revising their financial outlooks. Honda took … Continue Reading

Supply Chain Brain Podcast

By Sarah Rathke on March 20, 2015 Posted in Consumer Products, Legal Analysis, Tech

The Apple-GTAT disaster. Working with international suppliers. Constructing supply chain agreements for development projects when success and cost structure are not guaranteed. We discuss these subjects and more with Bob Bowman of Supply Chain Brain. Thanks Bob! Listen to our Podcast by clicking on the link here: http://www.supplychainbrain.com/content/nc/executive-education/podcasts/single-article-page/article/lessons-from-an-apple-supplier-debacle/ … Continue Reading

Supply Chain Law: 2014 – Year Of The Recall! (Or, Recalling Recalls) (Or, The Mother Of All Warranty Claims)

By Sarah Rathke on February 20, 2015 Posted in Automotive, Case Studies, Consumer Products, Food & Drug, Legal Analysis, Tech

Earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) , the federal agency responsible for overseeing automotive safety, released figures showing that 2014 involved a record number of automotive safety recalls – higher than 2011, 2012, and 2013 combined. In all, the industry recalled almost 64 million vehicles in 803 separate recall campaigns, 680 … Continue Reading

Closing the stable door before the horse has bolted….

By Squire Patton Boggs on February 9, 2015 Posted in Consumer Products, Food & Drug, Legal Analysis

Much has been written recently about “ethical” and “responsible” supply chain practices, certification and the need to safeguard provenance and quality of supply. This is not least to ensure that businesses maintain high standards and integrity (including in their dealings with their own suppliers), as well as promoting values and practices that are aligned to … Continue Reading

See Our Interview on Talking Logistics!

By Sarah Rathke on February 6, 2015 Posted in Case Studies, Consumer Products, International, Legal Analysis, Tech

Sometimes at the Global Supply Chain Law Blog, we talk to others in the industry about the legal aspects of developing successful supply chain relationships. This week, we were fortunate to be invited on Adrian Gonzales’ “Talking Logistics” show. We talked about the recent case of GT Advanced and Apple and what companies can do … Continue Reading

Running With The Big Dogs in Supply Chain Relationships, Part II (Or, A Product’s Components Have To Work Together) (Or, The Thigh Bone Is Connected To The Knee Bone…)

By Sarah Rathke on January 20, 2015 Posted in Case Studies, Consumer Products, Legal Analysis

In our last post, we talked about the catastrophic demise of the Apple/GTAT supplier agreement. One of the problematic legal aspects of the Apple/GTAT relationship that we discussed was the difficulty of negotiating a full-scale production agreement before product development is complete. Until development is finished, parties to a supply chain agreement cannot know with sufficient … Continue Reading

Running With The Big Dogs in Supply Chain Relationships, Part I (Or, Why My iPhone 6 Screen Isn’t Made Of Sapphire) (Or, If You Ain’t Made It Before, Don’t Bet The Company On It)

By Sarah Rathke on January 19, 2015 Posted in Case Studies, Consumer Products, Legal Analysis

One of the bigger supply chain legal stories of 2014 came out of the apocalyptic demise of the supplier relationship between Apple and GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT), a New Hampshire based company that Apple chose to supply sapphire for use in the new iPhone 6 screens. Before Apple met GTAT, iPhone screens were made of … Continue Reading

Fashion Friday – Supply Chain Issues in Fashion Visibility in the Supply Chain

By Sarah Rathke on January 16, 2015 Posted in Case Studies, Consumer Products, Fashion, Legal Analysis

Welcome to the first installment of Fashion Friday! In Fashion Friday, we focus on supply chain issues that impact an industry we follow in our personal lives as well as our professional lives. Fashion is an industry in which supply chain visibility is increasingly important. Supply chain visibility means the ability to know and understand … Continue Reading