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Chain Reaction is the podcast 'All About Supply Chain Advantage' with Tony Hines containing regular audio snippets relevant to C suite executives, supply chain professionals, researchers, policy makers in government, students, media commentators and the wider public. New episodes each week discuss hot topics in the news and supply chain ideas relevant to everyone involved in supply chain management. There are special editions too.
Our goal is to keep our listeners updated and informed about the various factors that can influence the dynamics of supply chains. As the world continues to evolve, so too do the complexities of global supply chains. By keeping an eye on these global events, we can anticipate potential challenges and opportunities, and navigate the ever-changing landscape of supply chains with agility and insight.
344 Episodes
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In this episode Tony Hines talks to Dr Regina Frei and Professor Diego Vasquez Brust about their research into plastic waste in four European Cities. The research project is PlastiCity. Researchers involved are investigating commercial waste in the four cities:Ghent (Belgium) The Hague (The Netherlands), Southend-On-Sea (UK), and Douai (France). Waste owners, designers, recyclers, policy makers, NGOs, waste management companies, logistic companies, plastic manufacturers and universities work...
Supply Chain Management is critical to improving cash flows. When we think of supply chains we think of material flows and not about cash flows but it is the latter that is equally important and impacted by the actions we take in our supply chains. The big consulting firms bang on about profitability and return on investment both are important but there is one variable even more so. It is cash flow because without cash the business may not continue into the future to earn profit and return on...
In this episode Tony Hines discusses recent changes in the macro environment as well as in society at large and the risk and uncertainty that plays out in the supply chain. Complexity and Disruption provide a focus for the discussion. Supply chains are discussed as complex systems. Disruptions emerge as the complexity of the system increases. Visibility is key to understanding the changes and the risks involved. Recent changes in the global economy give rise to further complexities and key tr...
Tony Hines developed his 7V model to identify value drivers in supply chains. These Vs were validated in his research studies of international supply chains. Value is created within the supply chain by lowering cost and increasing value for customers. This often results in saving time and speeding up throughput. If Supply Chain cycle times can be reduced you lower cost and people get paid faster. Each of the V’s has a unique role to perform. The 7V’s comprise: Volume, volatility, ...
Prices keep rising, lead times keep slipping, and yet global trade is still on track to break records. We dig into that paradox and make sense of a year where supply chains fought on multiple fronts: tariffs compounding at every border, inventories ballooning, and returns threatening to swallow margins. I walk through the latest data showing trade flows surpassing 35 trillion dollars in 2025 and why the Q4 slowdown signals a tougher landscape in 2026. From the shop floor to the boardroom, th...
Old ideas never really vanish; they take new shapes, get new champions, and quietly steer the rules we live by. We open the vault on Keynes, mercantilism, and the intellectual currents that still drive modern trade, monetary policy, and the supply chains that bind our lives together. Along the way, we revisit the Irish famine and the Scottish clearances as stark reminders of what happens when conviction outruns care, and why today’s policy theater can still shift costs onto those with the lea...
Your inbox is shouting “40% off,” but your gut says something’s off. We dig into the Black Friday spectacle and show how urgency, scarcity, and anchoring combine to sell ordinary prices as once-a-year steals. With clear stories from the front lines of retail and supply chain, we explain why the biggest winners are often the stores clearing old stock before Christmas—not the shoppers chasing countdown timers. We break down the psychology that powers the hype: FOMO from limited-time offers, in...
Trade is no longer a straight line from factory to port to shelf—it’s a living system of policy choices, digital rails, and real-world bottlenecks. We trace the signals that matter: South Africa’s push toward a 3% inflation target, FAA turbulence exposing infrastructure fragility, and a wave of innovation from biotech to quantum that’s accelerating AI in supply chain planning and risk. From the G20’s debut in Johannesburg to the rewiring of global corridors, we unpack how multilateral cracks...
Prices at the checkout don’t lie, and this week they forced a policy shift. We dig into the sudden rollback of U.S. food import tariffs on staples like Australian beef, tomatoes, coffee, and bananas, and explain why it’s a tactical retreat to cool grocery inflation while the broader trade war keeps grinding on. From voter angst to courtroom stakes, we connect kitchen table economics to the legal and political forces shaping your weekly shop. We break down what changed and what didn’t: food c...
Tariffs promise protection but often deliver scarcity and higher prices. We break down what a 25% duty on imported trucks really means for fleets, freight rates, and the prices that hit your wallet. Along the way, we connect the dots to a different kind of shock: how a single cyber attack at Jaguar Land Rover rippled through thousands of suppliers and nudged UK GDP negative for the month, turning a “supply chain glitch” into a national economic problem. We zoom out with fresh survey data fro...
Headlines say debate; the data says build. We open with China’s audacious green energy sprint—hitting 2030 wind and solar targets six years early—then unpack how investment, grid upgrades, and supply chain control are setting a new global benchmark. It’s a masterclass in aligning industrial policy with execution, where milestones, manufacturing capacity, and high-voltage transmission turn climate goals into competitive advantage. From there, we pivot to the UK’s uneasy fiscal picture: a £50 ...
Global trade touches every checkout, factory line, and doorstep. We set out to make that complex web crystal clear, turning headlines and jargon into plain-language insights you can use the same day. From port delays and policy shifts to pricing moves and tech breakthroughs, our approach blends timely updates with grounded analysis so you always know what matters and what to do next. We walk through the core promise of the show: regular briefings on hot topics in the news, smart takes on inn...
Trade wars don't make winners – they create mutual losers. That's the stark reality emerging from our deep dive into the Trump administration's tariff policies and their dangerous economic consequences. The White House justifications for escalating tariffs rest on a fundamentally false premise: that the United States faces systematically unfair treatment in global trade. This narrative represents a socially constructed straw man argument rather than economic reality. By examining the evidenc...
Gold doesn’t leap to records without a story. We unpack why $4,326 per troy ounce isn’t just about inflation, but about confidence shifting amid tariff threats, rare earth controls, and geopolitical strain. From China’s new export restrictions to a fragile 90‑day tariff window, we map how policy volatility is rewiring sourcing, inventory decisions, and the cost of capital across global supply chains. We dig into the headlines around AI in apparel manufacturing and separate signal from noise....
Tariffs, magnets, and malware collided this week—and the shockwaves tell a bigger story about where power lives in the global economy. We unpack how China’s sweeping rare earth export controls—and its command of magnet manufacturing—turn a handful of elements into leverage over EVs, wind turbines, smartphones, and defense systems. When the U.S. answers with 100% tariffs, markets flinch, currencies wobble, and procurement teams scramble to trace origin, redesign parts, and qualify new supplier...
When the financial infrastructure shifts, everything changes. Taiwan's Cathay United Bank is quietly redrawing the map of Asian finance, following a dramatic pivot away from China. Once directing 84% of overseas investment to mainland China, Taiwan now sends just 11% there—a structural transformation that speaks volumes about where global trade is heading. This shift isn't happening in isolation. Across the Pacific, Danish energy pioneer Ørsted finds its Revolution Wind Project—80% complete ...
Politics and business collide as Trump makes unfounded claims about Tylenol causing autism while Jaguar Land Rover faces a devastating cyber attack costing £50 million weekly and threatening its entire supply chain network. • Trump administration announces FDA warning labels for Tylenol (paracetamol) linking it to autism despite scientific evidence contradicting this claim • Tesla's UK profits drop 40% as average car prices fall by £7,000 amid broader European sales decline • Trump administr...
Tony Hines explores recent economic developments, technology partnerships, and significant supply chain disruptions affecting global business operations. • Bank of England keeps interest rates at 4% while US Federal Reserve makes surprising quarter-percent cut • President Trump's UK visit secures £150 billion in investment commitments from companies including Blackstone, Microsoft, and Google • NVIDIA invests $5 billion in Intel, creating historic partnership to integrate technologies and st...
The global balance of power isn't just about military might or economic sanctions—it's increasingly about who controls the critical materials that power our modern world. China has masterfully positioned itself as the dominant force in rare earth elements, controlling 70% of mining and 90% of refining for these 17 elements essential to everything from smartphones to missile guidance systems. When faced with Trump's tariffs, China responded not with matching broad strokes but with surgical pre...
Global markets are reeling from what can only be described as an economic tsunami, triggered by President Trump's chaotic approach to trade tariffs. The ripple effects are now washing ashore everywhere from the United Kingdom to Japan, leaving financial destruction in their wake. The UK economy faces a staggering £41.2 billion deficit—significantly worse than the £30 billion previously projected—according to the National Institute for Economic and Social Research. With GDP growth slowing and...
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