#Supply Chain Consultancy Firm

[smithlee1221]

Procurement Consulting Australia | Comprara

Comprara specializes in cogs reduction, helping businesses optimise their procurement processes to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Their expert team provides tailored solutions that address the specific needs of each client. With Comprara, businesses can achieve significant cost savings through improved procurement practices.

[vncglobal]

The Role of an Accountant in Supply Chains Management

What is a Supply chain and how does it work?

A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, activities, information, and resources involved in moving a product or service from suppliers to customers. It encompasses all the activities involved in bringing a product or service from raw materials to the end consumer, including procurement, production, transportation, warehousing, distribution, and customer service.

The supply chain starts with the procurement of raw materials and ends with the delivery of finished goods or services to the end customer. It involves a series of interconnected and interdependent activities that require effective coordination and collaboration among all the stakeholders involved in the process.

VNC is another term for perfection we are India'ssupply chain management consulting Australia.

outsourcing warehouse management firms in Australia.

The process of a supply chain works as follows:

Planning and forecasting: The first step is to plan and forecast the demand for the product or service. This includes estimating the quantity of raw materials required, the production schedule, and the delivery schedule.

Procurement:

The next step is to procure the necessary raw materials and other inputs required for the production process. This involves selecting suppliers, negotiating contracts, and managing the supply of raw materials.

Production:

Once the raw materials are available, the production process begins. This involves converting the raw materials into finished goods or services, including quality control and testing.

Warehousing and inventory management:

After production, the finished goods or services are stored in a warehouse. Inventory management involves tracking the movement of goods in and out of the warehouse and ensuring that the right amount of inventory is available to meet customer demand.

Transportation:

The next step is to transport the finished goods from the warehouse to the distribution center or directly to the customer. This involves selecting the most efficient and cost-effective mode of transportation, such as trucking, air freight, or ocean freight.

Distribution:

The final step is to distribute the finished goods to the end customer. This involves managing the delivery schedule, tracking shipments, and providing customer service.

Effective supply chain management requires collaboration and coordination among all the stakeholders involved in the process, including suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. By optimizing the flow of goods and services, supply chain management can improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance customer satisfaction.

Supply chain management is the process of coordinating and managing the flow of goods and services from suppliers to manufacturers, to wholesalers, to retailers, and ultimately to the end customer. It involves managing the entire process from procurement to delivery while ensuring that the supply chain is efficient, cost-effective, and reliable.

As a crucial part of the supply chain, accountants play a critical role in managing the financial aspects of the process.

In this blog post, we will explore the role of an accountant in supply chain management and the various tasks they perform.

Cost analysis and management:

Accountants play a vital role in cost analysis and management in the supply chain. They help to identify cost-saving opportunities, monitor expenses, and establish budgets to manage costs. They also ensure that suppliers are delivering goods and services at the agreed-upon price and that the supply chain is operating efficiently.

Financial reporting:

Accountants in supply chain management prepare financial reports to help organizations understand their financial performance. They use these reports to identify trends, make informed decisions, and communicate financial results to stakeholders. They also use this information to forecast future financial performance and plan accordingly.

Auditing:

Auditing is an essential part of supply chain management, and accountants play a significant role in the process. They audit suppliers to ensure that they are complying with regulatory requirements, following ethical business practices and meeting quality standards. They also audit internal financial records to ensure that the financial data is accurate and up-to-date.

Risk management:

Supply chain management is often prone to various risks, including natural disasters, political instability, and economic fluctuations. Accountants play a critical role in risk management by assessing potential risks and developing contingency plans to mitigate them. They also ensure that there are appropriate controls in place to manage risks, such as inventory controls and insurance policies.

Cash flow management:

Accountants play a crucial role in managing cash flow in the supply chain. They monitor the flow of money, including accounts receivable and accounts payable, to ensure that the supply chain is operating smoothly. They also manage payment processing and reconciliation, ensuring that payments are made accurately and on time.

The popular accounting software used by the Accountants:

There are several popular accounting software used by accountants, some of which include:

QuickBooks:

This is one of the most widely used accounting software for small and medium-sized businesses. It offers a range of features including invoicing, expense tracking, financial reporting, and inventory management.

 Xero:

Xero is a cloud-based accounting software that is popular among small businesses and accountants. It offers features such as invoicing, payroll management, bank reconciliation, and financial reporting.

MYOB:

MYOB is an Australian accounting software that is widely used by small businesses and accountants. It offers features such as invoicing, inventory management, payroll processing, and financial reporting.

Sage 50:

Sage 50 is a popular accounting software used by small and medium-sized businesses. It offers features such as invoicing, budgeting, cash flow management, and financial reporting.

Wave:

Wave is a cloud-based accounting software that is popular among small businesses and accountants. It offers features such as invoicing, accounting, payroll processing, and financial reporting.

These are just a few examples of popular accounting software used by accountants. The choice of software will depend on the specific needs and requirements of the business or organization.

In conclusion, accountants play a critical role in managing the financial aspects of the supply chain. They help to ensure that the supply chain is operating efficiently, cost-effectively, and reliably. By analyzing costs, preparing financial reports, auditing suppliers, managing risks, and managing cash flow, accountants help to keep the supply chain running smoothly and efficiently.

VNC is another term for perfection we are India'ssupply supply chain solutions in Australia outsourcing supply chain management software in Australia.

[group-50]

https://www.slideserve.com/Group18/supply-chain-consulting-florida-powerpoint-ppt-presentation-13681212

Supply Chain Consulting in Florida: Helping Businesses Adapt to Market Changes 

Enhance your business efficiency with expert supply chain consulting in Florida. At Group50, we provide tailored strategies to optimize operations, reduce costs, and improve service delivery. Our experienced consultants empower your organization to thrive in a competitive marketplace.

[bisham456]

Understanding Supply Chain Consulting: Unveiling the Expertise of Supply Chain Consultancy Firms

In the realm of supply chain consulting strategy, businesses today face a complex landscape where efficiency, agility, and optimization reign supreme. As supply chain consultants, we recognize the pivotal role played by adept supply chain consultancy firms in transforming operational paradigms and driving sustainable growth. This comprehensive guide explores the nuanced realm of supply chain consulting firms, shedding light on their crucial contributions and strategic methodologies.

The Role of Supply Chain Consultants

Supply chain consultants are adept navigators in the intricate domain of logistics, procurement, and distribution. Their expertise extends beyond mere operational efficiencies to encompass strategic foresight and tactical implementations that bolster organizational resilience. By collaborating closely with businesses, supply chain consultant companies tailor bespoke solutions that align with unique operational frameworks and market demands.

Key Services Offered by Supply Chain Consulting Firms

Supply Chain Strategy Development

At the core of supply chain consultancy services lies the formulation of robust strategies that streamline processes and enhance cost-effectiveness. This involves meticulous analysis of current workflows, identification of bottlenecks, and implementation of innovative solutions to optimize resource utilization.

Process Optimization and Efficiency

Supply chain consulting firms excel in fine-tuning operational workflows to achieve peak efficiency. Through advanced analytics and benchmarking, consultants identify areas for improvement, implement lean methodologies, and integrate cutting-edge technologies to drive productivity gains and reduce lead times.

Inventory Management and Demand Forecasting

Effective supply chain consultants specialize in optimizing inventory management systems and forecasting demand with precision. By leveraging predictive analytics and data-driven insights, firms can minimize stock-outs, reduce excess inventory costs, and ensure seamless supply chain continuity.

Strategic Procurement and Vendor Management

Supply chain consulting strategy encompasses strategic procurement practices that mitigate risks and enhance supplier relationships. Consultants deploy strategic sourcing techniques to negotiate favorable terms, streamline procurement processes, and foster long-term partnerships with reliable vendors.

Technology Integration and Digital Transformation

In today's digital era, supply chain consultant companies play a pivotal role in driving digital transformation initiatives. From implementing advanced ERP systems to leveraging IoT and blockchain technologies, consultants facilitate seamless integration of digital tools that optimize supply chain visibility, traceability, and overall operational efficiency.

Risk Management and Resilience Planning

Navigating uncertainties is integral to supply chain consultants' expertise. By conducting comprehensive risk assessments and devising contingency plans, firms can proactively mitigate disruptions, safeguard business continuity, and enhance overall resilience against external shocks.

Measuring Success: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in Supply Chain Consulting

Supply chain consulting firms emphasize measurable outcomes to gauge the effectiveness of implemented strategies. Key performance indicators such as inventory turnover rates, on-time delivery metrics, and supply chain cycle times provide tangible insights into operational improvements and ROI.

Choosing the Right Supply Chain Consulting Partner

Selecting a proficient supply chain consultant entails evaluating industry experience, track record of success, and alignment with organizational goals. Collaborating with a reputable supply chain consultancy firm ensures tailored solutions that drive sustainable growth, operational excellence, and competitive advantage in dynamic market environments.

Empowering Business Excellence Through Strategic Supply Chain Consulting

The realm of supply chain consulting firms encompasses a strategic imperative for businesses aiming to achieve operational excellence and sustainable growth. From devising bespoke strategies to implementing cutting-edge technologies, supply chain consultants play a pivotal role in navigating complexities and driving transformative change. By partnering with a seasoned supply chain consultancy firm, organizations can unlock untapped potentials, optimize efficiencies, and pioneer innovation in the global marketplace.

[innovaticsblog]

Uncover hidden potential in your supply chain. Our supply chain analytics consulting unlocks data-driven insights to optimize operations, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction.

[strategic-consulting-firms-uae]

Future of Consulting Business

Businesses are adapting to a rapidly changing global landscape, which is undergoing a revolutionary transition within the consulting sector. The future success of consultants depends on their ability to embrace innovation and manage change in the face of changing client expectations, technological improvements, and developing market trends. In this blog article, we'll look at the major trends influencing the consulting industry's future and talk about how consultants can stay competitive in this fast-paced environment.

Embracing Digital Transformation

Industry after industry is being transformed by digital technology, and consulting is no exception. Embracing digital transformation is essential for consultants who want to provide better services. This involves utilizing automation, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, and data to gather insights, streamline procedures, and provide clients with data-driven suggestions.

Focus on Industry Specialization

As industries become increasingly specialized and complicated, consultants must gain in-depth domain knowledge. Clients prefer experts who are knowledgeable about the problems unique to their sector and who can provide specialized solutions. Future consultants will have a competitive edge if they focus on specialty markets or developing industries.

Agile and Collaborative Approach

More agile and collaborative methods are replacing traditional consulting arrangements. Clients expect consultants to collaborate closely with their teams, jointly develop solutions, and offer constant support. Consulting businesses will need to have cross-functional team structures, remote work options, and collaboration technologies.

Shift Towards Strategic Partnerships

Clients are increasingly looking for long-term strategic relationships rather than consulting firms for temporary initiatives. As a result, consultants may have a thorough grasp of the client's business and offer continuous help and direction. Consulting businesses will need to focus on developing long-term partnerships and providing value.

Sustainability and Social Impact Consulting

New opportunities for consultants are created by the increasing emphasis on sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Businesses are looking for advice on how to implement sustainable practices, deal with societal problems, and assess their effects. Social impact strategies and sustainability consulting specialists will be in great demand.

Talent and Skill Development

Beyond conventional business knowledge, a varied skill set is needed for the future of consulting. Expertise in fields like data analytics, artificial intelligence, design thinking, change management, and cultural intelligence will be required of consultants. To be relevant in a market that is changing quickly, consulting companies must make investments in personnel development and continual learning.

Globalization and Remote Consulting

Technology developments and the ability to operate remotely have made consulting a worldwide profession. To collaborate with customers, consultants may do so from anywhere on the globe, removing geographical restrictions. This creates new clientele and business prospects for consulting organizations, but it also necessitates a global perspective and sensitivity to cultural differences.

Conclusion Those who are flexible and open to change will find plenty of opportunities in the dynamic future of the consulting industry. Consulting firms can navigate the shifting landscape and offer high-value solutions to their clients by embracing digital transformation, specializing in niche industries, adopting agile approaches, building strategic partnerships, addressing sustainability challenges, developing diverse skill sets, and placing a priority on ethical practices. If you are looking for the top strategic consulting firms in the UAE, you can connect with us here. We have a professional team offering you the best consulting services.

[sassconsulting]

Benefits of Competitive Intelligence for any Business

[crinnac1]

How a Supply Chain Consultant Adds Value to Your Business ?

A supply chain consultant plays a crucial role in adding value to businesses by optimizing and improving the efficiency of their supply chain operations. With their expertise and industry knowledge, they can identify and address bottlenecks, streamline processes, and enhance overall performance. Here are some key ways in which a supply chain consultant adds value to your business.

Firstly, a supply chain consultant brings a fresh perspective to your operations. They have a deep understanding of best practices, industry trends, and innovative technologies that can help you stay ahead of the competition. By analyzing your current supply chain setup, they can identify areas for improvement and recommend strategies to enhance efficiency and reduce costs.

Secondly, a supply chain consultant has extensive experience in managing and mitigating risks. They can assess the vulnerabilities in your supply chain and develop contingency plans to minimize disruptions caused by unforeseen events such as natural disasters, supplier bankruptcies, or geopolitical issues. This proactive approach to risk management ensures continuity and resilience in your supply chain, protecting your business from potential losses.

Additionally, a supply chain consultant can optimize inventory management. They analyze demand patterns, lead times, and order quantities to implement effective inventory control measures. By striking the right balance between maintaining adequate stock levels and minimizing excess inventory, they can improve cash flow, reduce holding costs, and enhance customer satisfaction through timely deliveries.

Furthermore, supply chain consultants excel in fostering collaboration and building strong relationships with suppliers and other stakeholders. They can negotiate favorable contracts, establish effective communication channels, and implement performance metrics to ensure accountability and transparency. These efforts result in stronger partnerships, improved supplier performance, and ultimately, better overall supply chain performance.

In conclusion, a supply chain consultant adds substantial value to your business by bringing a fresh perspective, mitigating risks, optimizing inventory management, and fostering collaboration. Their expertise and insights enable you to streamline operations, reduce costs, enhance customer satisfaction, and gain a competitive edge in the market. Investing in the services of a supply chain consultant can lead to long-term success and sustainability for your business.

For More Information Visit - https://www.crinnac.com/

[probablyasocialecologist]

Israel relies on crude oil and refined products from overseas to run its large fleet of fighter jets, tanks and other military vehicles. The research, which was commissioned by the non-profit Oil Change International and shared exclusively with the Guardian, examines this fuel supply chain, which since the current conflict in Gaza began appears to have relied heavily on fossil fuels from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Brazil, Gabon and the US. The analysis by Data Desk, a UK-based tech consultancy firm investigating the fossil fuel industry, suggests the major oil companies facilitating the fuel supplies include BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies.

[...]

Human rights experts said that countries and corporations supplying oil to Israeli armed forces may be complicit in war crimes and genocide. “The countries and companies that have continued to supply oil to the Israeli military since the decision of the international court of justice are contributing to horrible human rights violations and may be complicit in genocide,” said David Boyd, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights and the environment. “Oil firms must ensure they’re not in the business of helping to entrench Israel’s apartheid system or fuelling war crimes and possible genocide in Gaza,” said Peter Frankental, Amnesty International UK’s economic affairs director, adding that it was incumbent on every company with commercial ties to the Israeli military to do “due diligence”.

Thu 14 Mar 2024

[smithlee1221]

Procurement Consulting Australia | Comprara

Comprara provides Procurement Transformation Consulting to help businesses enhance their procurement strategies. Comprara’s procurement consultants specialise in open tendering and supplier relationship management.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The long sleep of capitalism’s watchdogs

There are only five more days left in my Kickstarter for the audiobook of The Bezzle, the sequel to Red Team Blues, narrated by @wilwheaton! You can pre-order the audiobook and ebook, DRM free, as well as the hardcover, signed or unsigned. There's also bundles with Red Team Blues in ebook, audio or paperback.

One of the weirdest aspect of end-stage capitalism is the collapse of auditing, the lynchpin of investing. Auditors – independent professionals who sign off on a company's finances – are the only way that investors can be sure they're not handing their money over to failing businesses run by crooks.

It's just not feasible for investors to talk to supply-chain partners and retailers and verify that a company's orders and costs are real. Investors can't walk into a company's bank and demand to see their account histories. Auditors – who are paid by companies, but work for themselves – are how investors avoid shoveling money into Ponzi-pits.

Attentive readers will have noticed that there is an intrinsic tension in an arrangement where someone is paid by a company to certify its honesty. The company gets to decide who its auditors are, and those auditors are dependent on the company for future business. To manage this conflict of interest, auditors swear fealty to a professional code of ethics, and are themselves overseen by professional boards with the power to issue fines and ban cheaters.

Enter monopolization. Over the past 40 years, the US government conducted a failed experiment in allowing companies to form monopolies on the theory that these would be "efficient." From Boeing to Facebook, Cigna to InBev, Warner to Microsoft, it has been a catastrophe. The American corporate landscape is dominated by vast, crumbling, ghastly companies whose bad products and worse corporate conduct are locked in a race to see who can attain the most depraved enshittification quickest.

The accounting profession is no exception. A decades-long incestuous orgy of mergers and acquisitions yielded up an accounting sector dominated by just four firms: EY, KPMG, PWC and Deloitte (the last holdout from the alphabetsoupification of corporate identity). Virtually every major company relies on one of these companies for auditing, but that's only a small part of corporate America's relationship with these tottering behemoths. The real action comes from "consulting."

Each of the Big Four accounting firms is also a corporate consultancy. Some of those consulting services are the normal work of corporate consultants – cookie cutter advice to fire workers and reduce product quality, as well as supplying dangerously defecting enterprise software. But you can get that from the overpaid enablers at McKinsey or BCG. The advantage of contracting with a Big Four accounting firm for consulting is that they can help you commit finance fraud.

Remember: if you're an executive greenlighting fraud, you mostly just want to be sure it's not discovered until after you've pocketed your bonus and moved on. After all, the pro-monopoly experiment was also an experiment in tolerating corporate crime. Executives who cheat their investors, workers and suppliers typically generate fines for their companies, while escaping any personal liability.

By buying your cheating advice from the same company that is paid to certify that you're not cheating, you greatly improve your chances of avoiding detection until you've blown town.

Which brings me to the idea of the "bezzle." This is John Kenneth Galbraith's term for "the weeks, months, or years that elapse between the commission of the crime and its discovery." This is the period in which both the criminal and the victim feel like they're better off. The crook has the victim's money, and the victim doesn't know it. The Bezzle is that interval when you're still assuming that FTX isn't lying to you about the crazy returns they're generating for your crypto. It's the period between you getting the shrinkwrapped box with a 90% discounted PS5 in it from a guy in an alley, and getting home and discovering that it's full of bricks and styrofoam.

Big Accounting is a factory for producing bezzles at scale. The game is rigged, and they are the riggers. When banks fail and need a public bailout, chances are those banks were recently certified as healthy by one of the Big Four, whose audited bank financials failed 800 re-audits between 2009-17:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/28/cyberwar-tactics/#aligned-incentives

The Big Four dispute this, of course. They claim to be models of probity, adhering to the strictest possible ethical standards. This would be a lot easier to believe if KPMG hadn't been caught bribing its regulators to help its staff cheat on ethics exams:

https://www.nysscpa.org/news/publications/the-trusted-professional/article/sec-probe-finds-kpmg-auditors-cheating-on-training-exams-061819

Likewise, it would be easier to believe if their consulting arms didn't keep getting caught advising their clients on how to cheat their auditing arms:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/09/dingo-babysitter/#maybe-the-dingos-ate-your-nan

Big Accounting is a very weird phenomenon, even by the standards of End-Stage Capitalism. It's an organized system of millionaire-on-billionaire violence, a rare instance of the very richest people getting scammed the hardest:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/04/aaronsw/#crooked-ref

The collapse of accounting is such an ominous and fractally weird phenomenon, it inspired me to write a series of hard-boiled forensic accountancy novels about a two-fisted auditor named Martin Hench, starting with last year's Red Team Blues (out in paperback next week!):

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865854/redteamblues

The sequel to Red Team Blues is called (what else?) The Bezzle, and part of its ice-cold revenge plot involves a disillusioned EY auditor who can't bear to be part of the scam any longer:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/the-bezzle-a-martin-hench-audiobook-amazon-wont-sell

The Hench stories span a 40-year period, and are a chronicle of decades of corporate decay. Accountancy is the perfect lens for understanding our modern fraud economy. After all, it was crooked accountants who gave us the S&L crisis:

https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10130&context=etd

Crooked auditors were at the center of the Great Financial Crisis, too:

https://francinemckenna.com/2009/12/07/they-werent-there-auditors-and-the-financial-crisis/

And of course, crooked auditors were behind the Enron fraud, a rare instance in which a fraud triggered a serious attempt to prevent future crimes, including the destruction of accounting giant Arthur Andersen. After Enron, Congress passed Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), which created a new oversight board called the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).

The PCAOB is a watchdog for watchdogs, charged with auditing the auditors and punishing the incompetent and corrupt among them. Writing for The American Prospect and the Revolving Door Project, Timi Iwayemi describes the long-running failure of the PCAOB to do its job:

https://prospect.org/power/2024-01-26-corporate-self-oversight/

For example: from 2003-2019, the PCAOB undertook only 18 enforcement cases – even though the PCAOB also detected more than 800 "seriously defective audits" by the Big Four. And those 18 cases were purely ornamental: the PCAOB issued a mere $6.5m in fines for all 18, even though they could have fined the accounting companies $1.6 billion:

https://www.pogo.org/investigations/how-an-agency-youve-never-heard-of-is-leaving-the-economy-at-risk

Few people are better on this subject than the investigative journalist Francine McKenna, who has just co-authored a major paper on the PCAOB:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4227295

The paper uses a new data set – documents disclosed in a 2019 criminal trial – to identify the structural forces that cause the PCAOB to be such a weak watchdog whose employees didn't merely fail to do their jobs, but actually criminally abetted the misdeeds of the companies they were supposed to be keeping honest.

They put the blame – indirectly – on the SEC. The PCAOB has three missions: protecting investors, keeping markets running smoothly, and ensuring that businesses can raise capital. These missions come into conflict. For example, declaring one of the Big Four auditors ineligible would throw markets into chaos, removing a quarter of the auditing capacity that all public firms rely on. The Big Four are the auditors for 99.7% of the S&P 500, and certify the books for the majority of all listed companies:

https://blog.auditanalytics.com/audit-fee-trends-of-sp-500/

For the first two decades of the PCAOB's existence, the SEC insisted that conflicts be resolved in ways that let the auditing firms commit fraud, because the alternative would be bad for the market.

So: rather than cultivating an adversarial relationship to the Big Four, the PCAOB effectively merged with them. Two of its board seats are reserved for accountants, and those two seats have been occupied by Big Four veterans almost without exception:

https://www.pogo.org/investigations/captured-financial-regulator-at-risk

It was no better on the SEC side. The Office of the Chief Accountant is the SEC's overseer for the PCAOB, and it, too, has operated with a revolving door between the Big Four and their watchdog (indeed, the Chief Accountant is the watchdog for the watchdog for the watchdogs!). Meanwhile, staffers from the Office of the Chief Accountant routinely rotated out of government service and into the Big Four.

This corrupt arrangement reached a crescendo in 2019, with the appointment of William Duhnke – formerly of Senator Richard Shelby's [R-AL] staff – took over as Chief Accountant. Under Duhnke's leadership, the already-toothless watchdog was first neutered, then euthanized. Duhnke fired all four heads of the PCAOB's main division and then left their seats vacant for 18 months. He slashed the agency's budget, "weakened inspection requirements and auditor independence policies, and disregarded obligations to hold Board meetings and publicize its agenda."

All that ended in 2021, when SEC chair Gary Gensler fired Duhnke and replaced him with Erica Williams, at the insistence of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Within a year, Williams had issued 42 enforcement actions, the largest number since 2017, levying over $11m in sanctions:

https://www.dlapiper.com/en/insights/publications/2023/01/pcaob-sets-aggressive-agenda-for-2023-what-to-expect-as-agency-enforcement-expands

She was just getting warmed up: last year, PCAOB collected $20m in fines, with five cases seeing fines in excess of $2m each, a record:

https://www.dlapiper.com/en/insights/publications/2024/01/pcaobs-enforcement-and-standard-setting-rev-up-what-to-expect-in-2024

Williams isn't shy about condemning the Big Four, publicly sounding the alarm that 40% of the 2022 audits the PCAOB reviewed were deficient, up from 34% in 2021 and 29% in 2020:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/we-audit-the-auditors-and-we-found-trouble-accountability-capital-markets-c5587f05

Under Williams, the PCAOB has enacted new, muscular rules on lead auditors' duties, and they're now consulting on a rule that will make audit inspections much faster, shortening the documentation period from 45 days to 14:

https://tax.thomsonreuters.com/news/pcaob-rulemaking-could-lead-to-more-timely-issuance-of-audit-inspection-reports/

Williams is no fire-breathing leftist. She's an alum of the SEC and a BigLaw firm, creating modest, obvious technical improvements to a key system that capitalism requires for its orderly functioning. Moreover, she is competent, able to craft regulations that are effective and enforceable. This has been a motif within the Biden administration:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/18/administrative-competence/#i-know-stuff

But though these improvements are decidedly moderate, they are grounded in a truly radical break from business-as-usual in the age of monopoly auditors. It's a transition from self-regulation to regulation. As @40_Years on Twitter so aptly put it: "Self regulation is to regulation as self-importance is to importance":

https://twitter.com/40_Years/status/1750025605465178260

Berliners: Otherland has added a second date (Jan 28 - THIS SUNDAY!) for my book-talk after the first one sold out - book now!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/26/noclar-war/#millionaire-on-billionaire-violence

Back the Kickstarter for the audiobook of The Bezzle here!

Image: Sam Valadi (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/132084522@N05/17086570218/

Disco Dan (modified)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/danhogbenspics/8318883471/

CC BY 2.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

[group-50]

Optimize Your Operations with Lean Six Sigma Manufacturing Consulting

Group50's Lean Six Sigma Manufacturing Consulting services help streamline your production processes, reduce waste, and enhance efficiency. Our experts employ proven methodologies to drive operational excellence and cost savings. Partner with us to achieve sustainable improvements and competitive advantage in your manufacturing operations.

[thoughtlessarse]

The Taiwanese company whose name appeared on the pagers that detonated across Lebanon has denied manufacturing the devices. That has put relatively unknown Hungarian and Bulgarian firms in the spotlight. A Hungarian firm, BAC Consulting, has been linked to the thousands of pagers that exploded in Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least 12 people and leaving nearly 3,000 wounded. The name of the Budapest-based firm first cropped up in a statement by a Taiwanese manufacturer, Gold Apollo, whose label appeared on the devices. Gold Apollo said it did not manufacture the devices and that they were made by its Hungarian partner, BAC Consulting. "The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it," Gold Apollo founder and president Hsu Ching-kuang told reporters at the company's offices in the northern Taiwanese city of New Taipei on Wednesday. "We may not be a large company, but we are a responsible one," he said. "This is very embarrassing." […] Meanwhile, Telex, a Hungarian media outlet, has reported that it was actually Norta Global, a company based in Bulgaria's capital Sofia, that supplied the pagers to Hezbollah. The Bulgarian company, owned by a Norwegian citizen, was reportedly behind the deal with Gold Apollo, although on paper it was BAC that signed the contract, Telex wrote. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that BAC was part of an Israeli front and that at least two other shell companies were created as well to obfuscate links to Israeli intelligence officers. […] A shell company? DW visited BAC's official address in Budapest but didn't meet or see any employee from the firm. Nobody responded to the doorbell. An A4 sheet of paper with BAC's name printed on it is the only proof of the company's existence. Residents of the house told DW that they don't know this company, and that they rarely see any correspondence sent to the address. According to data on CompanyWall business, which classifies and analyzes financial information and business information on firms, BAC Consulting posted a profit after tax of 18.3 million Hungarian forint (€46,400/$51,700) on revenue of 215 million Hungarian forint in 2023. The company posted a profit after tax of 5.8 million Hungarian forint in 2022. […] What do we know about the Bulgarian firm? Citing sources familiar with the case, Telex reported that BAC Consulting CEO Barsony-Arcidiacono was in contact with Norta Global. It said that it was the Bulgarian company, not BAC Consulting, that imported the pagers from Taiwan. Responding to the report, Bulgarian authorities said no customs operations related to the pagers had occurred in the country. They confirmed that they were investigating any potential involvement of Norta Global in the supply chain. Norta Global was established on April 14, 2022, around the same time BAC was registered with the Hungarian authorities. The company was registered with an initial paid-in capital of 200 Bulgarian levs (€102, $114). Norta Global claims to offer management consulting services but doesn't mention any manufacturing operation.

read complete article

[rjzimmerman]

Arkansas May Have Vast Lithium Reserves, Researchers Say. (New York Times)

Excerpt from this New York Times story:

Researchers at the United States Geological Survey and the Arkansas government announced on Monday that they had found a trove of lithium, a critical raw material for electric vehicle batteries, in an underground brine reservoir in Arkansas.

With the help of water testing and machine learning, the researchers determined that there might be five million to 19 million tons of lithium — more than enough to meet all of the world’s demand for the metal — in a geological area known as the Smackover Formation. Several companies, including Exxon Mobil, are developing projects in Arkansas to produce lithium, which is dissolved in underground brine.

Whether lithium harvesting takes hold in the region will depend on the ability of those companies to scale up new methods of extracting the valuable battery ingredient from salty water. The processing technique that Exxon and others are pursuing in Arkansas, known as direct lithium extraction, generally costs more than more conventional methods do, according to the consulting firm Wood Mackenzie.

Energy and mining companies have long produced oil, gas and other natural resources in the Smackover, which extends from Texas to Florida. And the federal and state researchers said lithium could be extracted from the waste stream of the brines from which companies extracted other forms of energy and elements.

“The potential for increased U.S. production to replace imports has implications for employment, manufacturing and supply chain resilience,” David Applegate, the director of the United States Geological Survey, said in a statement announcing the study. “This study illustrates the value of science in addressing economically important issues.”

Federal researchers also have identified other potential resources that could produce large quantities of lithium, including the Salton Sea in Southern California, where Berkshire Hathaway Energy and other companies are working to extract lithium from hot liquid pumped up from an aquifer more than 4,000 feet below the ground by geothermal power plants.

Exxon Mobil recently drilled exploratory wells in Arkansas and was evaluating whether it could extract lithium in a cost-competitive way, Dan Ammann, the president of the company’s Low Carbon Solutions business, said in an interview last month.

[beardedmrbean]

A British-educated businesswoman has denied allegations of manufacturing the pagers used in an audacious attack against Hezbollah.

The handheld devices killed at least 12 people and injured 3,000 after they simultaneously detonated across Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday afternoon in a suspected Israeli operation.

The Taiwanese company whose branding was on the technology claimed Budapest-based firm BAC Consultancy made the devices under a three-year brand licensing agreement.

But University College London (UCL) graduate Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, the CEO of BAC Consultancy, said she was just a link in the supply chain and did not make the pagers.

“I do not make the pagers. I am just the intermediary. I think you got it wrong,” Ms Barsony-Arcidiacono told NBC News.

Around three grams of explosives are reported to have been placed into the AR-924 pagers in a sophisticated supply chain infiltration.

A Lebanese security source claimed Israel’s spy agency Mossad planted explosives in thousands of the devices months before they exploded, and one US official told Axios news the Israeli military moved to detonate the devices because it feared the sabotage plot had been exposed.

The Iran-backed militant group has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts.

Ms Barsony-Arcidiacono studied for a physics PhD at UCL between 2002 and 2006, according to her LinkedIn page.

She then went on to study at the London School of Economics and the University of London for various postgraduate qualifications between 2009 and 2017.

She also recently worked with the European Commission as an “evaluation expert” and as a “groundwater resource manager” for Unesco.

On her company’s website – which went offline on Wednesday morning – her work was described as “bridging technology and innovation from Asia”. The firm’s address was registered to a residential-looking two-storey building in Budapest, with its name posted on the glass door on an A4 sheet.

Hezbollah, which controls southern Lebanon, forms part of Iran’s so-called “axis of resistance”, which opposes Western and Israeli influence in the region.

A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the detonation of the pagers was the “biggest security breach” the group had been subjected to in nearly a year of war with Israel.

The group opened a second front against Israel a day after the war in the Gaza Strip began, triggered by a Hamas attack inside Israel on 7 October.

Hamas, also backed by Tehran, killed around 1,200 people, with another 251 taken hostage. In response, Israel has bombarded Gaza from the air and ground.