Material Handling & Logistics -- If businesses look closely at one of their key performance metrics (injury statistics), what "weaknesses" would be revealed asks Kent Hatcher, director of business development for Humantech, a company that manages ergonomic in the manufacturing sector.

One weakness is the high number of injuries associated with manual material handling tasks (tasks that include lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling or carrying). Hatcher cites the 2014 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index report that "overexertion involving outside sources" was ranked first among the leading causes of disabling injury in 2012, accounting for 25.3% of the overall national burden ($15.1 billion in direct costs).

Forbes -- In the U.S., over 70 percent of all freight movement is hauled by trucks of various types and sizes. Needless to say, any improvements in freight efficiencies will have a cascading positive impact on all corners of the world’s largest and most dynamic economy. The last time the U.S. transportation and logistics industry experienced revolutionary changes was in the 1990s, when IT induced remarkable efficiency gains. We are now at the cusp of a similar revolutionary transition in the trucking industry with Uber for truck-type apps entering the market, but this time the competition will be high and the solutions a lot more fragmented.

The Wall Street Journal -- E-commerce retailers are starting to add smaller, urban warehouses to their supply chains as the pace of online shopping and delivery transforms distribution demands.

In a report to be released next week, analysts with real-estate brokerage firm CBRE Inc. say demand for existing industrial structures under 200,000 square feet and located in the midst of high-population urban zones could soon go up. Companies aren’t necessarily turning away from sprawling distribution centers far from urban centers, said David Egan, CBRE’s head of U.S. industrial research, but are adding more sites as they roll out speedy and even same-day delivery.

As part of MHI view’s ongoing video program, this new episode focuses on:

Identified as one of the eight emerging technologies that will transform supply chain models in the next decade, predictive analysis has grown tremendously in recent years and will become an ever-increasing force in the industry. Find out how you can make predictive analysis work for your benefit.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO.

 

MHI Blog -- MHI Young Professionals Network (YPN) hosted the Emerging Leaders Conference in downtown Chicago on Thursday, July 30, 2015. The conference was attended by more than 100 people from over 50 material handling companies. The conference was centered on the topic of Collaboration and had three keynote speakers and an interactive roundtable discussion.

Devon Birch, MHI’s Director of Membership and manager of YPN said, "I felt like this was the best Emerging Leaders Conference to date. The speakers were able to keep the attendees engaged while providing several important concepts that you could immediately apply once you got back in the office."

Supply Chain Brain -- A report from APICS Supply Chain Council examines critical success factors of a supply chain leader, including his or her attributes, leadership style and ability to formally and informally influence a multitude of stakeholders.

Compiled from multiple sources, including surveys of APICS members, articles and external research, the purpose of Supply Chain Leadership Report: Many Styles Generate Success is to convey a knowledge and skills blueprint for current and future supply chain leaders.

Transport Topics -- Diesel’s spring-and-summer price slide has reached an 11th straight week with the Department of Energy reporting another decline Aug. 10, this time by 5.1 cents a gallon to $2.617. Retail prices for fuel declined in all major regions of the country for both the week and relative to the same time last year, DOE’s Energy Information Administration said after its weekly survey of fueling stations. A year ago, the national average for trucking’s main fuel was higher by $1.226 a gallon.

Market News -- Manufacturing firms with higher payroll per employee figures possess workers with more skills who work harder, resulting in heightened productivity, according to a report published by the Department of Commerce and the Economics and Statistics Administration on Wednesday.

In statistical terms, payroll and value-added share a strong correlation coefficient of 0.7, meaning as one increases, so does the other.

EBN -- Business transformation implies a change in the way a company does business, as well as a development of competence in specific functions and processes. Ideally, a culture of change arises and encourages new ways of working towards a more sustainable supply chain. However, to make these changes, organizations often need help from the outside. The Supply Chain Academy from Hughenden Consulting offers some thoughts on the importance of continuous education in making the shift toward organizational transformation.

Reuters -- New orders for U.S. factory goods rebounded strongly in June on robust demand for transportation equipment and other goods, a hopeful sign for the struggling manufacturing sector.

The Commerce Department said on Tuesday new orders for manufactured goods increased 1.8 percent after declining 1.1 percent in May.

The Wall Street Journal -- Thieves are making off with less cargo and stealing less-valuable shipments, according to a new report by FreightWatch International, which provides supply-chain security services. 

In the second quarter of 2015 FreightWatch recorded 178 cargo thefts in the U.S., with an average loss value of $189,307. Volume of thefts was down 11% from the previous quarter and 7% from the previous year, while the average value of a stolen shipment was down 27% from the first quarter and flat compared with a year earlier.

Material Handling & Logistics -- The Center for Next Generation Logistics, launched late last month, is a virtual education program that will work closely with government agencies and industry to perform cutting-edge research in logistics and supply chain systems. The objective is to translate  research into commercialization.

The partnership is between the faculty of Engineering at National University of Singapore (NUS Engineering), and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).

The Wall Street Journal -- U.S. West Coast ports are regaining some of the share of import supply chains that they lost during recent labor strife at the nation’s largest gateways.

Their share of container imports—measured in the dollar value of goods—rose to 47.1% in June, up from 45% in April and May, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.