MHI Solutions -- When faced with a risk to your supply chain, you really only have four options. You can ignore it, and hope that it goes away. You can accept it, and deal with the consequences. You can transfer the risk to someone else, often by buying insurance. Or, you can choose to mitigate the risk by doing something that reduces the probability or the probable impact.

Mitigation—the "do something" choice—is a pretty big bucket that means different things in different situations. There is a growing trend in our industry to embed flexibility into supply chains as a strategy for mitigating many kinds of risk. Because when things grind to a halt and you still need to get the job done, flexibility means that you have options.

Bloomberg Business -- A dozen Pacific-rim nations agreed to an historic pact that would cut trade barriers on items ranging from cars to rice, setting up a potentially contentious ratification vote before a skeptical U.S. Congress.

After a week of final talks in Atlanta, an agreement was announced Monday on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a pact more than five years in the making designed to boost commerce among nations that produce 40 percent of global economic output.

The Washington Post -- You’ve seen the large trucks double parked, blocking travel lanes — or taking up precious parking spaces — while making their deliveries.  It happens daily downtown, often at the height of the morning rush hour.

Now federal transportation officials are looking for a solution to get the delivery trucks blamed for clogging the roads off the streets during the busiest hours of the day.

Fox Business -- Need to buy chicken, rice and peppers to cook for dinner tonight? No need to get off of your couch - filling that grocery list is just a click away.  According to a Nielsen survey, one-quarter of global respondents say they are already ordering grocery products online for home delivery and more than half are willing to use it in the future.  Sales from the online grocery business are expected to jump more than 16% to $13 billion this year according to market research firm IBIS World.

The growth is being powered by the rise in wireless devices and broadband connections, as well as sophisticated and speedy delivery channels.

Reuters -- Twelve Pacific Rim countries on Monday reached the most ambitious trade pact in a generation, aiming to liberalize commerce in 40 percent of the world's economy in a deal that faces skepticism from U.S. lawmakers.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact struck in Atlanta after marathon talks could reshape industries, change the cost of products from cheese to cancer treatments and have repercussions for drug companies and automakers.

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

In this episode, we'll provide an outline of the opportunities that 3D printing technology bring to the material handling industry.

 

 

 

The New York Times -- By the time the cargo ship El Faro pulled out of the busy port in Jacksonville, Fla., last Tuesday ready to begin its routine 1,200-mile run of goods to San Juan, P.R., Tropical Storm Joaquin, as it had been recently christened, was threatening to become a hurricane.

For many experienced captains of large vessels, a tropical storm, even one that is strengthening, is cause for concern but not necessarily alarm. Such storms in the Caribbean, along Hurricane Alley, are commonplace and carefully monitored, and do not necessarily lead to canceled voyages, veteran captains said.

EBN -- he manufacturing sector in the U.S. is enjoying a resurgence, which is welcome news for a country still digging its way out of the deepest recession in decades. But a recent report from global professional services firm BDO underscores one area of weakness that could have profound implications across the manufacturing sector: a persistent talent shortage.

According to the report, 74% of manufacturers identified concerns about finding, retaining, and motivating the right people as their current skilled labor force is reduced by retiring baby boomers. The report cites U.S. Census studies that estimate that the number of Americans aged 65 and over will make up greater than 20% of the population by 2030 — double the percentage of retirement-age Americans in 1970.  

Information Week -- The real magic of robots and the Internet of Things is happening right now at Amazon's vast fulfillment warehouses in the US. See what it's all about, and learn how simple robotics can transform your organization's logistical needs.

MHI Solutions -- A professor walked into a faculty meeting at Bradley University eight years ago waiving a Wall Street Journal article in the air and saying, "We must do something about supply chain management." The faculty agreed, but where to start?

Supply chain management is a hot new field for universities, and we knew that we’d need to take an innovative approach if we were going to do something meaningful. So we reached out to practitioners, industry associations and academics from around our campus to explore the real industry needs and see if we could design a radically new kind of program.

Fleet Owner -- For-hire carrier execs probably shouldn’t worry so much about the latest "Uber for trucking" start-up company from Silicon Valley—they need to worry about Uber itself, cautions supply chain analyst Adrian Gonzalez.

The president and founder of Adelante SCM, who works with manufacturers and shippers to improve product delivery, suggested that Uber isn’t valued at more than $50 billion because it's a "taxi app."

Modern Materials Handling -- Across the country today, customers, suppliers, educators and students will take a moment to reflect on the value of manufacturing to the United States economy.

Just a year after President Obama declared October 3rd National Manufacturing Day, the occasion has more than quadrupled its participation and event count.

Supply Chain Brain -- Lack of innovation over the past few decades around how organizations approach disposing of their returned, excess and obsolete inventory has resulted in billions of dollars lost and can no longer be left to inefficient, reactive or outdated methods.

Considering 15 percent of all goods are either returned or never sold to begin with, and that retailers and manufacturers end up selling more than 95 percent of their excess inventory on the secondary market, it's essential for them to understand the real value of this merchandise and rethink the program(s) they have in place. An important first step to improving the process is implementing a solid remarketing plan.

CFO -- Although good CFOs never take their eyes off spending, you need to be very careful about trying to wring too much cost out of your supply chain.

This is where Big Data analytics can go awry. Many CFOs deploy Big Data analytics to drive out supply chain costs, and often they’re rewarded on that metric. Believe me, I love cost-cutting as much as the next CFO. But there’s a point of diminishing returns: If you drive your costs down to zero, your revenue could be zero, too.

21st Century Supply Chain -- The supply chain management workforce is comprised mostly of Baby Boomers at the moment—but they’re starting to retire. And, the numbers of professionals transitioning out of supply chain careers will rise significantly over the coming years. Compounding the looming departure of thousands of professionals from the industry is the fact that a shortage of supply chain talent already exists. A study conducted by Supply Chain Insights found that demand for supply chain talent outpaces supply—despite the rise of supply chain-focused university programs over the last two decades. That study noted 46% of respondents stated "Talent: knowledge and availability" was their most significant business pain.

Given these dynamics, it’s obvious attracting and retaining supply chain talent is critical.