MHI Blog — The Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI) released a report that indicates that industry members plan on investing in automation. The report, based on surveys of manufacturers in the US, suggests that this planned investment could reshape the production landscape fundamentally. 83% of survey respondents said that they had automated at least some portion of their process and 73% indicated that they would integrate automation within the next three years.

Forbes — Many investors, public and private alike, are making big bets on U.S. infrastructure projects tied to expansion of the Panama Canal, which started moving supersized container ships through its wider, deeper channel and locks on June 26.



The canal's expansion was years in the making and cost a reported $5.25 billion. But that's a fraction of what's being spent here in the United States to make East and Gulf Coast ports accessible to the giant ships now able to pass through the canal.

Reuters — U.S. manufacturing activity eased in July amid shrinking order backlogs and declining employment, while an unexpected drop in construction spending in June suggested second-quarter economic was probably even weaker than reported last week.



The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) report on Monday also showed manufacturers ramping up production to an 18-month high even as factories continued to draw down inventories, which some economists said pointed to moderate growth in the sector.

MHI Blog — Social media is where culture intersects with technology bringing us visually closer to what we enjoy most. Instagram is currently the eighth ranked photo sharing app with over 400 million monthly active accounts. If you are like us, we are big fans of the supply chain industry and all that is related. That's why we have collected these five creative, inspiring and slightly supply-chain-geeky accounts for you to follow on Instagram.

Industryweek — A lot of pretty hefty deal-making within the transportation and logistics sector occurred globally in the second quarter of this year, and while a good bit of it went on in Asia, much of it occurred within the global trucking sector - and for some worrisome if understandable reasons.



For starters, look at the situation in the U.S., where trucking failures are on the rise - and that's not much of a surprise, considering the current sluggishness in the freight markets combined with what's been dubbed "Neanderthal" price-reduction efforts being undertaken by many shippers since the start of the year.

Bloomberg — The U.S. Surface Transportation Board proposed a rule Wednesday allowing shippers to switch cargo among large railroads if there's reasonable access to competing tracks.



The regulation would potentially upend decades-old restrictions that limit shippers' control of their own rail freight. Currently, rail carriers pick up cargo and carry it to its final destination without customers being able to request that it be dropped off for a competitor to handle.

ABC News — Online shoppers want their packages - now. And Amazon is spending heavily to make sure that happens.



Amazon's Prime service has, at heart, always been about free two-day shipping. The $99 annual subscription includes a variety of other goodies, but the near-instant gratification of fast, no-extra-cost delivery was the program's original draw, and remains central to its appeal for its estimated 60 million subscribers.

Supply Chain Quarterly — A new report from FM Global says that some regions of the United States will see increased incidents of extreme rainfall and urges supply chain managers to prepare.



As climate change raises the temperature of the Earth, some parts of the United States will see more incidents of extreme precipitation, increasing the likelihood of flooding. If they haven't already, supply chain managers had better start preparing for this eventuality-and that means doing a lot more than buying an extra umbrella to keep at the office, asserts a new paper from the commercial property insurer FM Global.

Women add value and diversity to the supply chain industry. However, it takes a conscious effort by workplace leaders to attract and keep these employees. For more information on how to tailor your workplace to appeal more to women, read Valerie Alexander’s book.

 

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO.

The Wall Street Journal — United Parcel Service Inc. reported lower than expected earnings in its Supply Chain and Freight segment Friday. Revenue increased by more than 13% to $2.5 billion in part from the acquisition of Coyote Logistics, but profit dropped more than 7% from $207 million to $192 million in what executives said is a soft freight shipping market.

www.theferrarigroup.com — In the spirit of passing along career tips to our millennial generation readers, we call attention to a recent report of recruiting trends in the fashion retail industry. The Philadelphia Inquirer recently reported on current retail industry recruiting trends which reflect much of what our consultancy has advocated for some time, namely those efforts to manage brick and mortar stores and online business processes are coming together and that foundational supply chain management knowledge is becoming a necessity, along with other in-demand skills.

Industryweek — Having been in the supply chain and logistics management field my entire career, whenever I hear it mentioned on national TV (e.g., UPS' "I Love Logistics" commercials) or, as was recently mentioned by a sitting president ("Globalization is a fact, because of technology, because of an integrated global supply chain, because of changes in transportation"), I can't help but get excited about the future.

www.theferrarigroup.com — The South China Morning Post reports that Alibaba founder Jack Ma has identified his vision calling for a universal global online platform that would serve to eliminate global trade barriers. The report indicated that Ma was hoping that global enterprises, including Amazon, would work together to create this new universal global platform.

Industryweek — Effective supply chain communication is critical to virtually every area of your manufacturing business. Relationships between suppliers and OEMs can sometimes be tenuous but they require intense collaboration to work. Trust between manufacturers and suppliers is critical. Many times the relationship is confrontational, where the purchaser holds the upper hand.

Ebnonline — Brexit will invariably have a major effect on the supply chain operations that underpin over $575 billion in annual trade between the UK and the EU. But while the changes could be profoundly disruptive, careful consideration of contingencies should take precedence over hasty actions.



In other words, hope for the best, take into account the different possible scenarios that could unfold, and start dialoguing now with your supply partners in the different markets for if and when a UK trade wall goes up. 

Supply Chain Digital — A report on customer's mobile experience with large companies has revealed that only 21 percent of supply chain companies ranked their company's mobile presence at 90 percent or above.



The State of the Mobile Experience Report, a report which surveyed nearly 300 key influences and decision makers across retail, finance and supply chain industries shows that "many companies understand the advantages of a strong mobile user experience and are making the necessary investments in digital technologies."

MHI Blog — Returning to our series featuring the education tracks from Annual Conference, we're getting close to the end. This is part five of a six part series. The sessions have two available tracks for each topic - a "class track" and a "lab track". You can choose to attend only one session or grab both for added depth. The six topics this year are:

• U.S. Roadmap for Material Handling & Logistics

• Supply Chain Workforce

• Material Handling and Supply Chain Technology

• Managing Change

• Leadership

• Marketing in the Supply Chain Industry

Industryweek — While a majority of companies have a mobile presence, either a website or app, the experience is less than optimal. A new report, "The State of the Mobile Experience", which surveyed nearly 300 key influencers and decision makers across supply chain industries, retail, insurance and finance, reveals that nine in 10 companies already have a mobile website, and eight in 10 currently use a mobile app.

Ebnonline — There's been a lot of churn and some new technologies in the storage drive space. Overall, capacities per drive are increasing but drive shipments are falling. Demand is migrating to SSD, and while cheaper SSDs are becoming much more reliable, their higher densities drastically reduces the drive count in an appliance. In addition, compression is shrinking raw capacity demand, with resulting pressure on drive needs and box counts.



All of these transitions have major implications for the logistics of the storage industry. They will alter the balance of power in the drive vendor base, at one level, while altering buying and selling patterns for the storage appliance and software segments.

Financial Post — The passage of two LNG tankers through the Panama Canal on Monday and Tuesday marked a long-expected shift in global LNG shipping patterns, albeit one that comes amid a souring outlook for natural gas markets that has already hampered projects in the U.S. and British Columbia.

MHI’s new Career Forum  enables manufacturing and supply chain professionals to view current job postings of MHI member companies. Go to http://www.mhi.org/careers to find the perfect opportunity for you.