MHI Blog — As Amazon continues to expand its offerings to increase and maintain its customer base, it may be looking to take more control over how it ships its orders.



On August 4th, Amazon unveiled the new branded Prime Air plane, a Boeing 767 that has been converted to a freighter. While Amazon doesn't own the planes directly, they are contracted with two aircraft leasing companies, Atlas and Air Transportation Services Group, and have plans to fly up to 40 dedicated cargo planes, expanding as needed over the next two years.

Bloomberg — U.S. intelligence officials are planning to provide information including classified threat reports to companies about the risks of hacking and other crimes tied to the supplies and services they buy.



The effort is part of a new campaign by the National Counterintelligence and Security Center to raise awareness that vulnerable supply chains give China, Russia and other governments -- as well as criminals, hackers and disgruntled employees -- the opportunity to steal sensitive information or disrupt operations.

Bloomberg — The auto industry's self-driving revolution has spurred the biggest two years of car-supplier takeovers in a decade, with more coming as parts makers struggle to keep up with the pace of technological transformation.



The total value of automotive-supplier deals in 2015 and 2016 was $74.4 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, with each of those years far exceeding the $17.7 billion annual average in the previous 10 years. The number of transactions valued at $500 million or more also skyrocketed to 18 last year, triple the level of the previous decade. There have been 11 such deals so far this year.

MHI Blog — At the 2016 MHI Executive Summit President of Lowes Foods, Tim Lowe will give real life insight on how to best analyze and leverage the screams of big data. Lowe will help you decipher large amounts of data so you can find helpful statistics and draw actionable conclusions to improve your product.

MHL News — With giant ships able to pass through the expanded Panama Canal, the U.S. is making considerable investments to ensure that East Coast and Gulf Coast ports can accommodate the increase in traffic.



"The opening of the expanded canal will have a ripple effect on the economy - impacting not only U.S. ports and shipping, but the railroad and trucking industries as well, along with virtually every company involved in trade with Asia, or manufacturing or sourcing from Asia," explains Harold Sirkin, managing director of Boston Consulting Group, in an article in Forbes.

The Wall Street Journal — Hyperloop technology is fast-tracking into the freight sector. 



Hyperloop One Inc., one of two companies racing to build the futuristic speed-of-sound transportation technology, announced a new partnership with the one of the world's largest port-terminal operators, DP World, one of the world's largest port-terminal operators.

Business Insider — Delivery logistics companies added thousands of jobs last month, driven in part by ongoing growth in the US e-commerce market, according to The Wall Street Journal.



Trucking and warehousing companies saw the highest increase in jobs, likely helped along by increased demand for speedy shipping among consumers. As the e-commerce market continues to see higher sales, and consumers expect their orders in less and less time, the logistics industry is being pushed to adapt in order to satisfy the growing fulfillment needs. 

Wearable technologies like smartglasses, are allowing large leaps in the efficiency of distribution centers of early adopters. Companies need to decide if, how and when it’s appropriate for them to adopt this differentiating technology.

 

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Ebnonline — Compared to the coverage data breaches receive, reporting on Internet of Things (IoT) flaws has been relatively sparse, despite some major research appearing lately that exposes the potentially life-threatening nature of security problems in embedded computing systems.



These flaws haven't been exploited on a large scale yet because they require a great deal of time and effort to exploit, but there are already signs this is changing. Governments in particular have both the time and resources. A power outage attack on the Ukrainian grid just before Christmas involved hackers overwriting firmware at multiple substations, rendering them unable to receive commands. It has been widely blamed on Russian state actors, although definitive attribution remains difficult.

MHI Blog — The supply chain industry is struggling to recruit and retain talent. The labor shortage and ongoing skills gap have become a major crisis for individual firms and the industry as a whole. There are specific strategies for recruiting and retaining your future leaders that will make your organization stand out from even the fiercest competitors. Buddy Bush, one of the keynotes at the MHI Annual Conference, will be speaking on how you can accelerate change and implement a framework to bring in and retain the best and brightest talent.

Ebnonline — Compared to the coverage data breaches receive, reporting on Internet of Things (IoT) flaws has been relatively sparse, despite some major research appearing lately that exposes the potentially life-threatening nature of security problems in embedded computing systems.



These flaws haven't been exploited on a large scale yet because they require a great deal of time and effort to exploit, but there are already signs this is changing. Governments in particular have both the time and resources. A power outage attack on the Ukrainian grid just before Christmas involved hackers overwriting firmware at multiple substations, rendering them unable to receive commands. It has been widely blamed on Russian state actors, although definitive attribution remains difficult.

Supply Chain Management Review — Declining freight volumes and reconfigured container vessel deployments may give Asia's ports time to regroup, say industry analysts, who add that investment in infrastructure is badly needed. 



When Maersk Line - the world's largest ocean cargo container company - announced last month that it would stop services to and from 10 ports in China, shipping experts reckoned that it was primarily a move to reduce costs.

Supply Chain Brain — A conversation with corporate thought leaders about the growing awareness of the need for a vigorous supply-chain risk-management effort, and how they're working to achieve that goal.

MHI Blog — Congratulations! You're employed and can begin to pay for things like bills. But it's still great! However, if this is your first job (or even your 100th), the first day on the job can be nerve-wracking. Here are some do's and don'ts to help that first day go more smoothly.

Supply Chain Management Review — Too many procurement leaders and managers rely on supply management strategies that deliver results in the short term but that aren't sustainable over the long haul. Once the sheen from those early wins rubs off, senior management looks for someone knew to take the helm. In this session we'll examine the supply chain strategies most often put into play, identify why the fall short and offer ideas on how to address the issue.

The Wall Street Journal — Big-box refrigerated warehouses are popping up in ever more remote corners of the world. Global refrigerated warehouse capacity grew to 600 million cubic meters this year, according to the latest survey by the Global Cold Chain Alliance, an industry group representing temperature-controlled logistics companies.

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.

Industryweek — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, resisting lobbying from the trucking industry, unveiled tough new regulations to reduce carbon emissions from tractor-trailers and other long-haul trucks in support of a key policy goal of President Barack Obama's administration. The EPA and the U.S. Transportation Department on Tuesday issued regulations that require trucks become more efficient through 2027.

www.supplychainshaman.com — It was an early morning. I cradled my cup of tea in my hand.  It had been a long night. However, I had little time to be tired. The client leaned across the table and asked, "Is a customer-centric supply chain strategy the same as a demand-driven supply chain strategy?" I smiled. As we talked the adrenaline started to pump. I asked for a black marker to draw on the board in the room and replied, "If only it was that easy!" I then turned and went to the whiteboard to draw this diagram. I started with two overlapping circles.



My answer was simple. I began,  "It is and it is not. The concepts are close cousins. The relationship is best represented by a Venn diagram. There are overlaps."