MHI Blog—During the recent ProMat 2017 event, MHI hosted a Keynote Panel on the findings of the 2017 MHI Annual Industry Report, titled "Next-Generation Supply Chains: Digital, On-Demand and Always-On." The video of this Keynote Panel is now available for viewing to provide an up-to-date perspective on emerging supply chain trends. It addresses the key survey findings, adoption rates, supply chain talent gap, Smart City logistics, plus more.

Supply Chain Digest—It has been a pretty wild ride for U.S. warehouse and distribution center space for several years, driven by the relentless rise of ecommerce and related fulfillment needs. In January, for example, warehouse space owner Prologis reported that occupancy rates at its facilities hit an incredible 97.1% in the fourth quarter of 2016 - an all-time high. Prologis saw rents in the U.S. jump by more than 23% year over year, the company said, with global rates increasing by 16%.Real estate firm CBRE reported similar news at the time, saying in urban areas such as Los Angeles and Seattle less than 5% of total warehouse capacity is available for leasing, sending rates soaring. But there were signs the market might be slowing down, in good news for shippers.

McKinsey—Over the last 30 years, supply chain has undergone a tremendous change. What was once a purely operational logistics function that reported to sales or manufacturing and focused on ensuring supply of production lines and delivery to customers has become an independent supply-chain management function that in some companies is already being led by a CSO—a chief supply-chain officer. The focus of the supply-chain management function has shifted to advanced planning processes, which have become established business processes in many companies, while operational logistics has often been outsourced to third-party logistics providers

EBN—Supply chain risk is the current catchphrase for problems, glitches, or events that interrupt the continuity of supply throughout the global supply chain. While we quantify supply chain risk in high level concepts such as economic trends, geopolitical issues, and natural disasters, risk can be much more mundane, especially when encountered by early stage companies.

SupplyChainBrain—A report by MHI and Deloitte found nine technologies will dominate next-generation "on-demand and always-on" supply chain models. These are: cloud computing and storage, robotics and automation, sensors and automatic identification, predictive analytics, wearable and mobile technology, 3D printing, driverless vehicles and drones, inventory and network optimisation tools and the internet of things (IoT).

MHI Blog—Food and beverage has undergone a transformation in recent years. More flavors of the same product. Different sizes and promotional packaging. Changing ingredients to meet consumers’ preferences. While these trends have been changing what consumers see on the store shelves, another trend has been quietly transforming the supply chain. Mergers and acquisitions among grocers have been occurring at a record pace. In 2016, the number of transactions more than doubled from the year before.

Bloomberg—U.S. President Donald Trump intensified a trade dispute with Canada, slapping tariffs of up to 24 percent on imported softwood lumber in a move that drew swift criticism from the Canadian government, which vowed to sue if needed. Trump announced the new tariff at a White House gathering of conservative journalists, shortly before the Commerce Department said it would impose countervailing duties ranging from 3 percent to 24.1 percent on Canadian lumber producers.

The Green Supply Chain—New data from ACT Research says natural gas trucks sales started the year out relatively healthy, with the most units sold in a January in three years and also solid sales in February. But the vast majority of those sales are to waste service providers and operators of city and school bus systems. The freight sector is still very slow to adopt natural gas trucks, ACT says.

As part of MHI view's ongoing video program, this new episode focuses on: Trust in Your Workforce. Trust is an important part of workplace culture. Find out how your business can benefit from fostering trust between your workers. 

Modern Materials Handling—Manufacturing and supply chain professionals gathered in record numbers in Chicago at the recent ProMat 2017, the largest material handling and logistics trade expo in North and South America. With registrations of 44,872 attendees, show producer MHI announces a 20 percent attendance jump over 2015. The four-day event, April 3-6, covered 384,000 net square feet of exhibit space on two show floors at Chicago’s McCormick Place with 956 exhibiting companies. The ProMat expo was once again collocated with Automate 2017.

TechCrunch—Grocery delivery startup Instacart recently closed a $400 million Series D round of funding at a valuation of $3.4 billion. Now, the company is putting that capital to work by accelerating its expansion across the U.S., and offering free Instacart Express memberships to entice new users wherever it goes. According to the company’s vice president of product, Elliot Shmukler, the company is operating in 41 U.S. markets today and is launching into four new markets this week, including Detroit, Las Vegas, Columbus, Ohio and across Texas’ Rio Grande Valley.

MIT Technology Review—Misunderstandings will be an unavoidable part of communication between robots and humans. One robot is learning to cope with them.

USA Today—Chinese mega-company Alibaba will be launching a new program that would give 1 million U.S. small businesses entrée to the Chinese market, said Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma. Alibaba plans a conference in Detroit on June 20-21 to teach U.S. businesses how to sell to the company’s 443 million customers in China.

SC Digest—What the brick and mortar retail world will look like in 10-20 years is anyone's guess. The traditional retail sector is transforming before our eyes, with a big impact on retail and consumer goods manufacturers' supply chains in the end. With previous announcements earlier in the year by Macy's, JCPenney, Sears and more, just last week women's apparel chain Bebe Stores said it would close its remaining 170 shops and sell only online, while teen retailer Rue21 announced plans to close about 400 of its 1,100 locations.

IndustryWeek—Many manufacturers are missing a critical talent pool, which could aid in closing the skills gap – women. A study, "Women in Manufacturing: Stepping up to make an impact that matters," released on April 19 by The Manufacturing Institute, Deloitte and APICS, confirms the importance of increasing the amount of women in the manufacturing workforce.

MHI Blog—Educators today are providing students with a more holistic curriculum that reflects the needs of the modern business environment. Leaving behind the siloed structures of traditional business school concentrations, universities are adapting their curriculum to reflect the functional and dynamic requirements of a global economy.

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.

MHI Blog—Today’s automated equipment has made warehouses and production floors safer than ever. Equipment manufacturers are building safety features into automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and into picking robots that work alongside humans. Just as important, they work with safety engineers and system designers to scrutinize every aspect of the environment in which their machinery will operate.

FoodNavigator—Online grocery sales are still only a small percentage of the industry's total sales, but e-commerce is an increasingly important aspect of the grocery industry, with a third of shoppers purchasing grocers online this year, according to a report from consulting firm Unata. Last year, 18% of consumers online shopped for groceries, compared with 8% in 2015, the report found.

Reuters—U.S. auto parts maker Flex-N-Gate will build a plant in Detroit in what local officials described on Monday as the first new investment by an automotive supplier in decades for Motor City, the cradle and former beating heart of the car industry. Urbana, Illinois-based Flex-N-Gate will invest $95 million in the plant, which will employ 400-700 people and supply parts to Ford Motor Co (F.N). It is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2018.

EBN—Supply chain visibility is no longer a "nice to have" feature. It is a foundational and critical capability when serving today’s more informed, connected, and influential consumer. To be candid, without supply chain visibility companies operate much less efficiently, and in this market reality, inefficient operations are a short step away from shuttered storefronts and bankruptcy. The problem is that supply chain visibility is still often misunderstood. They key to success is understanding how to invest your resources in a way that will have the greatest impact on achieving true supply chain visibility.

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