Optimism among U.S. industrial manufacturers regarding the global economic outlook reached the highest level since the first quarter of 2012, according to the Q3 2013 Manufacturing Barometer, released by PwC US. In the third quarter of 2013, 40 percent of respondents expressed optimism regarding the world economy for the next 12 months, up from 31 percent in the prior quarter and 29 percent from the third quarter of 2012.

The report showed that hiring plans are on the rise, with expectations reaching the highest level in five years and the second highest quarterly percentage in the past 10 years. The majority, 58 percent of U.S. industrial manufacturers surveyed, plan to add employees to their workforce over the next 12 months, up 16 points from second quarter 2013 estimates. Only three percent plan to reduce the number of full-time equivalent employees, and 39 percent will stay about the same. The most sought-after employees will be skilled labor (35 percent), professionals/technicians (35 percent), and production workers (30 percent).

From the 2011 tragedies of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan to last year’s devastating Hurricane Sandy closer to home, Mother Nature has a way of reminding us to reexamine catastrophe preparedness.

These events, and the tragic aftermath that follows, also serve to remind the insurance industry of the challenges in quantifying risk and accounting for exposure in an increasingly complex supply chain environment. As a result, risk managers are being asked new questions as insurance underwriters require them to seek information from a broader range of stakeholders within and outside of their organizations.

Pent-up consumer demand for durable and non-durable goods has resulted in a jump in demand for distribution space, according to Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate service firm. Its latest national market research data show fourteen consecutive quarters of declining vacancies in the warehouse sector, highlighting the U.S. industrial real estate market’s momentum through the third quarter of 2013. This momentum is further punctuated by continued strong leasing velocity and absorption, and construction levels that already have surpassed last year’s total.

"With the continued ecommerce boom, online retailers have become the fastest-growing segment of warehouse occupiers," noted John Morris, leader of Industrial Services for the Americas. "At the same time, traditional brick-and-mortar retailers continue to drive demand as well, with companies like Walmart and Home Depot among the most active."

Seeing an opportunity to make workflow more efficient, residents and physicians-in-training at Oregon Health & Science University started using cloud-computing service Google Drive to keep everyone up to date on patient information. After a faculty member discovered the staff was using the cloud service, the university launched an investigation, and it found that Drive documents held health data from 3,044 of its patients.

Although Google Drive is password protected and has security measures in place, the university did not have a contract agreement with the cloud provider to use or store OHSU patient health information. By disclosing patient information in the cloud, the university violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which requires doctors to keep patient information private and secure. 

The retail industry has reached something of a watershed as corporate demands for more efficient supply chain operations intersect with rising consumer demand for sustainable retailing.

Despite the opportunities, though, retail supply chain sustainability still lacks clear direction and progress. One key factor may be the lack of a literal and figurative hub to serve as a source of innovation and motivation—like Silicon Valley has been for the high tech industry or the Boston area for life sciences. Where does retail sustainability fit on the map?

The rise of just-in-time manufacturing has created a revolution across the supply chains of many industries, including electronics components.

Accurate forecasting and inventory control have enabled far-flung manufacturers to produce and deliver components, essentially on-demand, to a global network of suppliers and customers, while avoiding costly warehousing and other overhead expenses. However, these just-in-time policies have a downside and can leave many companies vulnerable to missed production targets and inability to meet customer demands.

Sometimes an industry simply can't move forward without changing and embracing more sustainable business models.

Consider America's apparel industry. In the last two decades, the U.S. has lost 90% of its apparel manufacturing jobs. The post-recession picture hasn't been very encouraging either, with emerging designers lacking the infrastructure, resources, and industry support needed to make substantial gains in domestic production.

A plucky Silicon Valley company, forced to compete for talented engineers, is trying it all — recruiting billboards on Highway 101; workplace perks like treadmill workstations and foosball tables; and conference rooms named after celebrities like Rihanna and Justin Bieber. 

The name of that arriviste company?  Walmart. 

The country’s largest retailer, which for years didn’t blink at would-be competitors, is now under such a threat from Amazon that it is frantically playing catch-up by learning the technology business, including starting @WalmartLabs at Walmart Global E-Commerce, its dot-com division. 

Distribution centers are losing an average of nearly $390,000 every year due to mis-picks, according to a study conducted by Everett, Wash.-based Intermec Inc. The study surveyed 250 supply chain and distribution managers across the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany and discovered that the average mis-pick costs approximately $22. 

More than half of the surveyed companies reported a pick rate of less than 97 percent, and 19 percent said that they do not measure the costs of mis-picks in any form, suggesting that the accumulated losses to the supply chain might be even higher than reported. Yet, 47 percent of respondents named picking as a key area where cost savings could be achieved most easily. To do so, nearly three-quarters of managers said that increasing automation or new technologies would have the greatest impact on increasing profitability.

The federal government shutdown cut off many industry data sources, along with private industry information that relies on them, but here are the available industry numbers according to the latest Logistics Market Snapshot, courtesy of the Georgia Center of Innovation.

The Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals (SMRP) is pleased to announce the release of the newly revised SMRP Standardized Metrics. The revisions feature the highly anticipated "best in class target values," which provide valuable insight into the effectiveness and overall accuracy of asset management in the maintenance and reliability industry.

With the release of the revised metrics, maintenance and reliability professionals can not only uncover best in class target values where applicable, but also gain insight into formulas, ratios, statistics, definitions and references which combined provide a consistent benchmark to measure their performance. Current metrics from SMRP give reliable and standardized guidance on how to measure key performance indicators; the newly added best in class target values give guidance on how to effectively apply the metrics and to identify "what good looks like".

Accellos, a provider of supply chain execution software solutions, announced the launch of a new white paper, 10 Tips for Avoiding Costly Mistakes: Mastering Retail Compliance Requirements, a best practices guide for small- and medium-sized companies.

 

The white paper examines the common non-compliance issues reported by suppliers that distribute products to major retailers and provides 10 tips for avoiding those costly mistakes.

As a barometer for the global supply chain, the semiconductor industry remains a solid measurement. Recent figures in this area may have given the electronics industry pause. However, a long view yields better news.

Worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment spending is projected to total $34.6 billion in 2013, an 8.5 percent decline from 2012 spending of $37.8 billion, according to Gartner. The decline is linked to reduced 28-nanometer investment associated with demand shifts in the mobile market.