The Latest News
- Whitepaper - "The GS1 US™ Visibility Framework - A Standards-based Approach for Identifying, Capturing
and Sharing Information throughout the Value Chain" - Full article
- More news on the WalMart inbound freight program. Some very transferrable points to most any supply chain.
- WSJ – Wal-Mart Radio Tags To Track Clothing
- Kimberly Clark’s Global Supply Chain Transformation
- Progressive Grocer News Brief – June 14, 2010
- Unbeatable Networking at U Connect
- May 4, 2010: Meg Major Promoted to Editor in Chief of Progressive Grocer - Full article
- DALLAS, TX– January 21, 2009 - Xterprise Incorporated, a leader in item-level RFID solutions for retail, today announced the availability of a new whitepaper by Leslie Hand, research director, with worldwide advisory services and market research firm, IDC Retail Insights. Read More
- VICS has recently certified Accenture Supply Chain Academy - Recently announced the Accenture Supply chain Academy has been accredited by VICS. Joe Andraski, President and CEO of VICS, states "I feel that both VICS and the Supply Chain Academy have a lot in common, as both are doing ground-breaking work in supply chain. I therefore believe that a close collaboration between VICS and the SCA can bring many benefits for all parties involved" Learn More
- P&G Seals Deal For Sara Lee Unit - P&G to buy Sara Lee Corp’s European air-freshener business for $470 million (December 12, 2009) - Read More
- Harley Union Makes Concessions - Employees at Harley-Davidson Inc.’s largest factory agree to job cuts of nearly 50%, more work-rule flexibility and an unusually long labor deal, in exchange for the motorcycle maker’s commitment to invest $90 million in the plant (December 3rd, 2009) - Read More
- GXS and Inovis Sign Definitive Merger Agreement - Merger will Create the World's Leading
and Most Diversified B2B Service Provider - Read More
- CSCMP Annual Conference September 20-23, 2009, Chicago, IL - Innovative Warehouse Design: Warehousing Innovations Track - Read More
- Packaging Sustainability Metrics: Guidelines on the role of packaging in sustainability, Presented at the Global CEO Forum New York, 17th June 2009 Read More
- VICS Launches New Education Series On Vendor Alignment And Compliance - Read press release
- The Apparel Industry Needs a Better Supply Chain, Source: scmr.com - Read Full article
- Li & Fung: A Factory Sourcer Shines - BusinessWeek.com - Full article
- P&G's leadership machine - The consumer goods giant has a proven formula to nurture top talent. Source: cnnmoney.com - Read Full article
- Material Concepts Announces Availability of New DuPont™ Tyvek® Vivia and Tyvek® TY31™ Print Media for Wide Format Printing- prweb.com - Full article
- US Gas Fields Go From Bust to Boom - WSJ.com April 30, 3009 - "A massive natural – gas discovery in Caddo Parish, La. Contains some 200 trillion cubic feet, the equivalent of 33 billion barrels of oil, or 18 years worth of current US oil production. Huge new fields have also been found in Texas, Arkansas and Penna. One industry study estimates the US has more than 2,200 trillion cubic feet of gas waiting to be pumped, nearly 100 years of current US natural gas demand.
Just three years ago, the conventional wisdom was that natural gas production was facing permanent decline. U.S. policy makers were resigned to the idea that the country would have to rely more on foreign imports to supply the fuel that heats half of American homes, generates one-fifth of the nation’s electricity, and is as key component in plastics, chemicals and fertilizers.
Now there is a glut, which has driven prices down to a six year low and prompted producers to temporarily cut back drilling and search for new demand."
Commentary, isn’t it amazing that when we are facing dire oil supply predictions that there’s a discovery of an alternative source. I can remember a presentation given at a Council of Logisitics Management meeting where it was forecasted that new oil reserves would be discovered and that the price of a gallon of gas would be substantially reduced. It happened!! Now out of the blue, we have a 100 year supply of natural gas, right here in the good old USA.
Now what happens to the efforts to reduce the amount of diesel fuel used in transportation??
- Mall Titan General Growth Enters Chapter 11 - Wall Street Journal - Mall owner General Growth Properties sought bankruptcy protection in one of the largest real-estate failures in U.S. history, capping a precarious, months-long effort to juggle the crushing $27 billion debt load it shouldered in past acquisition sprees. The long-anticipated Chapter 11 filing might wipe out what remains of the Chicago company’s stock, but it won’t result in mall closures. Read full story
- Walmart Celebrates Earth Month Globally - Progressive Grocer - Walmart has a host of earth friendly events, activities and products on tap to help commemorate global Earth Month. Read full story
- New data shows out-of-stocks taking a bigger toll on cold-vault beverage sales, by Steve Holtz, CSP Daily News. - Read full article
- Total RFID revenue to exceed $5.6 billion in 2009, ITWorld.com
- VICS, GS1 Canada And GS1 US Launch Empty Miles Service, Source Food Logistics Feb 2009
- The State of Collaboration - Shared Strategy Report 2008
- Nestle Waters CEO Touts Recycling - Source: The Advocate, Feb 6, 2009
- VICS Joins With GS1 in U.S. and Canada to Offer Empty-Miles Service - supplychainbrain.com Feb 2009
A new service to optimize truck transportation and reduce empty miles has been introduced by the Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Solutions Association (VICS), GS1 Canada and GS1 U.S. The Empty Miles Service matches a company's trailers that are returning empty with potential loads that can be collected and delivered along the return route. A structured pilot program involving all functions of the service has been tested by VICS members, including several of North America's largest retailers, consumer-goods suppliers and transportation carriers. VICS members can participate in the program for $1,600 per year; non-members will be charged $1,850 per year. To help companies build a business case for Empty Miles, the development group at GS1, a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of global standards for supply-chain communications, created an ROI (return on investment) calculator, which measures direct financial benefits. The service also calculates the benefits of reduced carbon-dioxide emissions. Empty Miles features Web-based access, a secure environment for collaboration between shippers and carriers, user authentication and real-time searching for available lanes.
- The Global Recession Slams China The Chinese economy's growth rate tumbled in the fourth quarter, and things will get a lot worse before they get better
By Frederik Balfour
By the standards of just about any other country, the latest growth figures in China would be a cause for jubilation. The country clocked 6.8% year-on-year growth for the fourth quarter of 2008 and 9% for the year. But those figures mask an underlying picture that is anything but rosy for an economy that is just starting to feel the full impact of the global meltdown. In fact the economy registered virtually no growth over the third quarter, and things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. "The situation is quite dire," says David Cui, China economist at Merrill Lynch. "I don't expect us to come out of this any time soon because the global demand situation is so bad."
Cui isn't the only bearish one. David Wong, vice-president of the Chinese Manufacturers Association of Hong Kong, says its members are bracing for a difficult year. "This is unprecedented among our manufacturers," he says. "This is the worst that anyone can remember." Qu Hongbing, China economist at HSBC (HBC) says China could see growth dipping as low as 6%, dangerously short of 8%, widely regarded as the level needed to generate enough jobs to absorb new entrants into the workforce. "Export contraction will only be deeper when global demand continues to shrink, so we'll see more job losses. Consumers will become more cautious. And if this continues, there is a real risk of a downward spiral."
Slowdown Undermines the Whole Region
Things could have been even worse. The $586 billion fiscal stimulus package unveiled by Beijing last November should help restore growth in the second half as big-ticket infrastructure projects get under way. But that recovery won't provide a lot of comfort for China's neighbors and the rest of the world, as the rebound will have limited benefit beyond China's borders. "China can save itself, but it cannot save the rest of the region," says Dong Tao, chief economist for Asia at Credit Suisse (CS).
Indeed, about 70% of China's imports from its neighbors are components used as inputs for export-oriented industries. As a result, the global slowdown is creating a double whammy for Taiwan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia. On top of falling exports to the rest of the world, shipments to China have collapsed, too. Take Korea, for which China is the biggest export market. Korean exports to China plunged 32.9% in November year-on-year and 32.3% in December, while overall exports fell about 19%. China is the biggest export market for Japan and Taiwan as well.
Some are hoping that Beijing will be able to make up for the slack in exports by encouraging its own consumers to open their wallets. But domestic rather than foreign suppliers will get the new business. For example, the government's 13% subsidy to rural buyers of household appliances will stimulate sales of low-end televisions and refrigerators that largely include components from domestic suppliers and hence will do little to boost the demand for Asian rivals like Samsung and Toshiba (6502.T).
Brutal Fight for the Domestic Market
Even Chinese companies that do manage to make up for lost overseas sales by selling domestically will see their margins squeezed more than ever. "Everybody will be trying, but the local market isn't going to double in size overnight," says Tony Huang, CEO of Shanghai Sigma Metals, which produces secondary aluminum alloys from recycled materials. The company, which operates the world's largest smelter for such alloys, has seen its exports plunge. "It's going to be a brutal fight for the domestic market," he says. That means lower profits and a reluctance to expand capacity, prompting a serious slowdown in private fixed-asset investment for nonstate-linked companies that still rely primarily on retained earnings to finance their expansion.
Pump-priming by China may restore headline gross domestic product growth by yearend, but that is largely an inward-looking policy that attempts to wean China from its dependence on exports. By merely substituting government spending to replace foreign demand, China can buy additional growth for a couple more years. That, however, does not address the underlying need to make consumption and private investment the principal engines of growth. "The natural tendency is to build another airport," says Huang Yashang, an economist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "But the issue is to channel entrepreneurial activity to help the Chinese people as a whole."
Another big part of the puzzle is the property market, where volumes have plunged as buyers wait on the sidelines in anticipation of lower prices. Housing is hugely important to the economy, accounting for 25% of fixed investment, and is a principal form of wealth holding for the Chinese, whose only other choices are bank deposits (which offer a negative real return) and the shaky stock market, down some 65% in the past 12 months. Sales have slowed further in recent months, which in turn has led cash-strapped developers to slash prices in a downward spiral of falling prices and sales. Balfour is Asia Correspondent for BusinessWeek based in Hong Kong.
- VICS launches Empty Miles Service - Visit www.emptymiles.org for more information.
- Maersk plans slow ships to China Source: American Shipper+ Shippers' NewsWire Date Posted: 1/26/2009
The world's biggest containerships will become slow boats to China -- at least for a few weeks.
Maersk Line said that for the next six weeks it would re-route the eastbound voyages of its Asia Europe 7 (AE7) service, around the Cape of Good Hope, rather than through the Suez Canal. Westbound voyages to Europe will continue to use the canal.
Michael Storgaard, a spokesman for the company, said the new route would allow it to eliminate eastbound tolls, and run the ships at a reduced speed. The vessels will need an extra five to seven days to travel around Africa. He said the change in routing was a temporary measure, designed to coincide with the Chinese New Year and that one sailing would be dropped during the period.
He confirmed a report first appearing at PRNewsService.com, which said transit costs for a fully loaded 11,000 TEUs ship, if fully loaded, could amount to $800,000.
The AE7 service employs the Emma Maersk and seven sister ships, the largest containerships ever built, as well as one smaller ship. While Maersk rates the Emma Maersk and her sister ships as having capacities of 11,000 TEUs, most analysts say the vessels are capable of carrying 15,000 TEUs.
While Maersk has rerouted some slow tankers and smaller ships with little freeboard away from the Gulf of Aden because of concerns about piracy, Storgaard said that was of little concern with the Emma Maersk-class ships because they are so large and fast.
The present port rotation of the AE7 is Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Zeebrugge, Algeciras, Tanjung Pelepas, Yantian, Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Hong Kong, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Algeciras, Rotterdam.
Starting this week, ships leaving Algeciras will proceed straight to Shanghai.
- Apparel importers urge Obama to eliminate import duties - CBN Newswire - Read full article
- China port traffic declined in November - CBN Newswire - Read full article
- The State of Sustainability: Will you Lead or Lag in 2009? By Kimberly Knickle, IDC - Read full article
- China cotton imports down 30% in October - Source: American Shipper+ Shippers' NewsWire - China's demand for imported cotton decreased in the first 10 months of 2008, another sign that demand for Chinese made goods has shrunk considerably this year.
The country collectively imported 1.86 million tons of cotton through October, a decrease of 8.3 percent versus the same period in 2007, Xinhua reported Sunday. The falloff was particularly sharp in the month of October, with cotton imports plummeting by nearly 30 percent.
The three biggest exporters of cotton to China are the United States, India and Uzbekistan, with those three countries accounting for nearly 84 percent of all imports. But all three have seen their volume to China decline markedly. U.S. exports to China were down 18.8 percent through October, to 826,000 tons, while India's volume was down 34 percent, to 570,000 tons.
- Study Sees Average Shopper Not Finding at Least One Item - Read full article
- Walmart Names Mike Duke as New CEO
- No crap - It's Diesel - By James A. Cooke - A two-year-old biotech company in California has developed a genetically engineered microbe that excretes diesel - Read full article
- Corporate Hell Raiser - The weekend interview with Carl Icahn Nov 15/16 2008 - Read full article
- Maersk Trims Its Outlook ; Shipping Falls - Wall Street Journal, November 13, 2008 - "The shipping industry received further glum news Wednesday as shipping giant A.P. Moller Maersk AS reported that volumes slipped 3% during the third quarter from a year ago. Analysts forecast that after a decade of 10%-15% growth, container shipping will be flat in 2009 as slowing economies shrink ocean trade. "The container industry I heading into it darkest storm ever," said David Hallden, an analyst with Credit Agricole Cheuvreux. Freight rates, especially between Asia and Europe, the world's busiest route, have collapsed due to the decline in trade and a glut of vessel. The 20-or 40-foot long steel boxes known as containers carry 90% of the global goods trade.
- Oil-Price Rebound Could Be Severe -Wall Street Journal, Wednesday October 29, 2009 - London - Oil prices and demand for crude are both falling, but industry executives warn that the world could experience another dramatic ramping up of prices as soon as the global economy rebounds, squeezing existing supplies. The sharp fall in oil prices since July has spread relief among consumer and fuel-reliant industries, helping to damp a serious economic downturn in serious economic downturn in much of the companies now scrambling to bring on additional sources of oil in the coming years. That is fueling concerns within the industry that low prices will prompt oil companies ot shelve or even cancel investments, crimping future supply growth that will be crucial once world demand rebounds. "Low oil prices are very dangerous for the world economy" We need an adequate and reasonable oil price that will continue to stimulate investment asi the Untied Arabl emirates' energy minister. Commentary. Continue to find ways to conserve energy and be more effective and efficient. Read "Peak Oil "
- Oracle white paper Building a Seamless Retail System - Read full article
- Rethinking Relationships in a Global Economy - Read full article
- Top Story on the Supply Chain Digest website - Thinking about the Consumer Goods to Retail Supply Chain - Joe Andraski is cited by Dan Gilmore, Editor-in-Chief. Read full article
- Financial Times: Oil prices will rebound to more than $100 a barrel as soon as the world economy recovers, and will exceed $200 by 2030, the International Energy Agency will say in its flagship report to be published next week. The developed world's energy watchdog has doubled its long-term price expectation from last year's $108 a barrel for 2030 and assumes oil prices will rebound from today's $60-$70 a barrel to trade, in real terms adjusted by inflation, at an average of more than $100 a barrel from 2008 to 2015. Read full article
- Family bids to recuse Boscov's "This is great news and is evidenced of the spirit of Boscov's entrepreneurship and commitment to their loyal employees. Our best wishes go out the Boscov family!!!" Read full story
- Thinking About Tomorrow – Seven tips for making forecasting more effective In a recent column, Dr. Chaman Jain of St John’s University and Mark Covas of Procter & Gamble offer seven keys to achieving improved forecasting results, with a big focus on collaboration. Read full article
- VICS and CSCMP publish the Phase 1 findings of the Item-Level RFID research conducted by the University of Arkansas
- SubCon Industries, the vocational training division of The Rehabilitation Center, is a unique, mission-driven, third-party service company providing employment opportunities for 200 people with disabilities. View Presentation
The Latest "Green" News
- A Global Language for Packaging and Sustainability
- EPA Declares Greenhouse Gases a Danger - On Monday the EPA declared greenhouse gases a danger to public health (December 8th, 2009) - Read Full Article
- Copenhagen Summit Could Unlock Innovation – David Blood the lesser known partner (to Al Gore) of investment management group, Generation Investment, asked Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen for a strong treaty at the Copenhagen climate talks that will "limit uncertainty" for the business community, "unleash capital and innovation," and "provide long term goals for a sustainable economy." (December 7th, 2009) - Read Full Article
- New Case Study Validates Savings from Empty Miles Service
- Dell's Green Energy Strategy - Kerry A. Dolan, Forbes.com, April 2009
BURLINGAME, Calif. -- In the face of declining sales, drooping profits and a weak stock price, PC maker Dell is still vowing to go as green as possible.
Tod Arbogast, Dell's Sustainable Business Director, was in San Francisco on Wednesday to attend a sustainability conference. In a phone interview he proudly described Dell's efforts in recycling its products, using renewable energy and making more energy-efficient computers.
Perhaps most surprising is Dell's embrace of renewable energy. Arbogast says that 35% of the electricity the company uses in the U.S. is from clean and renewable sources such as wind. Globally, Dell's use of renewably generated electricity is 20% of its total.
Considering that electricity generated by renewable sources amounts to about 2% or 3% of the total energy used in the U.S., Dell's use of renewable energy is close to off the charts. Arbogast gives some credit to Austin Energy, a utility in Austin, Texas, for being progressive about its use of clean energy. Arbogast said that globally only 3.7% of Hewlett-Packard's ( HPQ - news - people ) electricity use is from renewables.
The conventional view of renewable energy is that you have to pay more for it. But Arbogast says that Dell ( DELL - news - people ) is saving money by using wind and landfill-to-methane-generated electricity.
"We're working off a base of 12 cents a kilowatt hour electricity, and we're still saving money," he says. "We engage in long-term contracts, and for a certain period we pay a premium [to fossil-fuel-generated electricity], but it doesn't take that long for the traditional-energy cost to surpass our fixed-rate cost" and help Dell save money.
Eventually, says Arbogast, Dell aims to use electricity that is 100% generated by clean and renewable sources. The company doesn't have a timeline to reach that goal. But in the meantime, to offset the 65% of electricity it uses domestically that is generated from fossil fuels, Dell is buying green offsets, "credible, vetted, third-party-verified renewable energy credits," says Arbogast. Dell is the only one in the PC industry doing this, he added. "We consume electricity efficiently first and consume renewably second."
Now, if Dell could only get consumers to buy more PCs.
- IKEA Canada to Reduce Energy Consumption by 25%, DDIMagazine.com
- Turning Over A New Leaf Just Got A Little Bit Easier - Margo Oge, Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, explains the program, and shows a few highlights from the new PSA campaign. Today, being green and making a better choice for the environment just got a little easier. Thanks to the Environmental Protection Agency's new SmartWay brand, consumers now have a credible source to go to for answers about their car's environmental performance. By buying a SmartWay certified car sport utility vehicle or light truck, Americans will know that these vehicles are strong environmental performers relative to other vehicles. A SmartWay certified vehicle designation is determined by how a vehicle scores using EPA air pollution standards and other criteria. Specifically on EPA's Green Vehicle Guide, the scores are based on emission levels (the Air Pollution score) and fuel economy values (the Greenhouse Gas score). The SmartWay Leaf identifies vehicles that score a at least 6 out of a possible 10 on each of the Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gas Scores and achieve a combined score of at least 13 out of 20. We encourage you to share this with family, friends and colleagues, and to visit www.epa.gov/smartway/vehicles/smartway-certified.htm and click on the "Green Vehicle Guide" to compare fuel consumption and greenhouse gas scores, as well as help ensure that the car you are buying is as environmentally friendly as possible. Turning over a new leaf doesn't have to be hard, and today, it just got a little bit easier.
- China's Big Recycling Market Is Sagging, March 12, 2009, by Dan Levin, New York Times
- Carbon Management Hype and Realty - Paper by Supply Chain Consulting LLC
- The Future Supply Chain 2016: Serving Consumers in a Sustainable Way - Global Commerce Initiative's - Read the full story
- The expanding U.S. ethanol sector is stimulating demand for corn, but alternatives to corn may dampen that demand. - Ethanol Reshapes the Corn Market - Read the full story
- SmartWay Transport is the USEPA’s flagship program to increase the energy efficiency of the freight delivery system in order to reduce blackhouse gas emissions and air pollution.
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