July 2023
Supply Chain News to Know

JULY 2023

News To Know

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As global temperatures shatter records, supply chain professionals are dealing with a different kind of heat: the pre-peak season rush. But how, exactly, it plays out is anyone’s guess. Let’s dive in.

The Lead: Getting Smarter

While supply chain leaders have always contended with disruptions, the landscape is different now. Matthew Rostein at Bisnow said it best:

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After a year of relative respite, supply chain disruptions are on the rise again. And this time around, logistics users don’t have the same capacity to throw money at the problem or the consumer demand to justify it.

With inventory strategy shown to be insufficient to overcome supply chain uncertainty, the remaining responses are to build a new supply chain and/or get smarter about the one that exists right now.”

Tougher still, CSCOs are under pressure to reduce costs. But as FourKites’ Vice President of Manufacturing, Todd Simms, put it, “This is not the time for manufacturers to pull back on modernization efforts such as scenario planning, SKU rationalization, regionalization, new supplier relationships and process automation.”

And the key to all of it? Free-flowing data.

In View

Nearshoring remains in focus, with Mexico predicted to see $60B-$150B of manufacturing activity and investments flow in. But right now, there isn’t enough capacity to absorb all of the business that China can accommodate, according to FourKites’ Glenn Koepke.

Many shippers sighed in relief when news broke that the PMA and ILWU reached an agreement, as labor strikes caused West Coast dwell times to start creeping up.

Bloomberg reported that, for the first time in its six-and-a-half-year history, the US Logistics Managers’ Index dipped into the contraction zone in May, as transportation demand and prices have declined for the past several months.

It’s summertime, which means F&B shippers are busy keeping shelves stocked with consumers’ favorite beverages. “We have seen a major shift with F&B companies investing in order-based solutions that have the ability to ingest lots of transactional data,” Glenn Koepke told IT Supply Chain. ”This shift is all aimed at getting products to the right place, at the right time at a competitive price.”

Numbers to Know

Shipment Delays Down Year over Year, despite Memorial Day weekend uptick

In the week leading up to the Memorial Day weekend, there was a noticeable 13% rise in beverage shipment delays, with volume increasing 15% year over year, and 18% month over month.

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Words of Wisdom

Remember, sustainability is a journey, not a destination. Avoid getting stuck in ‘pilot mode’, where initiatives are continually trialed but never fully implemented. Establish a process for regular monitoring, evaluation and resetting of goals.

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TODD SIMMS
FOURKITES VICE PRESIDENT AND SUSTAINABILITY EXPERT

ICYMI

Mark Delaney, FourKites Vice President, Industry Strategy, Retail & CPG, and Chris Kelly, Vice President of Retail at Connors, discuss how the convenience store landscape is evolving in this blog post.
In a recent webinar, experts discussed how manufacturing supply chain leaders can achieve significant savings by adapting inventory management, optimizing mode and service levels, efficiently utilizing staffing resources, cutting down accessorial costs and making the most of warehouse capacity.
FourKites was named a winner of the 2023 Gartner Marketing and Communications Awards for Excellence in Reputation and Thought Leadership for its use of real-time data and dissemination of strong executive perspective throughout the supply chain disruptions of 2022.
Did you miss our webinar on optimizing summer supply chains for seasonal staples? Don’t worry! You can now watch it on demand and learn how Land O’Lakes, Coca-Cola, and Dollar Tree beat the summer supply chain heat with real-time visibility.