Supply chain and logistics professionals must increasingly prepare for the impact of severe weather events on operations as many scientists agree that climate change will only worsen dangerous weather. Semiconductor companies are still recovering from snowstorms in Texas, and Germany is reeling from devastating floods. Here are five practical ways to minimize the impact of…
“Digitization” is, like “resilience,” the new mantra for the supply chain. Digital applications range from automated paperwork to complex networks that provide end-to-end visibility of global supply and manufacturing operations. Digitized systems work across geographies and products to provide real-time data on inventory, delays, disruptions and resolutions to manufacturing sites and supply-chain partners. Interconnected supply…
Labor and supply constraints continue to limit U.S. manufacturing momentum even as demand remains robust. The nation’s leading factory index, the PMI, declined 4 percent in April, but depleted customer inventories and increasing factory backlogs bode well for the long-term health of the industry. “Recent record-long lead times, wide-scale shortages of critical basic materials, rising…
Covid-19 created a host of problems for the supply chain logistics and management industry. Businesses have come to realize with little time to prepare how important it is to have a substantive strategy for withstanding rapid and drastic change. Strengthening your supply chain to withstand this change requires keeping in mind the various challenges and…
U.S. manufacturing activity cooled in September but remained well within expansion territory for the fourth straight month. The Institute for Supply Management’s PMI slipped to 55.4, or 0.6 percent, from 56 in August as the forward-looking new orders index declined. Any reading above 50 indicates growth. New orders decreased to 60.2 from a reading of…
If past is prologue, Analog Devices Inc.’s $20 billion acquisition of Maxim Integrated Products Inc. will prompt a major shake-up in its electronics distribution channel. When ADI acquired Linear Technology in 2017, it consolidated its global volume distribution network under one distributor – Arrow Electronics Inc. – and discontinued with the industry’s second-largest player, Avnet…
Freightos, a logistics marketplace, reports that carriers have introduced their third general rate increase (GRI) since the beginning of June. High Level Freight Update Growing import demand enabled a rare third consecutive GRI to push China-U.S. ocean rates up again, even as capacity gets closer to normal. Even the trade war lead-up in late 2018…
No one would have imagined that the year 2020 would completely reshape how nearly every industry operates. From public transportation to food service and hospitality sectors, the social and economic impact of Covid-19, also known as the coronavirus, has been swift and unapologetic. Organizations that have felt the adverse side effects of coronavirus more than…
Kemet Corp., on June 15, announced the completion of its $1.6 billion acquisition by Taiwan’s Yageo Corp. In accordance with the terms of the agreement, Yageo has acquired all of the outstanding shares of Kemet’s common stock for US $27.20 per share in an all-cash transaction. As a result of the deal, Kemet is now…
As the spread of the coronavirus outbreak continues on a meteoric rise, and its toll on human health mounts, the economic effects of the crisis are lining up. Businesses are tasked with several issues to address – guaranteeing the safety of their workers, yet ascertaining operational viability which is now coming under strain given the…