Robotics technology is boosting manufacturing and employment in the U.S., and in developed economies has led to "botsourcing," that is, the return of manufacturing from overseas.

Botsoursing, bringing production back home through robotics automation, may be the single biggest disruptive threat to India’s $118 billion information technology industry. The more processes can be automated, the less it makes sense to outsource activities to countries where labor is less expensive.

"Over the past few years, manufacturers have seen an explosion of new technologies and innovative developments in material science, advanced manufacturing and synergistic operating models," said Jeff Dobbs, global chair, industrial manufacturing and a partner with KPMG in the US. "In an attempt to capitalize on this environment, manufacturers say they will dramatically increase spending in R&D, pursue new collaborative business models and integrate new technologies to analyze and stimulate profitable growth."

This assumption is supported by findings from the fifth annual "Global Manufacturing Outlook, Performance in the Crosshairs," a study completed in early 2014 which surveyed 460 senior executives across six industrial sectors split equally among the Americas: Europe, Middle East and Africa; and Asia-Pacific.

The service supply chain can be a business’ best kept secret, with the ability to drive an organisation’s profit – or to be its own worst enemy.

As the leading manufacturer of sophisticated vacuum products, abatement systems and related value-added services, Edwards counts the world’s top semiconductor manufacturers as customers. Operating in a fluctuating market, they rely on Edwards’ service business to quickly remanufacture products globally through its service centers.

When he first picked up a copy of the U.S. Roadmap for Material Handling & Logistics, Steve Medwin of electric lift truck manufacturer The Raymond Corp. was struck by how comprehensive the document is.

"Raymond has been committed to making quality lift trucks and telematics solutions for fleet optimization," he said. "But we don’t always have visibility to the whole supply chain and material handling industry, or all the other things that go on around our products. So from a broader perspective than just the movement of a pallet from point A to point B, the Roadmap is very helpful."

Do you know your suppliers’ suppliers? Do you have a food defense strategy in place? Are you challenged by cargo theft, fraudulent pickups and other not-so-safe security measures?

 

A supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link. And, for all food manufacturers, preparing a food defense strategy is more about knowing your supply chain’s vulnerabilities than simply just practicing food safety measures.

Supply chain managers can look forward to a "below to near normal" hurricane season for 2014, according to the extended range North Atlantic forecast of The Hurricane Genesis & Outlook (HUGO) Project at Coastal Carolina University.  According to the HUGO outlook (detailed in the table below), the most likely scenario is that no hurricanes will make landfall on the U.S. East Coast or on the Gulf Coast during the 2014 hurricane season (June 1 to Nov. 30); the second most likely scenario is that one hurricane will make landfall on the East Coast, and one hurricane will make landfall on the Gulf Coast.

The outlook, which was tabulated in April 2014, also predicts that there will be a range of nine to 11 (with 10 most likely) tropical storms, three to six (with five most likely) hurricanes and one to two (with one most likely) major hurricanes this season. 

Drought, hurricanes and rising seas are becoming more significant threats to the world’s biggest companies and the risk is accelerating, according to the Carbon Disclosure Project.

 

Companies planning for various threats related to climate change say they’re grappling now with about 45 percent of the potential risks, or will be within five years, according to a report issued today by the London-based non-profit group. That’s up from 2011, when members of the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index expected 26 percent of the potential risks to affect them within five years.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack highlighted recent progress on a number of trade issues with Mexico following a panel discussion with Mexico's Secretary of Agriculture Enrique Martínez y Martínez. The panel was part of the Global Forum on Agro Food Expectations forum in Mexico City. Vilsack's remarks come as Mexico's expanded import ruling to allow increased potato imports from the U.S. goes into effect. 

Mexico also recently announced it would expand American beef imports as well. A full range of U.S. beef and beef products can now be exported to Mexico, potentially increasing U.S. beef and beef product exports by $50 million.

As cloud computing continues to penetrate business practices on a global scale, it’s no surprise that third-party logistics providers and other supply chain participants are now making use of the technology. With the goals of improving product oversight, providing greater insight into distribution practices, and creating a new method of securing corporate and consumer data, professionals are beginning to look to cloud platforms for the answer. 

I interviewed Harry Forbes about whether it makes sense for companies with warehouses to invest in solar energy.  Harry is a colleague at the ARC Advisory Group and is our expert on electric power, renewable energy, and energy management.  I spoke with him about the prospects for solar energy as applied to warehouses.

It sells anything online, from face moisturizer to dog beds. But unlike Amazon, the aspiring retailer has not figured out a thrifty and efficient way to ship products to customers.

 

That was exceedingly clear after listening to last week’s first-quarter earnings call.

 

Groupon said its shipping costs can be as much as two times comparable online retailers’ costs. It also mentioned that if it weren’t for its shipping and fulfillment costs, its North American gross margins — sales minus payments made to suppliers — would be more than 30 percent. But with those debilitating expenses included, margins ring in at only 5 percent.

Admit it. You go to a party and someone asks you what you do for a living. You want to say: Hey, I’m the bass player for Metallica or I’m a transplant surgeon or I’m a skydiving instructor. Something with a Wow factor. Instead, a little sheepishly, with averted eyes, you say: Oh, I work in the supply chain. 

Still, the world needs procurement, manufacturing, logistics and distribution rock stars; in the future, as Baby Boomers like me hang it up, they’re going to need even more of them. All of which explains why ThomasNet and Institute for Supply Management (ISM) announced a new 30 Under 30 Rising Supply Chain Stars recognition program last week in Las Vegas at ISM’s annual conference.

Drone delivery, anyone? We're not completely there yet, but while we wait for products to fall from the sky, businesses need to maintain a competitive edge by outsourcing fulfillment to the right provider.

Despite being both parodied (make sure to watch Netflix's Drone to Home video) and parroted (in February, the FAA clipped a brewery's attempt to deliver beer by drone to Minnesota fishermen), Amazon insists unmanned aerial delivery vehicles will soon be as common as mail trucks.

The United States International Trade Commission recently released a report stating small and medium-sized U.S. businesses are disproportionately affected by certain trade barriers with the EU as compared to their larger counterparts. Several factors contribute to this discrepancy, especially cost; most expenses in international trade compliance are fixed regardless of company size and quantity of items shipped. This dramatically limits the trade process for small and mid-size companies.

Additionally, certain industries face even further challenges because of high duties, lack of conformity with standards across continents, issues with regulations and logistics, and others.

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) has shifted the focus from responding to food safety breaches to actually preventing them. As a result, some best practices have emerged in the food processing industry to ensure food safety and prevent problems.

There are some basics of design that must be addressed up front to maintain food safety standards.