Coronavirus-related component delays will hold up production for Trimble within weeks

Trimble keeps about two weeks of inventory on hand. A three-week freight delay out of China or continued factory slowdowns would affect sales in the near term.

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 18, 2020

Coronavirus outbreak leads to supply shortages for Apple

Foxconn, one of Apple's largest suppliers, has not provided details on its plans to restart production.

By Matt Leonard • Feb. 18, 2020

Explore the Trendline➔

Inventory Management

Read how retailers and brand manufactures are rethinking inventory management as an effective strategy against tariffs.

By Supply Chain Dive staff

A break from trade uncertainty is a good time to future-proof your supply chain

Beijing and Washington have agreed to play nice for a while and the USMCA is almost complete, but firms shouldn’t sit back and relax, writes Lou Longo, an international consulting practice leader at Plante Moran.

By Lou Longo • Feb. 18, 2020

FDA tracking mask, protective gear supply chain disruptions from coronavirus outbreak

Commissioner Stephen Hahn said the shift in ordering patterns is yet to manifest in a shortage but warned Feb. 14 the situation is "evolving and very dynamic."

By Nick Paul Taylor • Feb. 18, 2020

Kraft Heinz turnaround starts with new talent

A massive SKU-reduction effort continues, but CEO Miguel Patricio said people have been his number one priority in his first six months as CEO.

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 14, 2020

Machine learning is nearly ubiquitous in accounting operations, ERPs

The technology is mainly used to set up touch-free processes for repetitive functions such as accounts payable and receivable.

By Robert Freedman • Feb. 13, 2020

A regional approach helps supply chains weather trade disruption: BCG

Supply chain managers might consider a regional approach that places manufacturing capabilities closer to customers to manage the current level of global trade disruption.

By Morgan Forde • Feb. 13, 2020

Rent the Runway taps former Amazon exec as Chief Supply Chain Officer

Brian Donato comes to Rent the Runway from an indoor farming startup and before that, he worked at Amazon for seven years in operational roles related to returns and fulfillment. 

By Shefali Kapadia • Feb. 13, 2020

Nestlé beverage delivery arm reaches carbon neutrality

A combination of fleet conversion, route optimization, replacement of truck trips with rail, redesigned racks, renewable energy and carbon offset projects helped ReadyRefresh achieve neutrality.

By Shefali Kapadia • Feb. 12, 2020

Under Armour forecasts up to $60M revenue hit from coronavirus disruptions

CEO Patrik Frisk expects "significant material impact both financially and operationally" on the company's full-year results, but putting hard numbers on the disruption is tough without a clear picture of scale or duration. 

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 12, 2020

The quickly disappearing corrugated box: How packaging is changing

Manufacturers set their sights on packaging as a means to reduce waste, improve sustainability and lower shipping costs.

By Jen A. Miller • Feb. 11, 2020

Tyson sees double-digit inventory accuracy improvement from computer vision

The new inventory tracking system reads SKU information and weight for chicken packed in trays, replacing what Tyson described as communication by hand gestures followed by manual inventory entry.

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 11, 2020

Flexible plastic makes up 28% of global packaging: report

PET bottles and flexible plastic are lightweight, easily customizable and cheap to manufacture, the association wrote in its "2019 Global Packaging Trends" report.

By Matt Leonard • Feb. 10, 2020

Supply chain managers can leverage Lunar New Year experience in coronavirus disruption

This is a time when agility in the supply chain, specifically having multiple suppliers in varying geographies, will be extraordinarily valuable, writes Nate Evans, co-founder and CXO at Fictiv.

By Nate Evans • Feb. 10, 2020

87% of US businesses in China expect coronavirus to impact revenue

Companies ranging from Apple suppliers to Nissan have announced plans to temporarily pause production as a result of the virus outbreak.

By Matt Leonard • Feb. 10, 2020

Patent Pending: Zebra's plan for managing large RFID populations

Supply chain innovators apply to patent what they see as important tools for the future. Sometimes they're brilliant. Sometimes they're funny.

By Matt Leonard • Feb. 7, 2020

China to slash tariffs by 50% on $75B of US imports

The trade war is far from over as tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods remain and supply chains stay on high alert.

By Shefali Kapadia • Feb. 7, 2020

Macy's lays out a massive supply chain overhaul

Macy's new Chief Supply Chain Officer Dennis Mullahy took over a supply chain with siloed management and data and little strategic influence. That's all about to change. 

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 6, 2020

How online order fulfillment is changing grocery in 3 charts

Meeting the tight deadlines consumers desire has pushed grocers to get creative with fulfillment.

By Morgan Forde • Feb. 6, 2020

Ralph Lauren pilots custom apparel with 16-day lead time

It was only a pilot, said CEO Patrice Louvet, but there is value in knowing such a turnaround is possible. 

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 6, 2020

Hyundai, Airbus stop production as coronavirus leaves manufacturers scrambling

Two Hyundai suppliers, Kyungshin and Yura Corporation, have announced plans to increase production outside of China to make up for supply shortages and plan to resume production Sunday at their Chinese locations.

By Matt Leonard • Feb. 5, 2020

Cummins cuts inventory by $400M anticipating truck production downturn

Private fleets are "awash in excess equipment,” according to ACT Research. Cummins' CEO said Tuesday he expects heavy-duty truck production for North America to be down 40% year-over-year in 2020.

By Emma Cosgrove • Feb. 5, 2020

How manufacturers are preparing for the next recession

More than half of respondents in a BDO survey said they were working to increase production efficiency to guard against a future recession and 42% said they were monitoring the financial health of their suppliers. 

By Matt Leonard • Feb. 4, 2020

Learning from Adidas' Speedfactory blunder

Adidas will end its revolutionary manufacturing program this year, but that doesn't mean the principles of distributed operations should be abandoned by other players.

By Adrián Hernández • Feb. 4, 2020

Logistics: To insource or outsource?

The growing complexity of supply chains due to emerging technologies, customer expectations and the ongoing quest to reduce spend has led to an uptick in outsourced functions.

By Gary Wollenhaupt • Feb. 4, 2020