Stat of the Week: Page 2
Each week, Supply Chain Dive takes a look at a report, survey or indicator for a glimpse of present and future trends. Look out for these articles in your inbox by subscribing to Supply Chain Dive: Operations.
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Reopening draws down inventory, but volatility expected for remainder of year
The total business inventories-to-sales ratio echoes trends seen throughout the pandemic: Apparel retailers are struggling to bring customers in while grocers are having a difficult time staying stocked.
By Matt Leonard • Aug. 18, 2020 -
Diageo falls short on packaging weight reduction goal
More than 85% of the alcoholic beverage company's packaging is glass — a material that presents a dilemma because it's highly recyclable yet heavier than plastic.
By Matt Leonard • Aug. 11, 2020 -
The pandemic has complicated the WMS procurement process
Vendors and warehouse managers typically use multi-day conferences and whiteboarding to buy and implement warehouse management systems. The pandemic has turned that process upside down.
By Matt Leonard • July 28, 2020 -
MIT, CSCMP: 35% of companies lack supply chain sustainability goals
Social issues — child labor or slavery, worker welfare, etc. — received "far more" focus in companies' sustainability goals than environmental issues.
By Matt Leonard • July 20, 2020 -
Robots, automation seen as solutions to social distancing hurdles in supply chain
The biggest benefit of automation during the pandemic has been the ability for companies to increase social distancing measures within their facilities, according to respondents to a survey from Honeywell and KRC Research.
By Matt Leonard • July 14, 2020 -
Intel's automated inventory planning: How it swapped 'rule-of-thumb' for algorithms
The company generated millions in inventory cost savings from SKUs using the automated model and increased gross profits $1.3 billion from 2014 to 2017.
By Matt Leonard • July 07, 2020 -
Consumer demand: The big supply chain question mark
Statistical models work best when making predictions in a consistent environment. The coronavirus pandemic is a sharp turn off the consistent course of demand for many products.
By Matt Leonard • June 30, 2020 -
Sales plummeted 14% in April leaving companies with bulging inventories
The inventory-to-sales ratio paints a clear picture of the pandemic and the economic turmoil it has created across retail and manufacturing, leaving product to languish in stockrooms, destined for markdowns or donations.
By Matt Leonard • June 23, 2020 -
More automation means more reusable packaging: survey
Highly automated fulfillment environments rely on standardized, reusable packaging, but it's not a one-size-fits-all solution.
By Matt Leonard • June 16, 2020 -
Inventory management a top skill for 58% of supply chain pros: survey
Effective inventory management "is at the core of supply chain and that is making sure that you've got the right product at the right price with the right consumer at the right place," said ASCM CEO Abe Eshkenazi.
By Matt Leonard • June 09, 2020 -
Manufacturers tap into WMS, ERP for end-to-end data management
A so-called "digital thread" creates visibility throughout the supply chain and allows an organization to respond faster to potential disruptions.
By Matt Leonard • June 02, 2020 -
Volkswagen boosts manufacturing volume with automated operations planning
The automaker increased personnel utilization by 26% using an automated system that pulled in existing ERP data.
By Matt Leonard • May 19, 2020 -
Warehouse capacity contracts as imports arrive amid low demand, closed storefronts
XPO and Flexe said customers are looking for places to store inventory that has nowhere else to go.
By Matt Leonard • May 12, 2020 -
"IKEA Anderlecht self-serve warehouse" by Trougnouf is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Quarterly inventories fall for first time since 2018
Depleted inventories in the first quarter were largely the result of supply issues, but this will transition to a demand-driven reduction moving forward, experts suggest.
By Matt Leonard • May 04, 2020 -
Pandemic could cost Tractor Supply an extra $50M in operations spend
Most of the expected expenses, about 80%, are related to labor or benefits, while the remaining 20% is for supplies, safety and cleaning, executives said.
By Matt Leonard • April 28, 2020 -
How a new framework can improve an existing inventory management system
For one hospital pharmacy, researchers found inventory management is about using the tools available and looking beyond cost.
By Matt Leonard • April 20, 2020 -
The image by Zulu84 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Warehouse storage should consider SKU correlation and picker traffic, study finds
A group of researchers from Binghamton University concluded in a paper published earlier this year that warehouse operators should consider picking delays caused by warehouse traffic when building fulfillment models.
By Matt Leonard • April 07, 2020 -
"IKEA Anderlecht self-serve warehouse" by Trougnouf is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Inventory, network optimization among most widely adopted supply chain technologies
More than half of survey respondents said they think inventory management technology has the potential to disrupt the industry or provide a competitive advantage to users.
By Matt Leonard • March 31, 2020 -
So only 12% of supply chain pros are using AI? Apparently.
Low-level AI implementation could be the result of the difficulty hiring technology talent and the inability to properly manage enterprise data streams, according to experts.
By Matt Leonard • March 24, 2020 -
53% of US manufacturers expect operational impact from coronavirus: survey
Operational changes include the implementation of business continuity plans involving workplace sanitation, limiting in-person interaction and managing shifts to account for an uptick in worker absences, according to The National Association of Manufacturers.
By Matt Leonard • March 17, 2020 -
What tech and metrics do you need for omnichannel?
A modern order management system will have most of the data needed to measure omnichannel success. However, some operations will require more creativity.
By Matt Leonard • March 09, 2020 -
Each industrial robot displaces 1.6 workers: report
China has seen the greatest decline in its manufacturing workforce since 2000, with 550,000 fewer people working in the sector as of 2016.
By Matt Leonard • March 03, 2020 -
Internal actors account for 30% of cyberattacks in manufacturing
Proper network segmentation can minimize the threat from internal actors by limiting access to applications or databases to specific employees.
By Matt Leonard • Feb. 25, 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 -
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. 04, 2020