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LEAVE IT TO TECHNOLOGY TO MEET MODERN CHALLENGES: PART I

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Archives, Features, Global Trade Daily, Stories

LEAVE IT TO TECHNOLOGY TO MEET MODERN CHALLENGES: PART I

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To be honest, incorporating more technology into business as usual for logistics, supply chain and manufacturing entities pre-dates the first confirmed COVID-19 case in the U.S. in January 2020. But it did take the global pandemic to propel many in those industries to move unrealized digital transformation initiatives to their front burners.

In light of Industry 4.0, which places a high value on robotics, clean technology, renewable energy and transforming traditional factories into smart ones using the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing, InfinityQS International announced the findings of its 2021 Customer Satisfaction Survey on June 1. 

The report from the Fairfax, Virginia-based authority on data-driven enterprise quality revealed that more than half of manufacturers now have their sights set on digital transformation to address concerns brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Behold:

-52 percent of respondents reported they are currently exploring or already adopting digital transformation initiatives to enhance operational performance. 

-24 percent cited advanced analytics as their top technology priority.

“The pandemic exposed significant and often widespread operational weaknesses within incumbent manufacturing environments,” said Jason Chester, director of Global Channel Programs at InfinityQS. “It brought into sharp relief where legacy systems and outdated processes exacerbated the problems that manufacturers faced, alongside new challenges such as the rapid shift to remote work and supply chain disruption.”

Digital transformation is the key to addressing these new challenges, according to Chester. “Data, for example, is a great way for manufacturers to increase visibility into their operations as it can provide important insights into each stage of the production process. These insights can then be leveraged to make more informed and tactical decisions to secure long-term resilience and growth.”

In addition to advanced analytics, the other most popular technologies on the priority list for respondents included the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and cloud computing. InfinityQS notes that either technology supports anytime, anywhere access to real-time data for proactive decision-making, enabling manufacturers to maximize performance, respond to fluctuations in demand, ensure flexible operations and even build resilience for future “black-swan” events—all while maintaining high levels of product quality and safety.

“For manufacturers to stay ahead of competition and remain at the top of their industry, they need to constantly adapt to their environment by making tactical digital investments,” Chester says. “It is great to see the majority are rebounding from the pandemic and embracing digital transformation to increase their agility and maintain competitive edge. Companies that do so are better equipped to improve their operations at a faster speed and even anticipate changes before they occur.”

A clue that an impactful industry change was on the way happened during the March 2020 MODEX show in Atlanta, where attendees were warned they may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. Folks can be forgiven if they were too preoccupied with personal health to consider the findings in the annual Materials Handling Industry (MHI) Report that was released during MODEX. According to the report (which you can read more about in our Industry Expertise column):

-67 percent of survey respondents said they believed robotics had the power to disrupt their industry and offer a competitive advantage for their organization. 

-39 percent of surveyed companies said they’d adopted robotics and automation. 

-73 percent of those surveyed said they plan to add more robotics or start implementing robotics in the next five years.

For a look ahead of the curve, Global Trade identified industry players who confronted a recent challenge with the help of technological partners. Our case studies are arranged by the categories Global Trade covers on the regular, from 3PLs and e-commerce to intermodal and air cargo logistics. Read on for part one. 

3PL

Company: KSP Fulfillment of Fridley, Minnesota

Challenge: Rapid growth putting pressure on order fulfillment

Problem Solver: Softeon of Reston, Virginia

Solution: Cloud-based warehouse management system (WMS)

Founded in 2012 and headquartered near Minneapolis, KSP offers a broad mix of 3PL services to multiple industries, including medical, health & beauty, education, agriculture and pet care. The Verified Veteran Owned Business has realized rapid growth, with revenues jumping 296% in 2020. That is, of course, the goal, but … 

Why is there always a “but?” 

The mountain of increased orders drove the need for additional space, and KSP is set to complete construction on a new 182,000-square-foot facility in November. However, the KSP brass also realized they needed more than additional real estate. 

“The company determined it needed a new WMS with the ability to scale, more advanced features and a better platform for continuous improvement,” explains Dennis Nicholson, vice president, Business Development at Softeon. “KSP selected Softeon as its WMS provider to help power execution of their aggressive strategy, making their decision to move to Softeon in less than two months.”

KSP was ready to move even sooner, to hear CEO Rob Walters tell it. “It was obvious in the early stages of our WMS vetting process that Softeon was going to be the right fit for our short and long-term business goals,” he says. “It was incredibly important that we chose the right strategic partners to ultimately support our customers’ needs. Softeon offers a unique combination of rich WMS functionality, robust support for 3PLs and a collaborative partnership that matches well with our culture.” 

It’s not just smaller company cultures that Softeon meshes with, having also provided a WMS solution to Germany’s DB Schenker, which is, of course, one of the world’s largest providers of freight forwarding and logistics services

AIR CARGO LOGISTICS

Company: American Airlines Cargo of Fort Worth, Texas

Challenge: Expanding temperature-controlled shipments across the entire mainline fleet 

Problem Solvers: CSafe Global of Dayton, Ohio, and CargoSense of Reston, Virginia 

Solution: State-of-the-art packaging and temperature sensors

One lesson American Airlines Cargo learned from the pandemic was that operating one of the largest cargo networks in the world made one no more prepared to handle the huge demand for distributing temperature-critical vaccines, pharmaceuticals and other life science products than Uncle Eddie’s Crop Duster Inc.

Though the new normal is getting more normal currently (knock on Formica), the demand for temperature-controlled cargo solutions is not going away. That even newer normal propelled American to enter into a number of tests and trials in partnership with CSafe Global and CargoSense. The result: All of American’s aircraft offered ideal environments for passive temperature-sensitive shipments thanks to CSafe’s industry-leading packaging and CargoSense’s Temperature Loggers.

The even more amazing result: American’s ExpediteTC solution, which was founded in 2009 to provide active and passive shipping solutions as well as a global network of temperature-controlled facilities, can now nearly double its capacity. The airline has now extended its cold-chain solution network to 30 new stations, including in-demand cities such as Memphis, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. 

“When it comes to cold chain shipments, reliability is crucial for our customers,” explains Roger Samways, vice president, Commercial for American Airlines Cargo. “By expanding our offering of temperature-critical shipping on all mainline flights, we are able to provide our customers with access to more than 180 markets, marking the largest cold-chain network in our history.”

During the trials, sensors monitored internal package temperatures while aircraft operated in various climates. Results proved that temperatures of each package stayed constant, despite changing conditions during transit, according to the partnership.

 “We are excited the pharmaceutical industry can now leverage American’s full fleet at a time that is critical for all of us,” says CargoSense CEO Rich Kilmer.

Added Tom Weir, CSafe Global’s chief operating officer: “It was a privilege to work with American to conduct these trials and leverage our innovative thermal shipping solution technologies to ensure even more temperature-critical shipments can travel effectively. Many sensitive, often life-saving goods travel the world thanks to effective cold-chain networks, and we are proud to play a part in that alongside American Airlines.”

BANKING/FINANCE

Company: Old Dominion Freight Line of Thomasville, North Carolina

Challenge: Streamline payments to improve satisfaction among 10,500+ drivers 

Problem Solver: Relay Payments of Atlanta, Georgia

Solution: Instant electronic payments 

Motor carrier and industry leader Old Dominion provides regional, inter-regional, and national services that include expedited transportation through an expansive network of service centers throughout the continental U.S. as well less-than-truckload (LTL), container drayage, truckload brokerage and supply-chain consulting across North America.

However, Old Dominion lived up to the . . . ahem . . . “Old” part of its name by, like many of its peers, relying on cash and checks to conduct business. With manual payment processes creating a sub-optimal experience for customers, OD turned to Relay Payments, which recently received a $43 million infusion from venture capitalists who share the fintech company’s vision of building an electronic payment network in the transportation, logistics and supply-chain industries.

“We strive to deliver best-in-class customer service and are always looking at ways technology can improve our offerings,” explained Todd Polen, vice president, Pricing Services, at Old Dominion. “Working with Relay Payments has allowed us to remove tedious and manual steps throughout the payment process and modernize the way we do business with our customers.”

Relay’s partnership with OD’s accounting, pricing and operations teams is paying dividends, thanks to the development of unique application leveraging data integrations and custom payment workflows for each department’s specific needs. “We have entrusted Relay to process millions of dollars in volume annually,” Polen notes, “and we’ve already been able to realize millions in savings through data integration, digitalization of receipts and simplified reimbursements. On top of it all, our customers are happier than ever which is the most important to us.” 

“Our goal was to design an end-to-end solution which eliminated the use of paper-based payments and introduced operational efficiencies and increased revenue for the organization,” says Relay co-founder and President Spencer Barkoff. “We’re excited to continue working together to change the industry and keep America’s supply chain running during a period of immense challenge.”

E-COMMERCE

Company: Hermes Fulfillment of Hamburg, Germany

Challenge: Incorporate state-of-the-art technology to legacy warehouse management systems

Problem Solver: ProGlove of Munich, Germany, and Chicago, Illinois, and Ivanti Wavelink of Salt Lake City, Utah

Solution: Wearable barcode scanners and backend digital systems

Hermes Fulfilment handles the entire shipping process—including customer orders, warehousing and returns—for parent company the Otto Group’s retail companies. Besides multiple locations in Germany, Hermes has logistics, e-commerce and distribution facilities across all of Europe.

After identifying the need to upgrade technologically, Hermes officials sought an “out-of-the-box” solution: 150 of ProGlove’s wearable MARK Display barcode scanners that are married with Ivanti Wavelink’s Velocity backend/warehouse management systems.

This combo platter allows for easy integration of Telnet and browser-based applications to communicate and deliver crucial information to and from workers’ rugged mobile computers and wearable devices. 

“ProGlove’s MARK Display is a giant leap forward in barcode scanning,” says Simon Storey, Ivanti’s Global VP of Strategic Alliances. “Their devices come with a unique form factor that is tailored to meet the needs of warehouse shop floor workers superbly.”

His company’s Velocity platform helps improve accuracy and efficiency without modifying or replacing legacy backend systems, all the while maintaining and improving worker productivity. This helps reduce picking errors, decrease downtime and increase productivity without frontline workers needing additional training as they continue to work with the tools with which they are familiar. 

“The cost, risk and time associated with writing new mobile applications to keep up with modern mobile operating systems just isn’t feasible,” Storey explains. “We make it easy for their customers to deploy next-generation mobility, minimizing the risks and dependence on IT resources.”

“Ivanti’s Velocity set of solutions is a mission critical engine to boost the digitization of the shop floor,” remarks Charlie Grieco, ProGlove’s chief revenue officer. “While many organizations recognize the need for more flexibility and adaptability, they cannot just shake off the legacy systems they have in place. Ivanti resolves this issue so that businesses can change gears and accelerate to warp speed in no time.”

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3pls, Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Warehousing

Supply Chain Professions: Women’s Place Today?

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Despite the diversification of its professions and a recent and relative feminization, the supply chain remains predominantly male, especially the higher up the organization chart you go. We have gathered a panel of experts from the field and from education to understand how to make supply chain jobs more attractive to women and to remove the obstacles to the feminization of a sector that has strong recruitment needs:

 

 

Salomée Ruel: associate professor of information systems management and supply chain management at Kedge Business School;

 

Marie-Laurence Deruaz: Logistics Director at Suez Eau France

 

Anicia Jaegler: director of the Operations Management and Information Systems department and professor at the ISLI at Kedge Business school, delivers their analysis;

 

Just over 4 in 10 (41%) supply chain positions, according to the Gartner 2021 survey, are filled by women. These numbers are slowly changing, as Gartner reported an occupancy rate of 39% in 2020 and 33% in 2019. However, in executive positions, their share is only 17%, and decreasing. What are the persistent obstacles to this feminization? 

 

Anicia Jaegler: “Historically, logistics originated in the military world. Then, it was implemented in the industrial world and associated with transport and storage. This explains its masculinization. The supply chain, which is more recent, is slowly becoming more feminine, with very significant differences depending on the activity and sector”.

 

Salomée Ruel: “The operational functions of logistics – transport, handling, etc. – which make up the bulk of the troops, have less than 10% women. Conversely, in customer services, more than 9 out of 10 employees are women, but these profiles weigh little in the overall workforce.

 

The digitalization of the sector, which is pushing companies to recruit more “mathematical” profiles, does not seem to be conducive to the feminization of the sector, particularly in management positions, which are predominantly male.

 

This is related to the fact that it is a male world that has difficulty making room for women, but also to image problems generating a lack of attractiveness for some women”.

 

Marie-Laurence Deruaz: “The supply chain is often reduced in people’s minds to its “logistics” part, which is historically considered to be a man’s job, physical, with a lot of travel and staggered hours, considered to be very restrictive.

 

These stereotypes apply to recruiters, but also to female candidates, who tend to censor themselves. Fewer in number in training courses, they find it harder to take the plunge when applying.

 

My own team of about 60 employees who perform operational supply and package preparation duties includes six women”.

How can we make these jobs more attractive to women?

 

Anicia Jaegler: “The first action is the promotion of professions in industry, transport, e-commerce, etc. The supply chain is everywhere and its professions are very diverse. Several initiatives are moving in the right direction: a book for primary school children, a card game for high school girls, etc”.

 

Salomée Ruel: “We need to work on the image of these jobs. We must make it known that these jobs, considered as very manual and requiring muscles, have been largely facilitated by mechanization, which also relieves the men.

 

It should be noted that beyond logistics, the sector now encompasses a wide range of functions, around the management of the supply chain.

 

As a teacher, I insist on their transversal and strategic dimensions. We need more female teachers in logistics. At Kedge Business School, the Superior Institute of Industrial Logistics, where I teach, and the Msc “International Transport” are run by women. We have an educational role to play by training our female students in negotiation and leadership and by trying to change the way students view their colleagues.

 

This image work must be led by companies, but also by journalists and public authorities. 100% female events such as the “Global Women Supply Chain Leaders 2020″, organized by B2G Consulting, are starting to be set up.

 

Finally, in the locker room, change also means strict enforcement of the law that prohibits posters of naked women, which is considered sexual harassment. It may seem like anecdotal evidence, but it’s not always.”

 

Marie-Laurence Deruaz: “We also need an active HR policy on gender equality. At Suez, this means communicating to all employees about the stereotypes and discrimination that women may be subject to.

 

It is important that communication also highlights successful women and career opportunities.

 

Recently, we set up a women’s network to give them more visibility, to allow them to share experiences, but also to decipher codes and remove barriers that they sometimes put on themselves.

 

When I set up my team, I made sure to give both men and women a chance: two out of five site managers are women. On a daily basis, I encourage the teams to be open to this type of recruitment. We have some of the best female warehouse staff.

 

But these changes are not always without difficulties. It is also necessary to support the teams, as some members have difficulty recognizing the legitimacy of women managers. This requires open discussions with these employees to help them take a step back from what they are saying and what they think, but also support for the manager.

What are the benefits for a company to have a more active gender diversity policy?

 

Marie-Laurence Deruaz: “Diversity in the broadest sense of the word is an asset for the company. It is the variety of experiences, skills and points of view on the same problem that will make a team more efficient. And diversity is part of this. As long as you know how to agree to cross the views. I have noticed that teams with women leave more room for communication.

 

Anicia Jaegler: “The research conducted made it possible to link the presence of women and financial performance, sustainable performance and diversity.”

 

Salomée Ruel: “Women are more sensitive to issues of well-being in the workplace and to compliance with Quality, Health, Safety and Environment (QHSE) rules.

 

They are also more sensitive to the respect of suppliers’ codes of conduct; a key dimension at a time when consumers do not hesitate to boycott a brand that violates ethical rules. Finally, research has shown that in supply chain audit situations, teams led by women perform better and uncover more disputes and compliance issues.

 

Generix Group North America helps distribution & manufacturing companies achieve operational excellence with their WMS & MES  Supply chain solutions. We invite you to download our WMS Decision Making Guide  here.

This article originally appeared here. Republished with permission. 

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Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, International Trade

The Effect of Supply Chain Crisis on the Food Industry

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March 2020 marked the beginning of unprecedented times for businesses across the world. The COVID-19 pandemic has had deep socio-economic implications for the food industry. It has imposed sudden shocks across the food supply chain, affecting farm production, logistics, food processing, and market demand for food items.

US Food Supply Chain: Disruptions and Implications from COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a new set of challenges that have affected all industries globally. Similarly, the US food supply chain has been deeply impacted due to physical distancing and strict lockdowns. Here is a list of the major stakeholders affected by the pandemic:

Farmers

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, farmers have faced distinct challenges like drop-in grain prices, unavailability of skilled labor, and an uncertain future. Farmers are also facing difficulties in managing excess produce, which is creating an imbalance in the supply chain.

Foodservice Distributors

The foodservice industry relies on foodservice distributors for a steady supply of food items. Due to COVID-19, foodservice distributors have been severely affected by supply chain issues and a decrease in demand from restaurants. COVID-19 restrictions and shutdowns led to a decrease in outbound orders. Even though there has been a steady supply of inventory from farmers or manufacturers, distributors still find it difficult to adjust to the sudden change in market dynamics. Foodservice distributors face challenges in storing excess inventory and making physical deliveries. Some distributors have been able to switch to online ordering and delivery services, but these methods are yet to be universally accepted by outlets.

Foodservice Producers

Foodservice producers have faced similar issues as distributors. The global supply chain crisis effect has led to some significant changes for the food industry. Plant utilization has been significantly lower for foodservice producers due to a decrease in demand from the foodservice industry. Most producers have equipment that is configured for delivering goods for the foodservice sector. Reconfiguring or recalibrating the equipment and changing the business model for the retail industry can be highly inefficient.

Consumer and Packaged-goods Companies

Retail manufacturers or packaged goods food businesses face huge challenges due to COVID-19. Even though demand has been steady for retail manufacturers, they have been facing unprecedented challenges. In the retail food manufacturing sector, employees work in close proximity with each other, leading to a spike in COVID-19 cases among workers. The recent surge in COVID-19 infections in meat-processing plants and other retail manufacturing factories has increased the chances of the mass closure of manufacturing plants.

Grocery Retailers

Among all types of food businesses, grocery retailers have witnessed the highest surge in demand. The primary challenge for grocery retailers has been to serve their customers in these challenging times. Grocery retailers and their employees have been overwhelmed with an increase in demand for food items. Additionally, retailers have been cleaning their stores throughout the day, paying hazard pay and huge incentives to adequately compensate staff for their efforts during the pandemic. Many grocery retailers have introduced online ordering and delivery solutions, which has led to a surge in revenue. This has also resulted in consumer complaints about delivery-related issues.

Effects of Pandemic on Food Supply Chain

The restrictions imposed on the foodservice industry due to the pandemic have hurt the food supply chain. Restrictions related to travel between cities, provinces, and countries have led to some significant challenges, affecting producers, consumers, distributors, farmers, and other stakeholders. Food processing units have become hotbeds for the pandemic. Due to the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases among employees, many manufacturing units had to shut their processing plants.

Effects of Pandemic on Consumer Behavior

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the financial health of the average household as well. Due to financial issues, the food buying behavior of customers has changed drastically. Consumers currently prefer natural food items like vegetables, pulses, whole grains, and olive oil over different types of processed food items.

Effects of Pandemic on Global Food Trade

Food trade policies have also changed across the world. Many countries now restrict exports of essential food items for uninterrupted supply in the domestic market. Export restrictions have also led to a significant drop in prices, leading to losses for farmers or manufacturers.

Strategies for Food Supply Chain

A decentralized approach can be adopted by food manufacturers to avoid drawbacks and risks. Small-scale storage facilities near consumers can reduce storage and transportation costs significantly.

Recommendations to Minimize the Effect of COVID-19

The pandemic has seriously affected food safety, supply, nutrition, and financial health across the supply chain. Strict lockdowns and impositions have threatened the sustainability and growth of food businesses. Here is a list of recommendations that can minimize the effect of COVID-19 on food-related stakeholders:

Recommendations for Small Farmers

Countries can take measures to safeguard the health and finances of agricultural workers. Agri-produce collection centers near major locations can help small-scale farmers to minimize the loss of goods.

Suggestions for Government and Business

Governments can form a pandemic-handling committee to minimize the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the food supply chain. Business bodies can also develop advanced solutions and generate funds to help small suppliers, distributors, and retail outlets.

Businesses and individuals with a clear understanding of the challenges are better prepared in the current scenario. The current shifts in consumer spending habits have deeply affected economies across the world. These ripple effects of the pandemic have affected all stakeholders in the food supply chain, including distributors, producers, farmers, manufacturers, and retailers. Protecting their financial well-being and the general economic activity of the foodservice industry is integral to the economy’s recovery as the pandemic nears its end.

__________________________________________________________________

 Author Bio: Damon Shrauner, Senior Sales Consultant and VP on B2B Sales at CKitchen, working in the food service equipment sector since 1994. With his expertise in market analysis, product placement, sales and project management, he will always tell you what to do for the best of your business.

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Archives, Global Trade Daily, News

World Trade in Disinfectants Doubles to $ 6 Billion in 2020

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IndexBox has just published a new report: ‘World – Disinfectants – Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights’. Here is a summary of the report’s key findings.

Global disinfectant imports skyrocketed to $6B in 2020, rising more than twofold over the last year. In physical terms imports grew from 0.9M tonnes to 1.9M tonnes. In 2020, the U.S., Canada and Japan featured the largest purchases from abroad in value terms. America saw the highest growth rate of imports, increasing the volume of supplies ninefold. Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, the UK, Germany, Canada and France followed the U.S. in import growth per year. Germany, the U.S. and the UK constituted 39% of global export value last year. 

Global Disinfectant Imports by Country

In 2020, global disinfectant imports soared from 0.9M tonnes in 2019 to 1.9M tonnes in 2020. In value terms, disinfectant imports surged from $2.5B to $6B (IndexBox estimates) in 2020.

In value terms, the largest disinfectant importing markets worldwide were the U.S. ($770M), Canada ($549M) and Japan ($498M), together comprising 31% of global imports.

The countries with the highest levels of disinfectant imports in 2020 were the U.S. (244K tonnes), Germany (188K tonnes), Canada (155K tonnes), France (136K tonnes), Japan (134K tonnes), the UK (119K tonnes) and Australia (87K tonnes), together recording 55% of total import. Hong Kong SAR (51K tonnes), Belgium (47K tonnes), the Netherlands (37K tonnes), China (36K tonnes), Spain (35K tonnes), and Austria (33K tonnes) occupied a minor share of total imports.

The U.S. saw the highest growth rate of purchases. America boosted its imports by nine times, from 26K tonnes in 2019 to 244K tonnes in 2020. In value terms, U.S. imports grew from $87M to $770M over this period.

In 2020, Japan and Hong Kong increased purchases from abroad by seven times. Australia, the UK, Germany boosted the imports threefold, while Canada and France saw a twofold-increase in supplies to their countries.

In 2020, the average disinfectant import price amounted to $3,062 per tonne, up by +13% against the previous year. Prices varied noticeably by the country of destination; the country with the highest price was China ($5,227 per tonne), while the UK ($2,142 per tonne) was amongst the lowest. In 2020, the Netherlands attained the most notable rate of growth in terms of prices, while the other global leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.

World’s Largest Disinfectant Exporters

In value terms, Germany ($654M), the U.S. ($497M) and the UK ($341M) constituted the countries with the highest levels of exports in 2020, with a combined 39% share of global exports. These countries were followed by Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Poland, Denmark and Costa Rica, which accounted for a further 34%.

The shipments of the twelve major exporters of disinfectants, namely Germany, the U.S., Spain, France, Belgium, the UK, the Netherlands, China, Canada, Poland, the Czech Republic and Costa Rica, represented more than two-thirds of total export. Denmark took a minor share of total exports.

Source: IndexBox Platform

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Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Trucking

Tenstreet Market Index: With Turbulence Ahead, Take Advantage of Seasonal Gains

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2021 has been an especially unpredictable year in an industry that already suffers from major uncertainty. The effects of COVID-19 on the economy and on the driver market are still being felt all across the nation, and carriers have their work cut out for them when it comes to keeping up with the need to fill and run their trucks profitably.

That being said, the past few months have been marked by optimistic data. Despite a challenging start to the year, the hopeful uptick we had begun to observe in our last Tenstreet Market Index has crystallized into an objective positive improvement over the past several months.

We’ve continued to observe several positive industry-wide trends in our data that indicate things are moving up for transportation – which should mean smoother sailing for carriers in the months to come. Let’s review the data to understand what’s happening with drivers and carriers – as well as how to prepare for the next big changes we’re predicting.

Weekly Driver Activity – 2021

We last visited this chart at the end of May, when the trend lines were all starting to move upward after a dip-filled start to the year.

As the chart, which describes weekly driver activity over the course of 2021 so far, details, driver activity has continued to climb. Since the beginning of June,  we’ve seen the number of drivers filling out lead forms and full IntelliApps climbing along with monthly Driver Pulse users, indicating a clear focus from drivers on finding carriers and getting hired. This is commensurate with most year-over-year trends that see stable volumes of applications in the summer months.

The only major dip during this season occurred right before the 4th of July, a common time for drivers to focus more on the holiday before returning to the job hunt. It’s important for carriers to remember how seasonal hiring can be, even on a week-over-week basis, as we enter the end of the year. As family holidays start to dominate the later months of the calendar, carriers need to be prepared for these dips in activity, which often occur in the weeks leading up to a holiday.

Application Activity Index

The Application Activity Index is a measure of Tenstreet clients who have had a consistent IntelliApp volume for the past 31 months. We assigned January 2019 a value of 100 for comparison, which gives us an easy way to see the rate of application activity change over the last two and a half years while removing the impact of growth in the number of carriers using the platform.

As you can see below, carriers as a whole took a huge hit starting in February of 2020 (just as COVID-19 was beginning to emerge in America) and the market slid steadily downward until May of this year. However, we finally seem to be on the rebound. Application numbers have been rising every month since April, finishing the summer off strong. This seems to suggest we’ll see the market move steadily back toward the growth patterns we were expecting before COVID hit – note how many of the lines nearly mirror where the index first started. Expect an increase in applications over the summer and into the fall.

Cost Per Full Application

For most of 2021, carriers were paying more and more each month for full applications (and on average more than they had to pay in 2020), but May marked a turnaround. The cost of a full app began to drop and continued in freefall for the next two months. The rapid cost decline has started to level out, but we’re back to the levels we were seeing at the beginning of 2020, before the start of COVID-19. Take advantage of this trend now to cut your recruiting costs while a wider selection of candidates are in the market.

How To Prepare for the Future

Improved market conditions, like a lower cost for full applications and more driver applications coming in, are obvious positives for carriers that result in saved advertising budgets and faster hiring timelines. Now is the right time to take care of hiring trends and recruit the best drivers you can.

Just as important as paying attention to current data is reflecting on seasonal patterns we’ve seen before. With Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon, we’ll likely start to see these positive trends start to turn around again as soon as early November.

At the same time, the industry still faces uncertainty around COVID-19. The delta variant could cause staffing and logistics issues through the coming seasons and into next year, so companies should be prepared for potential turbulence in the months ahead.

If you have seats to fill or are planning to grow your fleet in the coming months, getting that done soon will help you avoid losing money on empty trucks.

Strategies for Increasing Hires

If you’re one of the carriers looking to hire, consider picking up some new marketing tools that can help you improve your personal performance, regardless of industry trends.

Here’s a few marketing services that can jump-start your business as you look for new drivers:

-Tenstreet’s Job Store lets you post all your job openings from one place inside the Tenstreet dashboard. It brings more than 20 popular job boards together to save you considerable time, helping you find the drivers you need quickly at the best cost for your budget.

-Our free Job Store concierge service pairs clients with a specialist who can advise on maximizing the utility of the Job Store, writing better ads, setting hiring geos, choosing the best merchants for you, and managing your recruitment budget – all for no cost or long-term commitment.

-Pulse Match shows your job postings to candidates who meet the qualifications you’ve set for the position, keeping scattershot applicants out of your pool. Only pay a low price-per-application when you get one, and not a thing until then.

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Archives, Global Trade Daily, News

The U.S. Boosts Sweet Biscuit Imports

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IndexBox has just published a new report: ‘U.S. – Sweet Biscuits Without Chocolate – Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends And Insights’. Here is a summary of the report’s key findings.

American sweet biscuit imports jumped by +7% y-o-y to 561K tonnes in 2020. In value terms, the purchases from abroad stood at $1.4B. Last year, Mexico remained the largest supplier to the U.S., comprising 70% of the American sweet biscuit imports. Among other major exporters, India saw the highest increase in biscuit shipments to the U.S. The average sweet biscuit import price in America dropped by -7.7% against the previous year.

U.S. Sweet Biscuit Imports

Sweet biscuit imports into the U.S. rose notably to 561K tonnes in 2020, increasing by +7% against the year before. In value terms, sweet biscuit imports stood at $1.4B (IndexBox estimates) in 2020.

In 2020, Mexico (391K tonnes) constituted the largest supplier of sweet biscuits to the U.S., with a 70% share of total imports. Moreover, sweet biscuits imports from Mexico exceeded the figures recorded by the second-largest supplier, Canada (77K tonnes), fivefold. The third position in this ranking was occupied by India (14K tonnes), with a 2.5% share.

In 2020, the average annual rate of growth in terms of volume from Mexico amounted to +13.1%. The remaining supplying countries recorded the following average annual rates of imports growth: Canada (-2.2% per year) and India (+23.7% per year).

In value terms, Mexico ($658M), Canada ($332M) and Denmark ($52M) constituted the largest sweet biscuit suppliers to the U.S., with a combined 76% share of total imports. India lagged somewhat behind, accounting for a further 2.1%.

In 2020, the average sweet biscuit import price amounted to $2,442 per tonne, declining by -7.7% against the previous year. Prices varied noticeably by the country of origin; the country with the highest price was Denmark ($5,603 per tonne), while the price for Mexico ($1,681 per tonne) was amongst the lowest. In 2020, the most notable rate of growth in terms of prices was attained by India, while the prices for the other major suppliers experienced a decline.

Source: IndexBox Platform

3D printing
Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily

Metal 3D Printing Alleviating Supply Chain Weaknesses Exposed by Pandemic

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The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed weaknesses in the global supply chain, and 3D printing is helping to fix the problem – transforming manufacturing in the process.

Supply chain disruptions were up 67 percent year-over-year in 2020, with those caused by the pandemic accounting for the most damage, according to an annual report from supply chain risk monitor Resilinc. A year and a half into this unprecedented period and we’re reaching an inflection point that’s reverberating across the world in the form of supply shortages and delays for key components. Companies’ earnings are being hit by supply chain delays.

So many businesses have found themselves uncomfortably exposed to supply chain risks outside of their control, which has delayed the release of products and led to soaring prices weighing heavily on their bottom lines. The pandemic has driven home the need for manufacturing solutions that can be more easily managed and scaled internally.

As metal 3D printing has gotten more ubiquitous and affordable, with companies capable of printing everything from medical tools to auto parts, there’s opportunity for businesses to lessen their reliance on the fragile global supply chain. By manufacturing components closer to home through additive manufacturing, companies can shift to a more localized, on-demand method of manufacturing. They can save time, money and return jobs from offshore sites.

Companies like 3DEO, a leader in mass production of metal 3D printed parts, introduced the Manufacturing Cloud and additive printing technologies enable OEMs to keep closer tabs on their production lines so that they can respond in real-time to fluctuations in demand, thereby circumventing the external risks affecting supply chains. By tweaking product development through an integrated platform, companies are able to quickly shift logistics to better address the rapidly evolving situation on the ground. This is particularly important when dealing with a product that has a lot of different metal components, which are oftentimes sourced from around the world.

Some companies in 2020 and 2021 found themselves having to delay entire product launches and shipments because of a single component caught in the clog of the supply chain. 3D printing technologies offered a way out, so they could get back to business faster with competitive pricing that differentiated them from the competition. 3DEO has scaled metal 3D printing to unprecedented levels, and even competes with traditional manufacturing like CNC machining and metal injection molding, even in high production volumes. The company shipped its millionth production part in July, saving many of its customers from these supply chain woes.

Companies that have started to make the shift to additive manufacturing in recent years are reporting huge time and money savings. Ford began testing large-scale 3D printing of certain car parts in 2017 and says rapid manufacturing has changed the way its engineers develop and test cars by reducing the burden of sourcing required components. What once took four months and $500,000 to produce and source a prototype, now takes just four days a few thousand dollars through 3D printing. “You can come up with a really optimized part at the end of the day,” says Paul Susalla, section supervisor of Rapid Manufacturing at Ford. “That’s all because of the speed with which we can produce the prototype parts without tooling.” These aren’t just irrelevant car parts, either; they’re quality. Some of Ford’s 3D-printed components have garnered hundreds of thousands of miles and crash-tested at 70 mph, which the automaker says has resulted in higher-quality vehicles at a more affordable price point.

Being able to produce components at home helps shift to a more on-demand mindset, which is crucial when responding to day-to-day fluctuations in needs. It also helps a company save money, both through reduced time requirements and costs for shipping and storage of spare and rare parts. Shifting from mass production in cheap, foreign places to local on-demand assembly hubs fueled by new metal 3D printing technologies, manufacturers can produce only what they need. Data from DHL shows that hundreds of millions of spare parts for products as diverse as cars to watches and x-ray machines are stuck in storage at any given time across the world. Some of these are rarely used and may never be needed, which is a costly burden that builds inefficiency into a company’s supply chain. Case studies estimate that the actual share of excess inventories can sometimes exceed 20%, with inventory supplied and stored with no guarantee it will ever move off the shelf. Additive manufacturing can help eliminate that risk by shifting to an as-needed production model, so that they’re only produced upon proof of demand.

The future of manufacturing is on-demand and real-time. For example, 3DEO’s Manufacturing Cloud allows real-time scaling to meet evolving needs. Companies can quickly scale up or wind down in real-time depending on normal fluctuations because they maintain total control of the additive manufacturing process, enabling them to adapt more efficiently thereby increasing competitive advantages with time and cost. Mass disruptions in the supply chain, such as those caused from the COVID-19 pandemic, directly correlate with price increases. Companies that bring component manufacturing in-house through 3D printing are able to produce items faster and more affordably, reducing those risks and undercutting competitors still handcuffed to traditional manufacturing. An MIT analysis suggests that 3D printing could reduce total supply chain costs by 50-90% as production moves from make-to-stock offshore facilities that require a heavy reliance on freight to make-on-demand facilities located closer to the final customer.

Additive manufacturing solutions represent a new kind of industrial revolution at a time when the supply chain’s weaknesses are directly imposing on company operations. Vast savings in the form of time and money are rewarded to those willing to shift to a 3D printing methodology. New efficiencies in the supply chain can be unlocked, minimizing risk factors like COVID-19.

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About the Author: Matt Sand received three bachelor’s degrees from Tulane University in Computer Science, Mathematics, and Political Science. Upon graduation, he joined the U.S. Air Force as a Communications Officer. While stationed at Edwards Air Force Base in California, Matt ran a team of 23 and was responsible for all core IT services. Matt then received his MBA from UCLA Anderson with a focus in entrepreneurship. Soon after graduating, he co-authored a book, The Agile Startup, with a professor of entrepreneurship. The book was published by Wiley & Sons in 2013. Since receiving his MBA, Matt has played a variety of roles across the entrepreneurial ecosystem. He has founded or co-founded several startup companies, invested in early-stage companies at two Southern California-based venture funds, taught entrepreneurship courses at UCLA and LMU, and consulted with dozens of innovative companies of all sizes.

upskilling and reskilling
Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Warehousing

Fight the Labor Shortage with Upskilling and Reskilling

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Warehouse and logistics employees were getting harder to find pre-pandemic, and the COVID-19 outbreak has increased that level of difficulty. Companies across all industries are having a difficult time finding, recruiting and retaining workers in an industry known for requiring long hours on your feet, some heavy lifting and high overall employee turnover.

“Competition for warehouse workers was already stiff before the pandemic. Stores were adding jobs at their warehouses and logistics networks as more customers ordered online,” CNN reports. When the global pandemic drove up ecommerce sales, it added more pressure on retailers to staff up at warehouses.

“Now, retailers are scrambling to add extra warehouse staff as they ramp up for the peak holiday season amid a record number of unfilled jobs,” CNN adds. Citing Korn Ferry statistics, the news outlet says 52% of retailers are facing “significant challenges” hiring warehouse employees right now, and that 33% of the companies surveyed are having an equally hard time staffing their stores.

Of course, at the opposite end of any major disruption lies new opportunities. In this case, companies have a chance to reverse the tide of the labor shortage through upskilling and reskilling. Are you up to the challenge? Read on to find out.

What are Upskilling and Reskilling?

The speed at which jobs are changing—sometimes due to automation and other times due to new business models—means that employees must constantly learn new skills in order to stay relevant and satisfied with their jobs. In many cases, traditional career paths or educational models aren’t enough to satisfy the rapidly evolving demands of the modern workplace. This is where upskilling and reskilling come in.

Upskilling is learning additional skills or enhancing existing abilities, often with the goal of advancement. A retail store clerk or office manager would upskill when transitioning to a management or corporate role, for example. Reskilling, on the other hand, is learning a new set of skills or training for a new role, often with the goal of transitioning to a new job or different industry. A truck driver who wants to become a computer programmer would need to reskill.

Updated Knowledge and Skillsets

Highlighting the value that upskilling and reskilling provide companies and their associates, Ohio News Time says more companies are investing in both because they help employees “perform better with the updated knowledge about their field and the latest developments in their industries.”

“Upskilling creates a positive impact on both organization and staff that can be witnessed through better performance and an increasing number of goals being achieved,” the publication points out. Upskilling and reskilling also help companies promote productivity and bring out the best in their associates; build more self-reliant, confident workforces; and help workers navigate through uncertainty.

“Uncertainty is a crucial reason for companies to invest in upskilling their employees,” Ohio News Time points out. “This includes all the technological advancements, new projects, and reorganizations.”

How Technology Supports Upskilling and Reskilling

With technology transforming every field and advancing the functionalities within those fields,  employees are learning how to leverage new advancements at work. The warehouse or distribution center (DC) is a perfect backdrop for seeing the value of upskilling and reskilling in action. Highly automated warehouses are much more attractive and require a more advanced skillset from the new generation of warehouse/supply chain employees.

For example, Cameron’s Coffee is a coffee roasting, packaging, and distribution company that receives its coffee beans from South America, stores them in Minnesota and ships them to hundreds of stores across the country. The company originally had a paper-only warehouse where individuals had to manually check and encode items.

Ready for a change, Cameron’s Coffee decided to update its warehouse and use a combination of the SOLOCHAIN WMS and MES that directly tied into its ERP. With the addition of the software coupled with iPads and handheld devices, the warehouse’s efficiency skyrocketed, sales increased by 50%, ecommerce grew by 200%, and the company was able to expand the size of its warehouse by 25%.

Equipped with their new software and iPads, the company’s employees were not only more efficient, but they were also happier in their jobs. The new technology increased their independence and reduced the amount of time required to complete tasks.

Time to Replace those Aging Systems

When you replace aging, manual warehouse systems with a modern WMS, you’ll not only get efficiency and productivity gains, but you’ll also experience an overall boost in employee morale. This is because the more you reduce the mental and physical strain on your employees the happier they will be.

Utilizing technologies that younger staff is comfortable with (e.g., iPads and touchscreen devices) helps them be more productive and safe at work. Implementing voice command technology in the DC, for instance, helps reduce mental strain and drives an increase in productivity.

5 Ways to Kick Off Your Upskilling Program

Over the next few years, upskilling and reskilling may become more important than ever before. According to the World Economic Forum’s most recent The Future of Jobs report, about 40% of employees’ core skills will change within the next five years. This means that 50% of all employees will have to upskill or reskill.

To companies that want to start their own in-house programs, AG5 suggests these five starting points:

1. Establish training programs for your current workforce.

2. Set up a mentorship scheme in which experienced veterans transfer still-needed skills to the younger generation.

3. Focus on creating versatile and multidisciplinary staff. Job rotation is a prime example of how to achieve this.

4. Add new tasks to existing job profiles so that staff have to learn new skills.

5. Hire specialists to fill gaps for which your current workforce has yet to be retrained.

With no end in sight to the current labor shortage, and with ecommerce once again expected to grow in the double digits in 2021, the time to start assessing your workforce and implementing upskilling/reskilling programs is now. Rather than waiting for your competitors to get a leg up on you, why not make some moves in this direction today?

Solutions exist today that can ensure any warehouse or distribution center operates at peak efficiency, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. From Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) and Transportation Management Systems (TMS) to Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and more, software platforms can deliver a wide range of benefits that ultimately flow to the warehouse operator’s bottom line.

Generix Group North America provides a series of solutions within our Supply Chain Hub product suite to create efficiencies across an entire supply chain. Our solutions are in use around the world and our experience is second-to-none. We invite you to contact us to learn more.

This article originally appeared here. Republished with permission. 

logistics
Archives, Global Trade Daily, News

LOGISTICS HEROES RECOGNIZED FOR COVID-19 AND WILDFIRE RELIEF EFFORTS

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Whether it is hunger, wildfires, or a global pandemic, the logistics industry is there for us. On Sept. 21, the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) singled out some of these supply chain heroes with 2021 Humanitarian Logistics Awards. “Today we have a chance to recognize a group of outstanding companies and individuals who exemplify what selfless logistics is all about,” said ALAN Executive Director Kathy Futon. “This year’s recipients have truly inspired us, because when the chips have been down, they’ve repeatedly stepped up to help–all without asking what’s in it for them.” This year’s recipients include:

-CEVA Logistics, which received ALAN’s Outstanding Contribution to Disaster Relief Award for moving multiple shipments of supplies to support Native American tribes and various non-profits throughout the COVID-19 crisis and after the Oregon fires.


-Palmer Logistics, which received ALAN’s Outstanding Contribution to Disaster Relief Award for providing essential short-term storage of hospital beds on behalf of a medical non-profit and for its ongoing support of USAID.

-Core-Mark International, which received ALAN’s Outstanding Contribution to Disaster Relief Award for the long-term loan of two freezer tractor-trailers and driver resources that enabled the Arkansas Food Bank to distribute two million extra pounds of donated food during COVID-19.

-J.B. Hunt Transport Services, which received ALAN’s Outstanding Contribution to Disaster Relief Award for its assistance with multiple compassionate moves during 2020 and 2021, including helping ALAN and the Salvation Army distribute meal kits.

-American Trucking Associations, which received ALAN’s Outstanding Contribution to Disaster Relief Award deploying two of its image show trucks and drivers to deliver numerous compassionate shipments of food, cleaning supplies, PPE and medical supplies throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

-Tucker Company Worldwide, which received ALAN’s Director’s Partnership Award for supporting ALAN’s analytical efforts during the pandemic.

-Truckstop.com, which received ALAN’s Director’s Partnership Award for consistently sharing information about freight marketing activities with members of ALAN’s partner network during various crises.

“Each of these recipients is living proof that humanitarianism isn’t just a one-time event–and that true service extends well beyond a single disaster,” Fulton said. “It truly is part of their DNA and personal passion. The world truly is a better place because of all of them.”

fish
Archives, Global Trade Daily, News

European Imports of Dried or Smoked Fish Dwindle

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IndexBox has just published a new report: ‘EU – Dried Or Smoked Fish – Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights’. Here is a summary of the report’s key findings.

European imports of dried or smoked fish reduced by 5% y-o-y to 338K tonnes in 2020, continuing its downward trend over the past three years. In value terms, imports declined to $3.3B. Germany, Portugal, Italy, Sweden, Spain and France constitute the largest importers of dried or smoked fish in the EU, accounting for 83% of the total figure. Spain, France, Portugal and Italy saw significant drops in purchases from abroad last year, while Germany, Sweden and Denmark managed to boost their imports. The dried or smoked fish import price in the EU declined by -2.3% against the previous year.

European Imports of Dried or Smoked Fish by Country

For the fourth consecutive year, the EU recorded a decline in purchases abroad of dried or smoked fish, which decreased by -4.9% y-o-y to 338K tonnes in 2020. In value terms, dried or smoked fish imports declined to $3.3B (IndexBox estimates) in 2020.

Germany (76K tonnes), Portugal (56K tonnes), Italy (46K tonnes), Sweden (44K tonnes), Spain (30K tonnes) and France (28K tonnes) represented roughly 83% of total imports of dried or smoked fish in 2020. Denmark (12K tonnes) followed a long way behind the leaders.

Last year, Spain (-18% y-o-y), France (-11% y-o-y), Portugal (-10% y-o-y) and Italy (-2% y-o-y) experienced the most prominent drops in import in physical terms. By contrast, Germany (+0.4% y-o-y), Sweden (+3% y-o-y) and Denmark (+3% y-o-y) slightly increased the volume of purchases.

In value terms, the largest dried or smoked fish importing markets in the EU were Germany ($986M), Italy ($528M) and Portugal ($424M), with a combined 59% share of total imports.

The dried or smoked fish import price in the EU stood at $9,712 per tonne in 2020, declining by -2.3% against the previous year. Prices varied noticeably by the country of destination; the country with the highest price was Germany ($12,969 per tonne), while Spain ($7,052 per tonne) was amongst the lowest. In 2020, the most notable rate of growth in terms of prices was attained by Spain, while the other leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.

Source: IndexBox Platform