Supply Chain by the Numbers
   
 

- Aug. 23, 2013

   
  Supply Chain by the Numbers for Week of Aug. 23, 2013
   
 

BMW Looking for Repair Parts in Supply Chain Snafu; US Trucking Tonnage is Slowing; US Manufacturing and Exports to Surge; Many Walmart Buyers are Busy, Expect Voice Mail

   
 
 
 

$70-115 Billion

That's how much Boston Consulting Group expects the US to capture in annual exports by the end of the decade, according to a new study issues this week. That’s as the US becomes the manufacturing advantaged source versus Euro countries, Japan and even China. BCG expects the US to have a 16% manufacturing cost advantage over Germany by 2015, and be just 5% more expensive than China before any additional inventory, transportation, risk and other costs factors .

 
 



 
 
 

400

The number of vendors that in some cases a Walmart buyer may be managing, according to a video interview with a couple of senior directors of merchandising at Walmart earlier this month. The point was that when buyers are juggling several categories and this many vendors, the idea that they have time to talk individually with both the account managers and the replenishment managers from all of these vendors is simply not reality. You can see other highlights from this interesting interview here: What Walmart Execs Wished their Suppliers Knew

 
 
 
 
 
4.7%

Amount that US truck tonnage is up so far in 2013, according to the most recent monthly report from the American Trucking Associations. That's good news for truckers, but the trend seems to be reversing. Seasonally adjusted tonnage was down .4% in July, the ATA says, the first monthly decrease since April, after rising just .1% in June, though that was to an all-time record. At an index value of 125.4 after the July drop, that means US freight tonnage is about 25% greater than the baseline year of 2000.

 
 
 
 
 

10%

Percent of repair parts that are supposed to be in the BMW central parts distribution center in Germany but are not, the result of issues with a newly installed parts management system. That central DC supplies some 40 other parts facilities worldwide, and is causing major customer service issues for the company, with about 20% of cars brought in not able to be serviced - a blow to this luxury brand. The project has been more than three years in development, and went live about two months ago. It is not clear from reports exactly what is causing the issues.

 
 
 
 
 
 
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