Supply Chain by the Numbers: April 3, 2008

Supply Chain by the Numbers

-April 3, 2008

The Numbers Worth Knowing this Week in Supply Chain and Logistics

This Week: European Carbon Offsets - "Let's Make a Deal"; Toyota Walks Unfamiliar Ground of Excess Capacity; US Chemical Exports are Big, but Imports are Bigger; Dell Employees Forced to Seek "New Opportunities"



40 billion euros
The size of the market for carbon offsets trading in Europe in 2007, the effect of the European Community’s adoption of the Kyote Treaty. Companies that reduce carbon emissions below their quotas can sell credits at a profit, and companies that exceed emissions quotas must buy them to avoid fines.

The amount of excess plant capacity Toyota says it now has (meaning it has excess capacity equal to almost one factory’s production capability) amidst tough times for the auto industry globally – a new experience for the company, which has largely avoided the over-capacity issues most other OEMs have faced for past decade or two.


7.7 billion
The US trade deficit in chemicals in 2006, the most recent year for which data is available. That despite the fact the chemicals are the top US export industry (as noted in a series of recent Wall Street Journal ads), with exports of $122 billion in 2006. But there were chemical imports to the US of almost $130 billion.




900
The number of employees “looking for new opportunities,” after Dell announced it was closing a computer manufacturing plant in Austin, TX, amidst a significant revamping of its supply chain and partial abandonment of the make-to-order model.