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August 2, 2019 - Supply Chain Flagship Newsletter
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This Week in SCDigest

bullet Review of MHI's Report on Supply Chain Digitization
bullet SC Digest On-Target e-Magazine
bullet Supply Chain Graphic & by the Numbers for the Week bullet Distribution Digest/Green Supply Chain
bullet Cartoon Caption Contest Continues bullet Trivia      bullet Feedback
bullet Expert Columns bullet New On Demand Videocast
 

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SUPPLY CHAIN NEWS BITES


Supply Chain Graphic of the Week
Top States for Manufacturing 2019


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US Manufacturing Sector is Drooping

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Major Mergers in Ship Building Sector
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Investments Keep Flowing to Logistics Automation Vendors
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US Truckers Raised Revenues Sharply in 2018

   

CARTOON CAPTION CONTEST CONTINUES

July 23, 2019 Contest



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LEARN HOW TO INCREASE YOUR SALARY WITH A CPSM®




ON DEMAND VIDEOCAST
The Grain Drain: Large-Scale Grain Port Terminal Optimization



The Constraints and Challenges of Planning and Implementing Port Operations

This videocast will provide a walkthrough of two ways to formulate a MIP, present an example port, and discuss port operations.


Featuring Dan Gilmore, Editor along with Dr. Evan Shellshear, Head of Analytics, Biarri.




vpic

Feature Story: Investors Keep Pouring Money in to Distribution Technology Vendors

 

pic GSC Feature Story:Could the Real Cause of Global Warming be Low Cloud Cover?
   

ONTARGET e-MAGAZINE
Weekly On-Target Newsletter:
July 31, 2019 Edition


Cartoon, Chinese Factories Desperate, Distribution Tech Investing, US Aluminum Suppliers Milking Tariffs, More


EXPERT INSIGHT
Is Your Supply Chain Transparent?



by Sarah Trescott
Marketing Manager
Surgere, Inc.

Streamlining the Movement of Goods in the EU



by Kjell Bornkamp
Product Manager
Amber Road

TRIVIA QUESTION


Was the rise of oil prices to $144 per barrel in 2008 an all-time high in inflation adjusted dollars?

Answer Found at the
Bottom of the Page


Review of MHI's Report on Supply Chain Digitization

MHI is an interesting organization.

Once known as MHIA - the Material Handling Institute of America - as the name suggests it is a professional organization that represents providers of solutions related to materials handling, from fork truck and conveyor makers to Warehouse Management software and everything in between.

Membership in MHI is at a company level, versus personal memberships at for example CSCMP or WERC (though both offer membership packages for companies).

GILMORE SAYS:

I think 3D printing actually provides a incredible opportunity to disrupt current manufacturing paradigms, with potentially a seismic impact in some areas on logistics.

WHAT DO YOU SAY?

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Feedback here

In recent years under CEO George Prest, MHI has been making efforts to expand beyond the materials handling domain into supply chain, and/or have materials handling more considered as a core element of supply chain.

It has been doing this with what I assume are fairly full coffers. The materials handling sector has remained robust for a number of years now, fueled by ecommerce and a growing shortage of distribution labor generally, defying its traditional cyclical nature. That I assume means membership levels are high.

And its trade shows - ProMat and Modex, which each run every other year - have been packed with exhibitors the last few years, generally sold of out space.

In fact, MHI has been trying to position Modex - held in even number years in Atlanta - as more of a full supply chain show than one focused on materials handling, I will say with mixed results (though attendance remains high).

Also part of the campaign to raise MHI's supply chain profile for several years now is the revamped MHI annual report. Historically, the report summarized the state of the materials handling sector in terms of revenues overall and by product category and other industry minutia.

Under Prest, MHI has now for several years partnered under some arrangement with consultants from Deloitte to produce a totally different annual report, which covers broad supply chain issues, far beyond just materials handling.

That includes the 2019 report, released a few months ago, which I just had room on my editorial calendar to get to this week.

Not surprisingly, the theme of the 2019 report is supply chain digitization, clearly the dominant technology concept for now (for example, the main theme at the Gartner conference in May), even if what it really means is vague and in my opinion not well understood.

The report is actually titled "Elevating Supply Chain Digital Consciousness," putting an almost transcendent touch to opportunities from digitization. It is based in part on survey results from some 1000 supply chain professionals.

The report says it is launching the concept of "Supply Chain Digital Consciousness" to describe the escalating levels of digital awareness and maturity in supply chain operations.

I think that may be taking things a bit too far, but let's see where it goes.

To support the notion of digital consciousness, the report introduces the following framework, which is suggests should be used by companies to assess themselves across five digital categories and four levels of awareness covered in this report.

The report really kicks off with a series of charts representing survey results. As I have opined many times in the past, the overwhelming tendency is to define supply chain digitization as a sum of a laundry list of new technologies, from drones to artificial intelligence.

So among the many charts I will grab this one, which shows the percent of respondents that believe the impact of different technologies to either create competitive advantage or disrupt supply chains.

Robotics and related automation tops the list, and I think that is probably right - as I have written many times, we have entered the robotic era.

I am somewhat obsessed with interpreting this kind of data correctly, and to that end will note that of the listed technologies, 3D printing ranked at the bottom of the list. But you have to put that in context.

Does the average retailer or wholesaler likely see much opportunity in 3D printing? Probably not. So across all respondents, it scores relatively low.

But I think 3D printing actually provides a incredible opportunity to disrupt current manufacturing paradigms, with potentially a seismic impact in some areas on logistics.

The report then looks at the amount of real money respondents that say their companies are going to invest in each of these technologies over the next two years.

Those plans are somehow summarized in the chart below, which I will include as another example in my on-going call-outs of what I refer to as "incomprehensible charts." If you can find some real takeaways from this graphic, please let me know.

Finally for this week, below is a chart representing what the report says is a " pyramid of digital adoption". It suggest there are four technology stages, starting with the collection of data through digital connectivity, and then moving up the pyramid to generate increasing supply chain value and insights from that base data through automation, advanced analytics, and ultimately artificial intelligence.

I think this is a reasonable progression, at one level. But how does it synch with all the other technologies such as drones and robots?

Next week, I'll be back with a look at the report's deep dive on supply chain digitization in more detail - and whether this report really clarifies what it really means.

Any reaction to this part 1 review of the MHI annual report? Let us know your thoughts at the Feedback button below.

 
   

New On Demand Videocast:

Understanding Distributed Order Management

Highlights from the New "Little Book of Distributed Order Management"

In this outstanding Videocast, we'll discuss DOM, based on the new Little Book of Distributed Order Management, written by our two Videocast presenters.


Featuring Dan Gilmore, Editor along with Satish Kumar, VP Client Services, Softeon.

Now Available On Demand

On Demand Videocast:

The Grain Drain: Large-Scale Grain Port Terminal Optimization



The Constraints and Challenges of Planning and Implementing Port Operations


This videocast will provide a walkthrough of two ways to formulate a MIP, present an example port, and discuss port operations.


Featuring Dan Gilmore, Editor along with Dr. Evan Shellshear, Head of Analytics, Biarri.


Now Available On Demand

On Demand Videocast:

A Blueprint for WMS Implementation Success


If You Want a Successful WMS Project, You will Find the Blueprint in this Excellent Broadcast


This videocast lays out the keys to ensuring your WMS implementation goes smoothly, involves minimal pain, and accelerates time to value.



Featuring Dan Gilmore, Editor along with Todd Kovi of Radix Consulting and Dinesh Dongre of Softeon.


Now Available On Demand

YOUR FEEDBACK

Some of the short feedbacks on our recent columns summarizing the 2019 State of Logistics report from CSCMP. Here are a few.

Feedback on State of Logistics Report Coverage.

comma

SCDigest does an amazing job with this. You take a very long document and boil it down to its essence in just one or two columns.

 

This is a great service to the industry - thank you.

 

Michelle Watson
Ft. Wayne, IN




 

comma

 

I agree with you on the timing. By the time the report shows in late June, my interest in 2018 data has faded. We're already starting to look ahead to the next year.

 

I don't have a magic wand on how this could be changed to get the report out earlier, but it would make it much more valuable.

 

Mark Fitz
Stow, OH



 


 

comma

 

It would be very interesting to know logistics costs as a percent of GDP in other countries. Can this be provided?

 

Amy Danko
Kansas City

 

Editor's Note:

 

We'll see what we can do.



 

comma

 

I really like the way you take a long report and break it down into the key statistic. It's a pleasure to read, and I watched the excellent video summary itself on the Video News.

 

Brian Toomay
Atlanta

SUPPLY CHAIN TRIVIA ANSWER

Q: Was the rise of oil prices to $144 per barrel in 2008 an all-time high in inflation adjusted dollars?

A: Yes, actually - but just by a few bucks compared to the late 1970s.

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