Supply Chain by the Numbers: October 16, 2008

Supply Chain by the Numbers: Week of Nov. 20, 2008

-November 19, 2008

This Week's Supply Chain by the Numbers - Wal-Mart, GM, U.S. Manufacturing and Energy Efficiency

The Supply Chain and Logistics Numbers Worth Knowing This Week: U.S. Stuck in the Middle of RCI; Product Defect 2012 Countdown to Zero; General Motors - "A Fifth" Wheel in U.S. New Car Market Share; Energy Efficiency Improvement Aims at Too "Conservative" Target?



#5
Where the US ranks out of 10 countries in terms of its “raw manufacturing cost index” (RCI), which measures how much it costs in total wages and salary to produce each dollar of goods (hence factoring in both labor rates and productivity), according to a recent study by the National Association of Manufacturers. China had the lowest RCI of the 10 countries studied, followed by Taiwan, Mexico, Japan, the US, South Korea, Germany, France, Canada, and the UK.

Wal-Mart’s goal for product defects in its Asian sourcing operations by 2012. A company executive said the aim of a new program is to drive the need to return defective merchandise from Asia "virtually out of existence.”


20%
GM’s current US market share of new auto sales, down from a high of 53% 40 years ago.




2.5%
The level of annual energy efficiency improvement that should be the target for the eight largest industrialized economies, according to Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris in a recent article – a rate about double current improvement levels.