Supply Chain by the Numbers: Week of April 2, 2009
 

-April 2, 2009
   
 

This Week's Supply Chain by the Numbers - Copper Prices, Woods Pallet Standards, Pick and Pack, Enterprise/SC Software Growth
   
 

The Supply Chain and Logistics Numbers Worth Knowing This Week: Copper Out of the Hopper?, Fire Marshals Play with Fire, Bradshaw is On Track with Pick and Pack, Enterprise/SC Software Growth Flat as a Pancake

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47%

The rise in copper prices since the market low in late December, a bullish sign on the global economy, though the approximate recent price of $1.83 a pound on the New York Mercantile Exchange is still down 55% from its July 2008 high.
 
 



 

$2 billion

The amount one very large US manufacturer said it might have to spend to upgrade distribution center sprinkler systems across its network if the National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM) had moved forward on its proposed “Bulletin” on wood pallet standards that would have largely resulted in a two-level upgrade from current sprinkler requirements. But the risk for shippers isn’t over yet. (See Shippers Dodge a Bullet, for Now, as Fire Marshals Group Tables Wood Pallet Classification Changes.)
 
 
3800

The number of Wal-Mart stores for which kitchen gadget leader Bradshaw International now has to pick and pack orders after it recently became part of the retail giant’s Direct Store Distribution Consolidation program, versus shipping full cases to just 42 Wal-Mart DCs previously. Bradshaw implemented advanced WMS, pick-to-light, and other technologies to meet these growing retailer requirements, according to Director of IT Brian Foster, in a Videocast this week on SCDigest.
 
 
 
 
.3%

The level of growth in corporate spend on enterprise/supply chain software - basically flat - that the researchers at Gartner now predict we’ll see for 2009, well below much more robust growth levels of recent years, but not too bad considering the current economic downturn. Gartner actually expects strong growth from applications delivered on-demand or “as a service,” even in this environment.