Supply Chain by the Numbers: Week of November 5, 2009
   
 

-November 5, 2009
   
 

This Week’s Supply Chain by the Numbers – Berkshire Hathaway, Sealy, Chinese Drywall, Kia Motors

   
 

The Supply Chain and Logistics Numbers Worth Knowing This Week: Buffet Takes the Transport Bull by the Horns, Sealy of a Single Mind on Lean, Defective Drywall Meeting of the Minds, Help Wanted All Over Georgia

   
 
 
 

$34 billion

What Berkshire Hathaway, led by legendary investor Warren Buffet, will pay to acquire a 74% stake in rail carrier Burlington Northern Santa Fe. At a more than 30% premium to the then current stock price, the deal shows at least Buffet is bullish on rail transport and pricing power of the rails moving forward.
 
 



 

1

The number of mattresses Sealy now makes at a time, following a new Lean approach, at its Williamsport, MD, plant, versus the much larger, multi-step batches that the company used to produce.  That has significantly increased efficiency, Mike Hofmann, Sealy's executive vice president of operations, said this week.
 
 
100,000

The number of homes said to contain the infamous defective drywall produced in China, according to a conference on the topic this week. The Chinese drywall allegedly emits sulfur compounds that corrode air conditioning coils and other metal household items, including plumbing fixtures and wiring inside electrical sockets. Many claim the drywall makes them physically ill as well.

 
 
 
 
1500

Number of additional factory and maintenance workers that Korean car maker Kia Motors is hiring at its Georgia Assembly plant over the next year.