Supply Chain by the Numbers
   
 

-May 28 , 2010
   
 

This Week’s Supply Chain by the Numbers for May 28, 2010

   
 

Machine Tools Investments looking Good; Perrier Sales going Flat, as Green Bottle doesn't mean Green Image; No Slow Steaming for Ocean Cargo Rates; Your Supply Chain Managers may be Looking for New Jobs
   
 
 
 

49.5%

Increase in US machine tool sales in Q1 2010 versus 2009. That's a very bullish sign on  the economy, as manufacturers again make capital investments, but the rapid ramp up is leading to long lead times from machine tool providers, ironically having a negative impact on economic growth.

 
 



 

$4 billion

The decrease  in Nestle Corp.'s  global bottled water sales from 2007 to 2009, as consumers both traded down to no-name brands versus Nestle's more premium labels such as Perrier and San Pellegrino, but also due in large part to environmental backlash against the bottled water industry. Beware the unintended consequences of Sustainability. (See  As Nestle Finds, Sustainability Cuts Many Ways.)
 
 
90%

The percent of its recent targeted rate increase that South Korean ocean shipping giant said this week that it has been able to achieve in new annual contracts, as the company says it now plans to introduce peak-season surcharges about four weeks earlier than usual as shipper demand rebounds.

 
 
 
 
15

The number of consecutive months, starting in November, 2008, that the number of US employees being laid off exceeded the number of employees voluntarily leaving their jobs (usually for new opportunities). That changed in February, according to figures just released this week from Bureau of Labor Statistics. That change is another bullish sign on the economy - and perhaps a sign  that companies should take care that their best supply chain managers aren't preparing to find Greener pastures.
 
 
 
 
 
 
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