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Supply
Chain by the Numbers |
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- March 18, 2021
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Major Drone Delivery Test in Israel; Supply Chain Disruptions Hampering US Manufacturing; Amazon Now Tops in Apparel; Bad Weather Drops Manufacturing Output in February |
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20 |
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That's how many delivery drones were involved in a major test of the unmanned delivery vehicles in the Israeli town of Hadera this week. Government authorities were testing a central control room for safely coordinating the drones with each other as well as with planes and helicopters, according to Reuters. While drones have captured the imagination of the world as a way to deliver goods, especially for ecommerce and healthcare application, they have also stirred fears of mid-air collisions or crashes that could cause casualties on the ground. Hadera's airspace was turned over to five private firms that flew drones on criss-cross runs designed to test the responses of a control room in the city of Haifa 35 miles away. There were 20 drones in action all told, Reuters said. The drones were allowed no more than 120 meters above ground and no less than 60 meters apart. All of the drones were equipped with parachutes to ensure safe landings if they suffered malfunctions.
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That was the level of US manufacturing output in February, according to the monthly report from the Federal Reserve Bank. That was down 3.1% from January. Most of the decline, it appears, is being blamed on tough winter weather in much of the country during the month, especially in Texas. That stopped a string of many months of slow but steady gains in the index, as US manufacturing recovers from big drops in Q2 2020. Still, at 100.7, it means US manufacturing output is just barely above the baseline year of 2012 nine years later. Factory utilization also dropped, falling to 72.3% from 74.6% in January, both levels well below the long run average of 78.1% from 1972 to 2020. |
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$41 Billion+ |
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That is the estimated level of apparel and footwear sales by Amazon in the US in 2020, according to new analysis by Well Fargo bank. If accurate, the report says, it would make Amazon the largest seller of apparel in the US, overtaking Walmart by 20-25%. Amazon's sales of apparel and footwear grew 15% in 2020, the report estimates. "This represents highly impressive 11%-12% share of all apparel sold in the US and 34%-35% share of all apparel sold on-line," Wells Fargo analysts Ike Boruchow and Tom Nikic wrote in a note. "
We now estimate Amazon will surpass $45 billion in apparel/footwear sales in 2021." In on-line sales, Amazon sold almost seven times as much apparel/footwear as the second largest player, Macy's. However, the report notes Amazon' growth might be constrained by decisions by some high-end brands, such as Nike, to eschew Amazon as a channel. |
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That's how many days Honda will be closing a number of its US plants starting March 22, as supply chain woes of various types are disrupting production for a swath of manufacturers. Factors for the supply woes include: a global computer chip shortage, freak Februar weather in the US, port congestion and still lingering effects of COV-19. Honda also notes that the cold US temperatures had caused pipes to burst in some of its factories, hampering their ability to get back up and running. Toyota this week said that a shortage of petrochemicals was to blame for a shutdown in output at its car factory in Kentucky and pick-up factory in Mexico. Volkswagen said it was coping with a large backlog of unbuilt vehicles caused by both chip shortages and the blizzards in Texas. Samsung, the world's largest maker of smartphones, said a severe global shortage in chips would hurt its business into the next quarter. 