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Supply
Chain by the Numbers |
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- June 10, 2021
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Kroger Launches First Drone Deliveries; Consumers Really like Amazon; Metals Prices are Headed Higher; US Manufacturers Headed to the Sun Belt |
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| That’s the max weight in pounds for an order that grocery giant Kroger’s new delivery drones will be able to carry, as the company begins it first test of drone technology this week. The deliveries will be launched from a Kroger store in Centerville, OH, south of Dayton. Per FAA regulations, the deliveries will be limited to areas within one mile of the stores. For the first pilot program, no charge will be levied for these flights, Kroger said. But that’s temporary. At some point, there will be delivery charges for the service. Kroger is working with a company called Drone Express, part of New Jersey-based TELEGRID Technologies in terms of the drone hardware and software. Kroger will need about 10 pilots working at the store to oversee the flights. The pilots will work in shifts, covering nights and weekends. Drone orders can be made through a web site, Kroger.com/dronedelivery, and will be scheduled first come, first served. |
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| That is the percent of consumers who say they buy at least half of all their goods from Amazon, according to a survey of about 1000 respondents released this week from last-mile technology firm Convey. That’s a rise of 83% versus the same metric before the pandemic. The survey also found consumers are relying on Amazon more than ever, and that their sentiment about the company grew more positive over the past year. A majority of consumers (52%) now say they think Amazon has a positive effect on the retail industry and that their former concerns about the online giant’s environmental impact are dwindling. Amazingly, the number of people who buy 75% to 100% of their products on Amazon has doubled over the past year, now at 11%. |
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30% |
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That’s the share of US manufacturing jobs created in the US from January 2017 to January 2020 in just the five Sun Belt states of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada. That represented growth of 100,000 manufacturing jobs n those states, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as compiled by the Wall Street Journal. It’s all part of a major trend of factories opening in the Southwest, with manufacturers enticed by the pleasant weather year round, lots of open spaces and cheap land, low cost of living for workers, a plentiful and increasingly tech savvy workforce, and usually generous state and local tax deals. Some of the Southwest’s manufacturing gain has come at California’s expense. For example, in 2019, about 2,000 manufacturing workers in Texas and more than 1,300 in Arizona arrived from California, the most in 10 years, according to Census Bureau data. More than 2,700 manufacturing workers have come to Nevada from California in 2017 through 2019. |
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That is how much annual global investment in energy and mining sectors has declined versus 2011, according to asset management firm Schroders. That’s a key factor in why metals pricing have been soaring, as supply cannot keep up with demand, with stocks of industrial metals falling to twenty year lows. Silver futures are up 56% versus a year ago, platinum has risen 34%, and copper a whopping 89%. This supply chain inflation – in virtually every commodity area, not just metals – have many worried it will spill over into inflation in consumer prices – and indeed, U.S. consumer inflation rose 4.2% in April, the most since 2008, when oil prices soared to nearly $150 per barrel. And there is no quick path to increasing output of metals. In West Africa, a Rio Tinto iron mine needs a 400-mile railway to move its metal to port. Production hasn’t begun after more than a decade in development.