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Supply
Chain by the Numbers |
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- June 24, 2021+
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More GDP Growth than Jobs; Amazon to Buy Autonomous Truck Systems; Mega-Container Ship Orders back in Style; One Firm Dominates Global Semiconductor Production, Adding Risk |
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7.6 Million |
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| That is how many fewer jobs there currently are in the US versus before the virus pandemic – even though the US economy has roared back to full recovery from the recession. If you add in job growth that normally might have occurred during the last 15 months it brings the total to roughly 10 million missing workers. The US economy is simply producing more with a lot fewer workers. What’s going on? It’s possible and even likely that businesses have learned to produce the same output with fewer workers, through automation or other innovations. On the other hand, there are some 8 million job openings in the US right now – they just aren’t being filled, for a variety of reasons. One interesting side note: A recent study by economists Jose Maria Barrero, Nicholas Bloom and Steven Davis finds a 5% overall improvement in worker productivity from working at home – which with the growing practice will mean a significant bump to overall US productivity growth. |
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| That’s how many container megaships German ocean carrier Hapag-Lloyd now has on order, as asset discipline among carriers now seems long gone. Hapag-Lloyd had ordered six containerships with capacity of above 23,500 TEU – among the largest such ships in the world. Now it has announced another six more on order for an even dozen. Together, the 12 giant ships will represents nearly 15% of the company’s current 1.7 million TEU total ship capacity. The first six vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2023, while the last six are due to arrive in 2024. Through most of the pandemic carriers have been slow to add capacity, but with growing volumes that reluctance may be crumbling, potentially putting carriers back in the mode of increasing capacity faster than tonnage. Interestingly, the new ships will be able to run on either more environmentally friendly liquefied natural gas or traditional bunker fuel, a form of diesel. |
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56% |
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That is the global market shares by revenue for semiconductors achieved by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., according to an article last weekend in the Wall Street Joural. TSMC’s share of the most complex chips is even higher. And with chips now embedded in everything from automobiles to television sets, supply chains across the globe are dependent on chips coming from a company on the island of Taiwan, which is seeing significant political and military tension with China, which claims Taiwan as part of its own. In fact, TSMC dominance is so strong that a faew months ago, now ex-Intel CEO Bob Swan went to Taiwan to see if the company would be interested in manufacturing its new generation of semiconductors. A piece of good news: TSMC is building a new $12 billion semiconductor factory in Arizona, which may reduce supply chain risk for many customers. |
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That is how many autonomous driving systems Amazon has ordered from self-driving truck technology start-up PlusAI. It has also has acquired the option to buy a stake in the company of as much as 20%, Plus said in a regulatory filing. Founded by a group of Stanford University students in 2016, California-based Plus sells systems that can be applied to existing trucks. It also has strong connections to China, being backed by in part by Sequoia Capital China and working to test the technology with Chinese delivery company SF Holding, which uses some Plus-enabled trucks. Plus began delivering its automated driving system PlusDrive to some customers in the US and China in 2021.