Supply Chain by the Numbers
 

-July 10, 2007

 
     
 

The Numbers Worth Knowing this Week in Supply Chain and Logistics

 
     
  This Week: The Economic Impact of Counterfeiting; Top Supply Chain Strategies; Savings in Order Picking from "Bucket Brigades"; Wal-Mart's Small Number of California Stores.  
     
 
 
 

$250 Billion

The amount of sales lost to US Companies from counterfeiting and piracy, according to the US Chamber of Commerce, as Congress contemplates new legislation to protect US companies (See Rash of Recent Safety and Counterfeiting Cases Seems Sure to Lead to Legislation from US Congress)

 
 
 
48%
The percentage of respondents who said reducing material, manufacturing, and logistics costs was their top supply chain strategy, in a recent survey by Manufacturing Insights. We think in reality, this number is low.
 
 
25-50%
The typical improvement in productivity when implementing "Bucket Brigades" in high volume piece pick operations in a distribution center, according to Georgia Tech's Dr. John Bartholdi (See Bees, Order Picking and Self-Organizing Logistics Systems).
 
 
 
 

27

The number of supercenter stores retail giant Wal-Mart currently has in California - a small number by Wal-Mart standards and the size of the largest market in the US. However, Wal-Mart won a victory this week when the San Diego city council narrowly voted to let Wal-Mart build stores in the city.
 
 
 
 
     
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