Diesel Fuel Index
|
Region
|
05/20/13
|
|---|---|
| U.S. | 3.890 |
| East Coast | 3.871 |
| > New England | 3.991 |
| > Central Atlantic | 3.925 |
| > Lower Atlantic | 3.809 |
| Midwest | 3.934 |
| Gulf Coast | 3.775 |
| Rocky Mountain | 3.848 |
| West Coast | 4.008 |
|
|
|
| California | 4.072 |
Industrial Giant 3M on Mission to Remove Its Supply Chain Hairballs
A simple story sums up the issue. 3M makes a line of a simple picture hooks under the Command brand name. Until recently, the production process in a sense started in an 3M adhesive plant in Missouri, from which the sticky stuff was shipped 550 miles to another 3M plant in Indiana, where the adhesive was applied to polyethylene foam.
From that factory, the work-in-process was shipped 600 more miles to Minneapolis, where a contractor applied the 3M logo and the WIP was sliced into the right sizes. From there, another 200 mile trip
The term "hairballs" for such supply chain complexity was apparently coined earlier by George Buckley, who recently retired after years as 3M's CEO and who launched a program to reduce some of that complexity.
John Woodworth, 3M's senior vice president of supply chain operations, told the Wall Street Journal that "We had long supply chains. It was and continues to be an issue."
Some complexity is inherent in a company that has some 65,000 SKUs across its many divisions, and operates 241 plants in 41 countries. Two-thirds of its sales now come from outside the US.
From our view, the complexity is perhaps at times compounded at 3M because a number of its businesses and plants are suppliers to other areas of the business, as locations and processes needed to support external customers can add complexity, time and distance for internal manufacturing flows.
The point person responsible for leading the war against hairballs is Jim Welsh, a vice president responsible for manufacturing and working with suppliers. He leads a team of 3M supply chain executives that is currently focused on 18 "high-impact" opportunities to improve efficiency in in manufacturing and supply chain.
The general goal is to reduce manufacturing cycle times by 25%.
"3M's long-term plan is to have fewer, larger, more efficient plants, and spread them out around the world," the Wall Street Journal article says. "More production will be done in what 3M calls "super hubs," plants capable of making scores of products for a region of the world. 3M now has 10 hubs, including six in the U.S. and one each in Singapore, Japan, Germany and Poland. It plans at least six more, all outside the U.S."
The hub strategy has already played out in the production of the Command picture hooks. In 2010, consolidated all the steps needed to make the hooks at a plant in Minnesota, where a number of products, such as Scotch tape, Nexcare bandages, furnace filters the hooks and other products are produced.
(Supply Chain Trends and Issues Article - Continued Below)
Source: http://www.scdigest.com/ASSETS/ON_TARGET/12-06-06-1.php?CID=5911
Supply Chain Cartoon Caption Winners for April 30, 2013 Contest
Other Great Entries: "Sorry, I thought you meant using the software, not an actual crystal ball." Jorge Barnett Lawton "I forecasted that you'll be impressed with my interview. I plan to start Monday." ... Read more
Administrator 24 May 2013 Hits:6 Supply Chain
Supply Chain by the Numbers for Week of May 24, 2013
Number of manufacturing jobs that Houston has created since 2009. That was among the factors that led Forbes magazine to pick Houston as the top US metro area for manufacturing resurgence in the US, factoring in recent, mid-term, and long-term increases in manufacturing employment. The rest of the list in order is: Louisville, Seattle, Oklahoma City, Nashville, the Virginia Beach and Norkfolk area, surprisingly the Detroit metro area (no doubt driven by a revival of the US auto industry), Fort Worth, and Salt Lake City. Experts of course say each new manufacturing job creates 6 or 7 other jobs at suppliers and service providers to support the manufacturing operations and employees.
Trip Report on the Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference
I am freshly back from a couple of days at the 2013 Gartner Supply Chain Executive conference in Scottsdale, AZ, heading back before day 3 so that the wall of work that always awaits me back at the office after such excursions did not get impossibly high. I would also like to say thanks to the many people there who came up and introduced themselves to me - the most ever, I believe. I really enjoy that, with many in fact thanking us for the video and written summaries we do for these types of events. It was a good conference, though certainly changed a bit
Supply Chain Graphic of the Week on Rethinking Outsourcing in Global Logistics
The trend for many years, it seems, is for companies to outsource more and more of their global transportation and logistics operations in the face of growing complexity and challenges. But are some companies starting to reconsider some of those decisions and bring some global transportation processes back in-house? "Absolutely yes," said Fab Brasca, VP of global logistics for JDA Software, during a recent videocast on our Supply Chain Television Channel.
Logistics News on Q1 2013 Rail Carrier Review
- May 23, 2013 - Logistics News: Q1 2013 Rail Carrier Review Profits Generally Soar on Modest Volume Growth; Evolution at JB Hunt Continues On SCDigest Editorial Staff We're back as usual every quarter with our review of the results and comments from leading public transportation
Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference 2013 Video Review and Comment
Whether you couldn't make this year's Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference in Scottsdale, AZ or even if you did, please watch our video summary of the key themes and presentations at the conference. Pepsico's John Phillips on the intersection of digital and supply chain strategies, Jim Collins on difference between good and great; Intel's Robert Bruck on supplier collaboration, Colgate on standardizing global manufacturing processes, Gartner on supply chain segmentation and cost to serve - lots more. All this and much more - please watch now.
Global Supply Chain News on Amid Offshore Working Conditions Turmoil, New Services Try to Connect Directly with Employees
- May 21, 2013 - Global Supply Chain News: Amid Offshore Working Conditions Turmoil, New Services Try to Connect Directly with Employees LaborVoices and Labor Link Offer Direct Worker Outreach; May be More Effective and Less Expensive than Third-Party Audits SCDigest Editorial Staff Amidst the disaster from the building collapse in Bangladesh that killed more than 1200 apparel factory workers and
Chain Reaction for May 20, 2013 Finds the CSCO is a Legend in His Own Mind
If you can think of a funny situation or scenario appopriate for Chain Reaction, please send in our ideas below. We'll give you full credit, and a framed cartoon of your idea if we use it. Source: http://www.scdigest.com/newsviews/13-05-20-1.php?CID=7059
Supply Chain Video News for May 20, 2013
CSCMP Quick Courses Topics include demand management, financial and inventory fundamentals, materials requirements planning, physical distribution systems, and sales and operations planning, and more
Supply Chain Graphic of the Week on Mexican versus Chinese Manufacturing Wages
We've reported on this before, but we were still interested to see this recent graphic from the analysts at Morgan Stanley on the comparative manufacturing wage rates of China versus Mexico over time. From our view, it is astounding to see the gap between higher Mexican wages in 2002 - more than three times the wages in China just 10 years ago - to the near parity today. <img src="http://www.scdigest.com/images/China_vs_Mexico_Wages.gif" width="600"
Supply Chain Graphic of the Week on Mexican versus Chinese Manufacturing Wages
[fivefilters.org: unable to retrieve full-text content]Huge Cost Advantage China Once Had is Gone in a Decade. Will Mexico be Able to Take AdvantageSource: http://www.scdigest.com/assets/ne%20wsviews/13-05-16-1.php?CID=7050