Volatility is the New Norm If there is one thing that is certain in today's world, it is that volatility and change are the new normal. VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity) is top of mind for every client. For example, clients ask the following questions: What will happen next? [...]
Transportation has been in chaos since the pandemic. It started with logjams at the ports that persisted for multiple years, continued with atypical events such as the ship getting stuck in the Suez Canal and truckers blocking the border of US and Canada, and continues to rage on with labor shortages across the board in rail, trucking, and all transportation sectors.
As has been all over the news, the Chinese sent a spy balloon which floated across the U.S. for about a week. According to US senior military officials, it is confirmed that the balloon is tied to a major surveillance program run by China's military. It has politicians and citizens up-in-arms about the potential impacts, and it bolsters concerns about China.
According to the The Journal of Commerce, the West Coast ports are losing volume. The West Coast share of imports coming from Asia is down from 61.1% in 2021 to 58.8% in 2022 while the East Coast and Gulf Coast ports rose. According to the JOC, the ILWU contract negotiations are causing this change although there are concerns about drayage and rail as well.
There has been a lot of conversation about railroads lately. Why should we be concerned about keeping the railroads moving?
The rising cost of transportation bottlenecks and service delays have left logistics managers with much to manage. Calculating the total cost of these issues is difficult when only addressing a predetermined price per transaction. Strategic partnerships between shippers and carriers can mitigate pain points and lead to a better customer experience. But, how can logistics partners improve the supply chain and reduce cost in today’s operating environment and create resilience in logistic operations?
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she's putting everything on track for an early vote to quickly send the bill to the Senate and have the legislation approved before the Dec. 9 rail strike deadline.
The Global State of Affairs The bottom line: It is a mess! What is going on? Unfortunately, there is a lot of volatility, and it will not smooth out anytime soon. For example: Russia/ Ukraine war: The Russia/ Ukraine war rages on and shows signs of escalation. There are [...]
Reprinted with permission from GLOBAL REPORT CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY 2022 Supply chain complications are more than just an inconvenience to the construction equipment manufacturing industry. Successfully navigating the supply chain has never been more essential to the financial health of our industry and the difficulties involved are creating [...]
I am co-Executive Director of the Society for the Advancement of Consulting, and during our Annual Meeting, I facilitated a panel about the state of supply chain.
