News, Notes & Nuggets

"Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory." --- Dr. Seuss

Good Sunday afternoon all and welcome to this edition (No. 77) of "With That Said" (WTS), an almost-weekly newsletter powered by your friends here at Supply Chain Now .

Before we get into a mix of the news & perspectives from around the world, our SCN team wants to invite you to a special event coming up on Monday, April 29th: National Supply Chain Day?. Founded by our own Mary Kate Love, we are reinvigorating this day that recognizes our industry. We are celebrating the PEOPLE of global supply chain - and we'd love to have you join us for a special LIVE event: click here

Big thanks to our friends at Vector Global Logistics for sponsoring National Supply Chain Day 2024.

All right, let's dive into a mix of news & expertise from across industry:

--- Have you been impacted by the United States Postal Service 's change in performance in recent weeks? Michael Kubayanda, chairman of the U.S. Postal Regulatory Commission, told Congress recently that the USPS' reliability has been declining throughout the year. Supply Chain Dive reported: "...single-piece First Class letters and postcards are meeting their delivery service standard 81% of the time in the current quarter, well below the 92% target...". Postmaster General and CEO Louis DeJoy committed to improving performance in the months ahead. Read the full story here.

--- Sally Eaves shared interesting perspective & data on growing gap between companies that are getting digital transformation right...and those that aren't. Based on recent research, Sally shares: "Did you know that the leading focus areas over the next 2 years are #ai (21%) then #blockchain and Distributed Ledgers #dlt (20%) and Robotic Process Automation?#rpa at 14%?". Learn more here.

--- The United Auto Workers have scored a big win, as Volkswagen employees in Chattanooga, TN have voted to unionize. It's being hailed as the first successful organization effort for the UAW outside of Detroit's Big Three. The win will certainly help fuel UAW's mission to unionize autoworkers in the months ahead at companies such as Tesla, Honda, BMW and many others. Learn more here via CNBC .

--- 9 Philadelphia students will be traveling to C?te d'Ivoire in West Africa to study global supply chain along with 9 Ivorian peers. The exceptional learning & life opportunity has been created by the KB Foundation Inc. & Philadelphia 76ers center, Mo Bamba. Learn more here via CBS News .

--- Bad actors are stepping up attacks Bob Carver shared last week: "U.S. physical infrastructure is increasingly the target of hacks, with Google’s cybersecurity firm Mandiant releasing a report Wednesday teasing out links between Russian hackers and a January attack on a water filtration plant in a small Texas town." Gene Seroka says that the Port of Los Angeles stopped 750 MILLION hacking attempts in 2023 alone. Read more here.

--- Have you ever stopped to think: whatever happened to all the 2-door cars across the United States' roads? For that matter, there are a lot less of any cars on the roads today. According to data from Cox Automotive Inc. , cars account for less than 20% of ALL new vehicles these days. And you can't find many 2-door cars, unless it's a sports car. Learn more here via CNN Business .

--- From the "Midweek Market Rundown": "According to data from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists & the University of Utah Drug Information Service, drug shortages across the U.S. have reached new highs that haven't been seen since at least 2014. The groups point to 323 drugs with identified shortages of supply. But many aren't surprised, given the massive #supplychain shifts in the pharmaceutical industry over the last few decades. Limited visibility into the industry is also a constraint, even for governmental agencies such as the FDA." Read the rest of the Rundown here.

--- From Scott Luton 's weekly "Good News" message last Friday: "It's an exceptionally dangerous thing for leaders NOT to accept reality. The reality of their operations. The reality of its shortfalls. The reality of their impact on the team. AND the very real reality that we have a massive opportunity, and responsibility, to do business different." Read the rest of message here.

CHECK IT OUT: XpertMinds is SAP's go-to Partner for TM & Logistics collaboration, guiding customers through business process decisions, as well as solution implementation in areas such as: road, ocean & rail modes of transport; transportation optimization; freight execution & monitoring; integration with SAP ERP & 3rd party systems; order & delivery integration; freight agreements & cost settlement and much more. Learn more here: https://xpertminds.net/

We invite you to join us for these upcoming LIVE events:

--- MONDAY, April 22nd @ 12 noon ET / 6 pm CET: Join us TOMORROW for our weekly episode of "The Buzz", a show focused on global supply chain news & analysis. Hosts Scott Luton & Vin Vashishta will be diving into a variety of interesting stories. Join us TOMORROW on any Supply Chain Now social media channel (including LinkedIn via this link and YouTube via this link).

--- TUESDAY, April 23rd @ 12 noon ET / 6 pm CET: Join Scott & Mary Kate Love for an insightful webinar exploring the topic of: "Profitable Manufacturing Unveiled: Crafting a Winning S&OP Strategy". Our expert panel, featuring Dave Food from Board International and Aumesh Hurry & Francis Bériault, CPA from CGI will share valuable perspective, actionable insights & expertise. Register to join us: click here

--- WEDNESDAY, April 24th @ 12 noon ET / 6 pm CET: Join Scott & Kim Reuter for an interesting livestream discussion, focused on future-proofing of supply chains through modern technology adoption. We'll be joined by Jawad Khan & Constantine Limberakis from PartnerLinQ, industry leaders in supply chain enterprise collaborative platforms. We'll explore the pivotal role of cutting-edge technologies in navigating the ever-evolving landscape of global supply chains. Register to join us: click here

--- THURSDAY, April 25th @ 12 noon ET / 6 pm CET: Scott & Allison Giddens welcome in Nathan Crocker & Drew Herpich from Nolan Transportation Group (NTG) to speak to the topic of "2024 Disruption: Port Challenges, Drayage Shipping & Planning Ahead". Beyond contingency planning, we'll be talking about what you need to be looking at for the rest of the year in terms of import planning. Register to join us: click here

#supplychain #manufacturing #logistics #transportation #freight #ScottWLuton