#787: FedEx Delivers - From CBS Sunday Mornings

 Very interesting segment, especially for those studying logistics!

#757: Freight Expectations: What Caused America's Supply Chain Crunch

 A very interesting and comprehensive explanation of our current supply chain challenges. 

#740: America's Microchip Problem - 60 Minutes 5/2/21

 Click here to load this fascinating segment from 60 Minutes on what many consider our top supply chain problem as we emerge from the pandemic - a shortage of manufacturing capacity in the US for semiconductor chips.

#726: Grocery Trends for 2021

 This article from the Washington Post offers up some interesting comments on manufacturing and supply chain as the grocery industry continues to respond to pandemic conditions. You may be required to register for a free WaPo account which allows for a minimal number of articles to be viewed each month.

#716: Another Morning Brew Article - This Time It's Inventory Management

 From 8/14/20

We Made Too Much

Francis Scialabba

Months after the pandemic slowed retail to a standstill, brands are still struggling to move mountains of unsold inventory. Like the unfolded laundry pile staring at me as I write today, this mess has layers. The backstory: Retailers ended up with 525,600 minidresses largely because inventory forecasts didn’t predict the pandemic. And retailers often produce more than they can sell. A broken fashion system made the inventory crisis worse for designer brands, the NYT Magazine writes. Brands that partnered with department stores often created “novelty” or “exclusive” items for each wholesale account they opened.  Those items appeased corporate buyers...but shoppers didn't bite. The temporary solution: Brands are flocking to donation services to offload the goods they haven’t sold this summer, the WSJ reports.  Clothing donation firm Good360 expects to receive $660+ million in retailers’ unsold clothes by the end of 2020. That’s 2x the donations it received last year.  Gap alone has donated $60+ million of unworn apparel during the pandemic.  It’s a charitable choice, but it’s also to circumvent a controversial alternative: destroying inventory. A famous example? Burberry’s 2018 admission that it burned $37 million of unsold goods.  Shoppers and government agencies in some markets have stepped in to demand cleaner practices, but they’re not uniformly enforced across nations or even within large companies. LVMH has started partnering with a recycling company to process merchandise it can’t sell, but only for 11 of its 75 brands. Of those, some items are still destroyed. Amazon has started donation programs for merchants in the U.S. and France with unsold merchandise, but Amazon still destroys some unsold inventory in the U.S.  Another alternative: If retailers can’t get their orders in order, they can also sell inventory to off-price retailers like T.J. Maxx. But concerns about diluting their brands’ value makes this option less attractive. My takeaway: If retailers only produced what their customers truly wanted, the inventory glut would shrink. Now that the pandemic’s revealed the worst-case scenario for excess inventory, some brands may be convinced to create smaller batches at the outset.

#706: COVID-19 Leads to Major Nationwide Disruptions

Click here if video fails to load. This video is a great example of how our view of supply chain has shifted due to changes in demand. JIT isn't quite as great as we used to think it is/was!

#702: Why Brands Like Oreo Are Cutting Back on Wacky Flavors Right Now

Click here to read this short CNN article.

#700: The Daily Show Segment with Scott Blubaugh

This segment represents an intersection of ACC 202 with economics and history. Interesting comments on JIT! Click here if video fails to load. This segment represents one point of view. I don't expect you to agree with it, but I ask you to consider it thoughtfully and recognize where you might agree and where you might disagree, particularly with regard to anti-trust legislation.

#669: Delivery Dilemma: Americans Are Ordering More, But US Can Only Handle So Much

Click here to read this article from NBC News.

#664: Can Delivery Drones & Robots Make It In The Last Mile?

Click here if video fails to load.