Briefs
David Hannon, Associate Editor -- Purchasing, 5/20/2004 2:00:00 AM
The international airfreight market is feeling the effects of today’s cost-conscious supply chain. In a recent report, the Colography Group found that businesses today “want to minimize the vulnerability of their supply chains to all types of service disruptions, while meeting their delivery commitments, without an over-reliance on expensive airfreight in a still-challenging world economy.” The report says the massive decline in U.S. export tonnage is dragging down volumes for the entire air freight market while, on the import side, manufacturers are taking a “continental strategy” which puts more inventory in North American warehouses for delivery to manufacturing sites, which requires less air freight and more trucking and rail transportation.
There’s more to RFID acceptance than cost, says Erik Michielsen of ABI Research in a recent report. “Five-cent tags are a component to the overall success of RFID, but they are not one of the top five most important elements,” says Michielsen. “Without proper commitment, planning, and partnering, cheap RFID hardware is not sufficient to make a sustainable long-term difference with consumer packaged goods suppliers looking to benefit from RFID.”
The U.S. International Trade Commission recently issued a report that found U.S.-based express delivery providers encounter a “range of trade impediments in foreign markets.” The ITC conducted an investigation into the market at the request of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means and found U.S.-based express firms report that postal monopolies sometimes act to impede competition by cross-subsidizing competitive services with profits gained from their monopoly-protected operations.
Supply chain execution software provider Kewill Systems has acquired ShipNow’s multi-carrier shipping management platform, DI Server, which will be incorporated into Kewill's shipping management solutions.
A recent report concluded that the State of California needs to expand its seaports, airports and other shipping infrastructure to make the most of an expected boom in international trade with Asia. San Francisco’s Public Policy Institute of California predicts that due to rising overseas trade with Asian countries, the dollar value of exports shipped through the state could triple and the dollar value of imports coming into California is expected to double by 2020. “Without more and better capacity, the state's infrastructure probably can’t handle the growing demand – in effect, curbing growth,” said Jon Haveman, an Institute research fellow, adding that California’s airports have already lost business in recent years as shippers looked for less congested runways and cargo facilities.
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