Key Metrics and Supply Alert
Staff -- Purchasing, 5/6/2004
- More manufacturing companies are warning Wall Street that steel costs are biting into profits. Some firms are even warning investors there may not be any substantial growth in earnings in 2004 despite better sales. Reason: The price average for a market basket of 11 carbon and stainless steel mill products tracked by Purchasingdata.com has risen by 59% since January 2003. For the latest in steel prices, see Tom Stundza's Steel Flash Report
- Think about logging off e-mail for at least two hours a day to allow time to think, to read and research and to write memos and reports. Reason: Managers complain the relentless flow of computer messages is disrupting thought processes and killing creativity. Expectations that messages from colleagues, bosses, customers and suppliers must be answered promptly means no quiet time available during the workday to digest information, ponder fresh ideas or concentrate on difficult problems.
- Sky-high benzene prizes could cause structural changes in the market. Major buyers such as GE Plastics are studying backward integration into the key feedstock to gain more control over costs. Another option: creation of giant purchasing consortia that would tilt the balance of power to the buyers.
- The instrumentation market is expected to rebound briskly in 2004, forecasts researcher Lawrence H. Neiber at Robert W. Baird & Co. "Big pharmaceutical is spending to improve efficiency in manufacturing, " he says. "Analytical instrument suppliers are seeing a broad-based recovery in industrial manufacturing. Biotech is booming. And, although the academic-and-government component is not as strong as it has been, it still represents a large pot of money."
- Beware of phishers, senders of e-mail messages that are fraudulent attempts to steal passwords, credit card numbers and other information. Phishing attacks are growing rapidly, impersonating Internet service providers, online merchants and banks. Government officials and private investigators say all signs point to gangs of organized criminals - most likely in Eastern Europe—as being behind many of the latest efforts.
- There are about 16% fewer manufacturing jobs in the U.S. since January 2001. But, the Labor Department contends most recent job cuts-in chemicals, metalworking and machinery— have come more from business sector consolidation than firms seeking cheaper labor overseas. Most offshore outsourcing—in Mexico and Latin America and across the Pacific in China, Vietnam and India—is being done at the services level, not on the factory floor, Labor says.
| Up | Down | Same | Index | Trend | ||
| Business Activity Indexes* | ||||||
| National | 59% | 10% | 31% | 74.8 | Up | |
| Northeast | 60% | 4% | 36% | 78.1 | Up | |
| Midwest | 59% | 14% | 27% | 72.4 | Up | |
| South | 63% | 10% | 27% | 76.7 | Up | |
| West | 55% | 6% | 39% | 74.2 | Down | |
| Forward Demand Indexes* (90-days) | ||||||
| National | 66% | 9% | 25% | 78.8 | Up | |
| Northeast | 69% | 2% | 29% | 83.7 | Up | |
| Midwest | 66% | 6% | 28% | 79.9 | Up | |
| South | 62% | 20% | 18% | 70.8 | Up | |
| West | 71% | 6% | 23% | 82.3 | Down | |
| Latest | Mo ago | Yr ago | ROC** | Trend | ||
| Leadtime Index ('92=100) | 146.0 | 119.7 | 103.1 | 6.3 | Up | |
| Industrial Supplies Price Index ('92=100) | 143.2 | 141.8 | 144.1 | 16.6 | Up | |
| *Percent of buyers responding to survey/diffusion indexes: above 50=rising, below 50=falling. **12-month rate of change. SOURCE: PURCHASINGdata.com | ||||||
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