Chain Reaction

Tony Hines with all things impacting global supply chains this week.

•  UK Government agrees a revised Northern Ireland Protocol avoiding borders on the island of Ireland and in the Irish Sea. This should reduce supply chain frictions that hampered the post Brexit trading arrangement. 
• Brent crude closed the week at $85.47 per barrel which is about 1 per cent up on the week. UAE denied rumours that it is about to leave OPEC to pump more oil. China’s returning demand for oil is also pushing up prices.
• The U.S. Federal Reserve said it is “acutely aware” of the challenges high inflation poses to the economy and is “strongly committed” to its 2% target for price increases, the central bank said on Friday in its latest semi-annual report to Congress on monetary policy and the economy. 
• Russia's ruptured undersea Nord Stream gas pipelines are set to be sealed up and mothballed as there are no immediate plans to repair or reactivate them, sources familiar with the plans have told Reuters. 
• Patrick and John Collison are seeking fresh funds for Stripe the company they co-founded 13 years ago while exploring options to take it public, according to people familiar to the matter.  Venture capitalist Paul Graham once called Stripe “the next Google”.
• Apple iPhones soon to be assembled at another site in the southern Indian state of Karnataka and 300 acres have been aside to set up a factory, the state government said on Friday. Bloomberg News had earlier reported that Apple partner Foxconn Technology Group planned to invest about $700 million in the Karnataka site to ramp up local production. 
• Volkswagen's off-road brand Scout Motors said on Friday it would build a $2 billion manufacturing plant near Columbia, South Carolina, for trucks and SUVs. The investment could potentially create 4,000 or more permanent jobs and more than 200,000 Scout vehicles could be produced annually at the facility. VW last sold a pickup in the United States in the early 1980s.
• IMI is diversifying it's supply chain away from China as a consequence of geopolitical tensions.
• Irish packaging firm Zeus is opening a new facility in Cork.
• Shipping is responsible for large quantities of greenhouse gas. A new report “All Brands on Deck” takes a look at major retail brands and their contribution through shipping. Wal-Mart tops the list.
• China's economy due to grow at a higher rate in 2023 exceeding the 3 per cent rate achieved in 2022.
• ARM Holdings have decided to list only in New York in 2023 which is a blow for the London Stock Exchange. Raising concerns that the LSE may not be doing enough to attract tech companies. Capital market reforms  by the UK Government may have influenced ARM's decision.
• Mexico becoming quite a manufacturing hub for the US – Tessla announced plans for the firms largest E.V. factory investment this week.
• Amazon is pausing the second phase of HQ2 in Virginia.
• The US has moved to top of the list of energy exporting nations.
• Catch any episodes you have not yet listened to.

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We have four episodes in March which cover different aspects of managing supply chains and their impact on business.

1. All Change asks if change is always a force for good.
2. Partnerships and Power asks the question what impact does power have in supply chain partnerships.
3. Five key strategic challenges for supply chain management.
4. What impact has management consultancy had on supply chains, business and government is the final episode for March.

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This is a short edition telling you what is coming up in March on the Chain Reaction Podcast. Look out for the episodes and catch up on anything you have missed.

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All change, no change, continuous change. Is change a force for good or should we be more sceptical about change? When we learn we change and that is good but what about other types of change. In this episode Tony Hines takes a look at reasons for change and weighs up when change is good and not so good.

Winston Churchill said to improve is to change and George Bernard Shaw said progress is impossible without change. So when is change needed?

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All things impacting global supply chains this week with Tony Hines

• UK Government returns to renegotiate the Northern Ireland Protocol Post Brexit Trading Agreement
• Food Security remains an unresolved issue againin the UK Supply Chain 
• China wants state firms to stop using the Global Big Four Auditing Firms
• Job cuts in Tech again
• McKinsey cutting jobs
• Sanctions have not stopped brands reaching consumers in Russia – find out why
• PMI higher than epected in Eurozone
• Rationing placed by UK Supermarkets on Fresh fruit and vegetables
• Are you be hoodwinked by your service supplier contract? What is in an index?

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Tony Hines talks supply chains with Frederico Crespo CEO of Valiot an AI business that supports supply chain operations to create visibility and value in the system. FactoryOS captures data from a variety of internal inputs, such as IoT cameras and sensors. Once captured the data are applied to run simulations to optimize throughput.

Frederico Crespo is CEO at Valiot. He is a graduate of MIT and he grew up working in his Grandfather's paint manufacturing plant in Mexico. He says this background set him up for his future work. He talks about his work with Heineken to improve their supply chain performance in Mexico. He examined their system processes identifying 16 areas for improvement and focused on one that was most fruitful on which to focus scarce resources for maximum effect. He discusses Little's Law and how it helped his throughput analysis to compress cycle times. 
L = λ x W where: 

• L is the average number of items in a queuing system
• λ is the number of items arriving per unit of time
• W is the average waiting time each item spends in a queuing system

Listen to how digital transformation can improve supply chain efficiencies. In a wide ranging discussion Frederico talks about how understanding system dynamics is important if you want to improve performance.

Frederico also offers advice for young people to enter supply chain work. Geopolitical change, pandemics and AI developments are changing the skill-sets needed. Challenging the status quo is essential to progress. Unlearning obsolete practices is important too.

Food processing supply chains can be wasteful because of supply chain inefficiencies. Simple miscommunications can be the source of many such problems. Listen to what Frederico says about this.

Read more about Valiot here:
Valiot Named Top Smart Factory Solutions Provider for 2022 by Manufacturing Technology Insights (einpresswire.com)

NJ News Today – Valiot's AI Capabilities Are Revolutionizing the Value Chain (newjerseynewstoday.com)

AI Software for Smart Manufacturing | Valiot

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Tony Hines takes a look at Banana Supply Chains and how this special fruit arrives on your table. More than 100 billion bananas are sold each year.  The market for banana's worldwide is worth USD 13 million. Ecuador supplies 26% of all bananas. Wilmington Delaware is the busiest banana port in the world. 

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All things impacting global supply chains this week with Tony Hines

This week's earthquakes in Turkey and Syria has shown the devastation natural disaster has when it strikes.  if you would like to make a donation please go to Https://dec.org.uk to do so.

• Maersk publishes 4th Q 2022 profits – Profits remain high overall for 2022 but prices for sea freight is falling 
• British Volt was the only UK based EV battery plant until it ran oiut of cash. This week and Australian Business has bid for for BV
• More optimistic forecasts out this week may mean a better year ahead than previously thought
• US China Trade still difficult especially in technology markets – Control of rare earth metals will create unprecedented power in supply chains
• Data warehouses – will they cost the earth?
• President Joe Biden delivered his state of the union address – see what this means for supply chains
• EV chargers will limit market growth – proprietorial connectors are also problematic
• Supply Chain Visibility Report CIPS/Deloittes 
• Rail freight unions win long standing dispute with a satisfactory outcome for US Freightworkers
• Turkey – Syria Earthquake Appeal – see donation site above if you can help
• Stop by and pick up any episodes that you have missed

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In this episode Tony Hines talks to Dr Regina Frei and Professor Diego Vasquez Brust about their research into plastic waste in four European Cities. The research project is PlastiCity. Researchers involved are investigating commercial waste in the four cities:Ghent (Belgium) The Hague (The Netherlands), Southend-On-Sea (UK), and Douai (France).

Waste owners, designers, recyclers, policy makers, NGOs, waste management companies, logistic companies, plastic manufacturers and universities work together in PlastiCity to create innovative and local circular business models within the plastic value chain. You can follow the project outcomes at:-
https://www.plasticityproject.eu/

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Tony Hines discusses how political, economic, social and technological change influences supply chain strategies (PEST).

The external environment influences the strategies we  implement. Political change such as wars,  policies towards pandemics and trade such as Brexit in the UK or Trade Wars with China in the US all come under the political influences. What happens in the political sphere impacts strategies we are able to design for our supply chains. Economic policies also impact or impair our ability to act as we would like. For example, changes to taxes, exchange rates or trade regulations. Social change will affect so many aspects of what we do in supply chains. It may change buying behaviors for customers and it will determine what suppliers decide to do too.  The final part of the equation focuses on technologies available at the time. The example in the episode discusses bar codes and RFID tags. We now have many ways in which we can have supply chain visibility.  

#industry4 # internet of things #sensors #visibility #customerfocus

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