Following a boom in commercial aircraft orders in 2011, a year which saw the successful launch of the Airbus A320 NEO and the Boeing 737 MAX, the aerospace industry is now faced with having to deliver a huge backlog. According to a study of the aerospace and defense industry released by global business advisory firm AlixPartners, the industry must increase production rates by 45 percent in volume by 2015 if it is to meet demand, representing the industry's biggest challenge in the coming years.
Give Congress credit for finally coming to agreement on a new surface transportation bill, after months of acrimonious debate and nine extensions of the old funding law, known as SAFETY-LU. The fact that the Senate and House of Representatives could agree on anything at all is, I suppose, reason to applaud, especially given the toxic atmosphere that chokes the political scene today. And this new measure is something more than a "kick-the-can-down-the-road" effort, given that it maintains current highway funding levels until September 2014.
Boeing's latest fleet forecast predicts a doubling of the world's fleet of aircraft in the next 20 years, generating demand for 34,000 new planes, at a cost of $4.5tr. At the same time, officials said the demand for freighters will remain sluggish over the next two decades and revised downward their previous forecast. Even so, freighters will nearly double to 3,200 by 2031.
There has been increased interest in the clinical trials supply chain, according to Michael Wallace, life sciences industry specialist with Oracle Corp., and Arun Cavale, principal with NexInfo.
It's common practice for companies to view cold-chain management systems for pharmaceutical and bio-technology products as point solutions, whether related to packaging, training or carrier services, says Gary M. Hutchinson, president of Modality Solutions. Integration of all those elements, however, results in a "much more holistic system," he says. "You maintain product quality all the way from manufacturer to point of use. Until you integrate it into one system, you're not tackling it properly."
U.S. freight railroads will get $23bn worth of upgrades this year, and taxpayers won't pick up the tab. That's because the railroads build, maintain and improve their own infrastructure and even pay property taxes on their tracks. Also, freight trains are about three times as fuel-efficient as long-haul trucks, which means they help cut smog and reduce the U.S.'s carbon emissions and oil dependence. And forget those accident-prone trains your kids watch on Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. In reality, shifting freight from roads to rails sharply reduces crashes and congestion.
The confluence of changing demographics, economic factors and customer preferences has the potential to create a long-term disruption across the food-industry value chain that transforms where and how consumers shop for groceries as well as what products they choose.
Companies dream of one cohesive supply chain that can harmonize information and business processes worldwide. But what if your customers' needs in regional markets are so different as to make that dream impossible?
Etched into the base of Google's new wireless home media player is its most intriguing feature. On the underside of the Nexus Q is a simple inscription: "Designed and Manufactured in the U.S.A."