Consumer Packaged Goods

Delta Cancels Order for 18 Dreamliners

January 6, 2017

Boeing Commercial Airplanes has settled terms with Delta Air after the carrier cancelled an order for 18 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jets, a contract worth $4bn at current list prices.

Retail CFO Turnover Could Be a Sign of Changing Times

January 6, 2017

Bloomberg

What did retailers want for Christmas? Apparently, new Chief Financial Officers. Neiman Marcus Group Inc. is on the hunt for a new CFO. So are Kohl's Corp., Coach Inc. and Nordstrom Inc. Whole Foods Market Inc.'s CFO of 29 years - and the longest-serving female CFO in the Fortune 500 - will be leaving in 2017.

Food Companies' Environmental Efforts Are Increasing Production and Profits

January 5, 2017

Environmental Leader

The food and agriculture industry depend on natural resources, along with predictable weather and climate patterns, to produce their products and turn a profit. And yet these two industries have historically been divided over climate change and often slow to embrace new technologies and practices that can help reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and environmental footprint.

Sourcing a Safer Battery (That Won't Catch Fire)

January 5, 2017

The New York Times

Mike Zimmerman likes to shock his guests by using a hammer to drive a nail through a solid polymer lithium metal battery. Nothing happens - and that's a good thing.

After Years Offshore, Bike Production Rolls Back to the U.S.

January 5, 2017

Industryweek

From hand-crafted boutique brands to high-volume manufacturing and assembly, dedicated U.S. bicycle makers are reshoring bike production to the U.S. A confluence of factors including rising offshore costs, the benefits of a "local for local" business strategy, the growing popularity of bikes in expanding urban areas and patriotism are giving rise to new opportunities for an "old" mode of transportation.

HP Partner Jabil Moves One Step Closer to a 3-D Future

January 4, 2017

Industryweek

John Dulchinos and the rest of his team at Jabil Circuit received their new Multi Jet Fusion 3-D printer from Hewlett-Packard back in June and, for months, they have fiddled with the technology. Process development. Characterization capabilities. Figuring out the limits of what, exactly, is possible, when you print as quick as 340 million voxels per second.

The Growing Pressure on Supply Chains to Eradicate Slavery and Human Trafficking

January 3, 2017

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

Laws and regulations to eliminate human-rights violations in global supply chains are multiplying. But companies shouldn't consider their current lack of "teeth" as a license to ignore them.

Stainless Steel NFC Tag Tracks Safety Device Maintenance

December 29, 2016

RFID Journal

Engineering company Process Systems Engineering (PSE) is marketing a near field communication (NFC) RFID label it developed this year that will identify safety-instrumented system devices at industrial locations, as well as track each device's maintenance and calibration history.

10 Signs It's Time to Automate Your Warehouse With WMS

December 29, 2016

ChainLink Research

Warehouses and distribution centers are dynamic environments where many different challenges arise. Sometimes those challenges go beyond the normal issues to become overwhelming, and start to impact the performance of the business. A Warehouse Management System (WMS) can help a business with many of these challenges, yet many smaller and medium-sized businesses hesitate to move from a manual paper-based approach to even a rudimentary WMS, based on fears about cost and disruption.

Forecasters Expect U.S. Manufacturing to See Rising Profit in 2017

December 29, 2016

Industryweek

U.S. manufacturing and services firms expect to see rising revenues and profits next year, amid a stronger economy and only modest increases in costs, according to the Institute of Supply Management.

Consumer Packaged Goods

The latest supply-chain news, analysis, trends and tools for executives in the consumer packaged goods industry. Learn how consumer packaged goods companies and their suppliers around the world are managing the flow of products across all channels of the enterprise. Experts sound off on forecasting and demand planning, supply-chain visibility, logistics outsourcing, inventory optimization, transportation management, warehouse management, supply-chain security, corporate social responsibility and more.