Consumer Packaged Goods

Will 'Made in Italy' Replace 'Made in China'?

February 23, 2017

Douglas Bulloch, economist and Forbes contributor

China's textile industry is a world beater, accounting for over 60 percent of world chemical and synthetic fiber production. Cotton production is lower, but still large, at over 20 percent of the global total, ranking only behind India in 2016. The trend, however, is downwards as China is caught between rising domestic costs, persistent technical and distribution advantages elsewhere.

Vanilla Shortage Starts Race for Substitutes

February 22, 2017

Supply Management

Short supply and soaring prices are forcing flavour companies to find natural alternatives.

E-Commerce Spending Grew 18 Percent to $109Bn Last Quarter

February 22, 2017

MultiChannel Merchant

For Q4 2016, $109.3bn was spent online - marking an 18-percent increase versus the same quarter in 2015 - according to comScore's report on U.S. retail e-commerce spending from desktop computers and mobile devices.

Postal Service Says It Lost $200M Over Holiday Season

February 22, 2017

Los Angeles Times

The U.S. Postal Service says it lost $200m during the year-end holiday season, despite a strong quarter of package shipping and expanded use of vote-by-mail in the November presidential election.

Steel Resurgence Seen Fizzling as China's Property Market Slows

February 21, 2017

Bloomberg

Steelmakers aren't out of the woods yet. A year-long rebound risks fading as a slowdown in China's property market deepens, exposing bullish sentiment as overblown, according to a U.S.-based hedge fund manager and former Citigroup Inc. analyst.

Google's New Cloud Service Aims to Replace Traditional Databases

February 21, 2017

CIO

Google has turned a database service that it uses to run some of its mission-critical products into an offering for its public cloud customers.

Forged Warehouse Receipts Were All for Nickel, Glencore Firm Says

February 17, 2017

The New York Times

Forged warehouse certificates circulating in the name of Access World, a metals warehouse company owned by commodity giant Glencore Plc, have all been for nickel in Asia, it said last week.

Suzuken Group Deploys RFID-Enabled Coolers for Drug Tracking

February 16, 2017

RFID Journal

Japanese healthcare and pharmaceuticals company Suzuken Group is deploying an RFID-based solution from AmerisourceBergen to manage the locations and statuses of medications at clinics, hospitals and retail locations, as well as in transportation vehicles. The system employs the RFID-based drug-management solution known as Cubixx, supplied by AmerisourceBergen's specialty pharmaceutical distributor division, ASD Healthcare.

Autonomous Vehicles Could Reduce Windfarm Costs

February 16, 2017

Maritime Executive

A collaboration between Heriot-Watt University's Ocean Systems Laboratory and the Smart Systems Group has received funding to deliver a human-robotics hybrid solution for the maintenance and operation of offshore windfarms.

Imports to Grow in First Half of 2017 as Economy Improves, Researchers Say

February 16, 2017

National Retail Federation

Imports at the nation's major retail container ports are expected to increase 4.6 percent during the first half of 2017 over the same period last year as the nation's economy improves and retail sales continue to grow, according to the Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

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.