GEP Global Supply Chain Volatility Index has dropped from 3.53 in June 2022 to .26 for the same month this year, which also marks three straight months of excess supplier capacity. "The softening of demand in the manufacturing sector in the last few months is a leading indicator that the broader economy in the Western hemisphere will slow in the second half of 2023, says Joel Johnson, GEP vice president, supply chain consulting, GEP, adding, "It's a perfect time for companies' procurement to re-negotiate terms for 2024 and 2025 with suppliers."
Members of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union rejected a deal recommended last week by a federal mediator, leading to a chaotic day that started with reports of a continued strike before the Canada Industrial Relations Board ruled the action was illegal because the union didn't provide 72 hours notice. Canadian cabinet ministers said they were exploring "all options" to resolve the British Columbia dockworker strike, which has caused an estimated $380 million in daily disruptions and delays at Canada's west coast ports, including the nation's busiest port in Vancouver.
Industrial production, a measure of manufacturing, mining and utility output, dropped 0.5% in June, marking a second consecutive month of decline, according to the Federal Reserve. The 0.5% decline in production was driven by a slip in energy and auto production, with manufacturing output declining 0.3% from a month earlier. Capacity utilization -- the measure of actual production versus potential -- moved down to 78.9% from May's revised 79.4%.
As the process of nearshoring supply chains vaults to the forefront and manufacturers move operations, connecting all the dots along complex supply chains might be a problem, said Balika Sonthalia, a senior partner at management consulting firm Kearney, during a recent panel discussion. Another member of the panel, Erik Mattson of Alix Partners, noted "knowing the cost of failure is critical" as companies seek alternatives along the supply chain.
FedEx is employing data analytics, predictive modeling, artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve its own operations and allow customers to better track deliveries and monitor sustainability. "As we are creating more and more data across the entire lifecycle and more granular and richer insights, we saw that many businesses struggled to understand how to leverage all that information and turn it into value," Clayton Clouse, director of data science at FedEx Dataworks, said in a presentation.
Even as shipping rates have declined from pandemic heights, warehouse rents seem destined to grow at the rate of inflation and "a little bit more," says Hamid Moghadam of real estate firm Prologis. Moghadam predicts warehouse rents will increase 5% to 10% this year after an "exceptional" spike in recent years that included 30% growth in the company's rental growth last year.
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More than eight in 10 marketers say they will try new or unused marketing tactics this year, with the top tactics being YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels paid campaigns, Google's Optimized Targeting or Audience Expansion, and using Google Analytics 4 data for paid campaigns, reports NP Digital. Nearly 60% of marketers have a "strong interest" in using paid ads for chat-based search tools and 24% plan to begin testing or implementing AI in the near future.
Sixty percent of business-to-business marketers say social media is the most effective channel for revenue growth, the top answer, followed by content marketing and email, according to Wpromote and Ascend2. Arielle Feger notes that LinkedIn is the top platform for B2B engagement but adds that marketers should create video content to attract young B2B prospects on TikTok and YouTube, as well.
The US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission want to get tougher on companies snapping up rivals with the intent to dominate industries. The federal agencies unveiled proposals that include 13 new guidelines aimed at curbing alleged anticompetitive practices, including an assumption that the public would be harmed if a single company accrues a market share of over 30%.
US companies, which continue to face talent shortages, plan to increase salaries by an average of 4% next year -- down slightly from this year and 2022, but up from the 3.1% average budgeted increase in 2021, according to a WTW survey. "This shows that companies are striving to stay competitive in an ever-changing work climate," says Hatti Johansson, WTW's research director of reward data intelligence.
The percentage of remote or hybrid job openings increased from May to June, with 40% of open jobs in tech, 36% in finance, accounting and insurance, and 31% in HR citing flexible work arrangements, according to ManpowerGroup data. "This is a new structural relationship between the employer and employee, where workers realize their value and that they're essential," says ManpowerGroup President and Chief Commercial Officer Becky Frankiewicz, who adds companies are offering flexibility as a way to attract and keep employees in the post-pandemic economy.
