Consumers' 12-month inflation outlook drops to 3.3% | Benefits of reshoring start to work for US manufacturing | Lineage Logistics announces JV to grow presence in Vietnam
Inflation expectations for the next year dropped to 3.3%, according to the University of Michigan's preliminary August reading of consumer sentiment. The 3.3% reading is down from 3.4% in July and matches the lowest point in two years. Consumer inflation expectations over the next five to 10 years ticked downward from 3% to 2.9%.
Market participants are commenting that a revitalization of US manufacturing is undoubtedly underway, with a trend to reshore manufacturing processes to the US and away from exporting nations. Chris Semenuk, manager of the Tema American Reshoring exchange-traded fund, says vulnerabilities in the supply chain and other issues make the shift "a long-term, durable trend that will work itself out over at least a couple of decades."
Lineage Logistics and Vietnam-based cold-storage warehouse operator SK Logistics are partnering on a joint venture. SK Logistics has nearly 400,000 square feet of capacity in Vietnam across two facilities, which "serve a wide range of customers, including supermarket chains that provide food for families across the region," said Lineage's Brooke Miller. Miller added that Vietnam is "an important market for Lineage."
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Declining import volumes and other factors may be affecting Southern California's industrial market, with the Inland Empire's warehouse vacancy rate reaching 3.8% in the second quarter, up from 1.2% in 2022, according to Savills. "There is more price sensitivity now because it's a very, very expensive market," Prologis, Inc. CEO and Chairman Hamid Moghadam said last month. Still, Prologis' warehouses in Southern California had a 97% occupancy rate in the second quarter.
Amazon is appeasing eco-friendly US shoppers while reducing costs and speeding up the delivery process by sending roughly 11% of its orders in original manufacturer packaging. "There's a significant need for our company to take the next step in innovation around packaging," says Pat Lindner, who Amazon's vice president of packaging and innovation.
Effective supply chain risk management programs necessitate an ongoing reporting system that assesses and quantifies existing and emerging problem areas, writes Andrew Jean-Louis, vice president of supply chain consulting for Wood Mackenzie. "Investing in supply chain risk management programmes no longer provides companies with a competitive advantage -- it has now become a necessity to exist in the marketplace," Jean-Louis writes.
Mitch Duckler, brand expert and founder of FullSurge, talks about how business-to-business marketers can create a brand-inspired growth strategy. Duckler explains how B2B marketers should look at brand values and emotions to drive inspiration for their growth strategy and offers advice on how to determine brand differentiators.
Sales teams that view a customer's big picture helps put a product's or service's larger benefits into context and can streamline the sales process, asserts sales consultant David Brock. Five steps can help shift sales this way, including looking at the customer's problem-solving efforts outside of your product.
The Biden administration has proposed The Sustainable Products and Services procurement rule, which would streamline procurement rules and direct Federal buyers at the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration and NASA "to purchase sustainable products and services to the maximum extent possible," according to White House officials. The rule would also direct buyers to avoid purchasing goods made with "forever chemicals."
Six in 10 employees say they want a more structured hybrid work model, per Gallup, with the most common problem being that when they do make the effort to go into the office, the colleagues they need to see are not present. Company leaders share the benefits of their particular structures, from the common Tuesday to Thursday in-office mandate to the more unusual model of one mandatory week per month.
Eight strategies can help you find and keep top talent, including developing a high-quality careers page on your website and broadening your candidate selection with digital recruitment. Also, be aware of shifting candidate expectations, and focus on creating a strong employer brand.
