The COVID-19 pandemic revealed critical vulnerabilities in worldwide supply chains, compelling American companies to reconsider domestic production as a more dependable substitute. This trend has accelerated due to advancements in technology, supportive government policies and incentives, and evolving cost dynamics that increasingly benefit American manufacturing.
Infrastructure supplies distributor Core & Main is acquiring NW Geosynthetics, which does business as ACF West, a geosynthetic materials distributor with locations in Oregon, Idaho, Washington and Utah. The deal allows Core & Main to extend its distribution reach and upgrade its geosynthetic products and service offerings.
Cameron Ashley Building Products has agreed to purchase the shares of Appalachian Insulation Supply, which exclusively distributes Johns Manville products, and Wolf Pak Transport. The acquisition gives Cameron Ashley access to Appalachian Insulation's nine warehouses in the Midwest and East and the 80-vehicle trucking fleet of affiliate transportation company Wolf Pak.
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Retailers and brands including Oatly, Hasbro and Dollar General are taking out unprofitable products to increase margins, reduce manufacturing costs and alleviate lingering supply chain issues. Dollar General is eliminating less-productive SKUs to "lower our cost to serve, while driving higher inventory turns and higher sales of products that are most important to our customers," said CEO Todd Vasos.
Cost reduction is a key objective for companies, and roughly two-thirds of executives view supply chain and manufacturing as top areas to lower costs, above labor and other overhead, according to a Boston Consulting Group survey. To sustain cost savings, organizations should reinvest savings into modernizing supply chains, AI, growth drivers and advancing talent, according to the report.
Intent data has a place in business-to-business marketing, but marketers shouldn't bet everything on the just 5% of B2B buyers who are ready to purchase while ignoring the long-term brand building strategies needed to engage the vast majority of potential prospects, writes Liam Moroney, co-founder of Storybook Marketing. "Knowing who's ready to buy will never be as effective as knowing how to convince them that you're worth buying, and there's no shortcut to that," Moroney writes.
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