@Risk

Despite some signs that the economy is beginning to rebound, consumer cash flow continues to be restricted by both sluggish employment and protracted weakness in the housing market. As a result, a new forecast by Deloitte is cautioning retailers to anticipate only a modest two percent increase in 2010 holiday sales.

All told, Deloitte researchers expect total holiday sales to reach $852 billion –a sum total that represents a two percent increase in November through January holiday sales (excluding motor vehicles and gasoline), over last season. (Keep in mind that this projected growth rate is a slight improvement over last year’s measly one percent gain.) (more…)

Federal officials now estimate that as many as half a billion salmonella-tainted eggs have been circulating in the US food supply over the past few months. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people have been sickened with salmonella linked to the contaminated eggs, prompting three recalls over the past two weeks –the third was issued last Friday.

A small handful of egg farms in Iowa appear to be at the center of the outbreak. Two of these farms are operated by Hillandale Farms of Iowa, one of the largest egg companies in the US; Wright County Egg Farm operates the other five. These farms share several common suppliers, including those for chicks and feed. According to the AP, this supplier has a history of violations and controversy. (more…)

Most shippers (53 percent) still use a manual process to determine licensing requirements for exports and destination country import regulations, according to a new survey from Kewill.

That’s somewhat surprising, considering that Kewill’s research also found that:

• almost all shippers (95 percent) use two or more carriers, and

• the largest shippers are more likely to use five or more carriers (28 percent vs. 9 percent for small shippers).

Isn’t it time to improve automation and integration of this fundamental business practice? Management of global trade in today’s competitive and complex business environment demands no less. After all, by updating these processes, shippers can cut costs, improve workflows, decreases errors –and mitigate the risks associated with compliance, invoice discrepancies and damaged customer relationships.

Think about it for a minute: How confident are you about the documentation your shippers prepare? Could your supply chain be interrupted by these types of processing errors?

Kewill’s fourth annual benchmarking survey, titled 2010 Best Practices Survey for Parcel Shipping and Global Trade Management, also found that:

• 96 percent of those surveyed have made changes to their business in response to the recent economic slowdown. These changes include headcount reductions, use of lower cost shipping options, and changes to the carrier mix.

• Employees are now spending considerable time and effort processing import and export documents and have reported a measurable level of errors that cause delays and rework.

• The majority of companies (59 percent) report that it takes more than 10 minutes, on average, to produce and distribute export documentation.

• 60 percent of those surveyed said that they are using lower cost shipping options. One-third changed the carrier mix to include regional carriers and/or consolidation.

The findings of the survey are detailed in a white paper available at www.kewill.com/Benchmark2010.

Or, maybe a better title for this post is: Walmart FINALLY Pulls Miley Cyrus Jewelry Over Cadmium Concerns.

Yes, Walmart is in the news, again, for selling Miley Cyrus-brand jewelry that reportedly contains high levels of the toxic chemical cadmium.

Back in January, the Associated Press published the results of an investigation that showed some jewelry items sold at Walmart and other retailers were as much as 91 percent cadmium by weight.

The issue is making fresh headlines this week because in April, AP sent reporters to eight Walmart stores throughout the country to see if the contaminated pieces were still for sale. According to AP, all but one of the 13 tainted items remained on store shelves.

These items were tested, and of 61 total samples, 59 contained at least five percent cadmium by weight. 53 measured 10 percent or higher cadmium by weight. (See the full AP article here.) (more…)

This year, the annual 3PL Market Report North America from eyefortransport focuses on the core issues supply chain and logistics companies are facing as they emerge from the global recession –and as you might expect, the results are somewhat of a mixed bag, revealing  a healthy dose of cautious optimism.

For instance, when asked how they think worldwide economic conditions will affect their companies’ financial performance in the next 12 months,  36 percent of 3PLs, 47 percent of manufacturers/retailers, and 23 percent of solution providers said that growth will be slower than predicted.

But, 31 percent of 3PLs, 26 percent of manufacturers/retailers, and 29 percent of solution providers said they expect revenues to increase.

10 percent of 3PLs, 15 percent of manufacturers/retailers, and 23 percent of solution providers think growth will be as  strong as predicted.

But, 17 percent of 3PLs, 7 percent of manufacturers/retailers, and 18 percent of solution providers said they are not likely to see growth, at all. 6 percent of 3PLs, 5 percent of manufacturers/retailers, and 7 percent of solution providers expect revenues to decline.

Overall, this year’s results are generally more positive compared to eyefortransport’s previous reports,though, indicating the increased optimism I’ve seen in other industries, as well. (more…)