The Trump Administration’s tangles with the Chinese tech giant will have repercussions for many supply chains. Companies should start planning accordingly.
Steve Geary is adjunct faculty at the University of Tennessee's Haaslam College of Business and is a lecturer at The Gordon Institute at Tufts University. He is the president of the Supply Chain Visions family of companies, consultancies that work across the government sector. Steve is a contributing editor at DC Velocity, and editor-at-large for CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly.
President Trump has taken aim at Huawei by implementing strong actions to severely restrict the Chinese tech giant’s access to American markets and technology. The implicit risks introduced to the supply chain by this move are, as the President himself might say, “huge.” There is a clash of the titans taking place, and it is our duty as supply chain managers to understand the emerging risks—through all the tiers of our supply chains—and maneuver to get out of the way.
Any competent supply chain professional is well versed in risk management, so we understand the logic behind President Trump’s moves against Huawei. (Word choice is important here. The verb used is “understand,” which is not the same as “agree.”) The logic used to justify the lockout of Huawei is that the company is susceptible to pressure from the Chinese government. Based on current executive branch thinking, this means there is an inherent national security threat. In the words of the novelist Tom Clancy, Huawei is a “clear and present danger.”
But if we believe Huawei to be a threat, does that extend to other Chinese manufacturers as well? In 2019, according to statistica.com, the U.S. imported close to $65 billion in “cell phones and other household goods” from China. If Huawei is a risk, what about these other Chinese suppliers?
This issue gets particularly tricky the farther back you peel the supply chain onion. There is an entire ecosystem of tier 1 suppliers to American companies that source from mainland China. Let’s just pick one of many possible threads: rare earth metals. Rare earth metals are ubiquitous in electronics. These metals are essential inputs to the manufacture of things like smartphones, cars, night-vision goggles, and lasers. Around the house, rare earth metals are in ear buds, baseball bats, and golf clubs. According to geology.com, around 80% of rare earth metal ore comes from China. We need these metals, not just for our ear buds, but as essential inputs to defense products. But, using the President’s rubric from the Huawei confrontation, shouldn’t we ban the import of rare earth metals, too?
Flipping the risk profile around, let’s consider U.S. exports to China. As the United States becomes more confrontational, with aggressive moves like blocking Huawei, China will likely react and introduce their own restrictions and distortions into the balance of trade. This could have major repercussions for U.S. exporters.
Intel, for example, is a formidable exporter to China of computer chips and is a dominant player around the globe in the segment the economists call “electronic integrated circuits; processors and controllers.” There are other American exporters in this segment, and the patriotic corner of my brain is proud.
Beyond semiconductors, the U.S. is a powerful exporter to China in other segments too. About 10% of U.S. export value to China are in soybeans. Boeing exports a lot of planes, parts, and engineering know-how to China, and that is another 10%. Buicks may be long past their prime in the U.S., but they are a status symbol in China. The U.S. automotive industry does well in China, the world’s largest export market for automotive manufacturers.
Despite the popularity of Buicks, the U.S. buys more from China than China buys from the U.S. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, through the first seven months of 2020, the United States has run a trade deficit of around $160 billion dollars. In simple terms, for every $1.00 of goods we sold to China, we bought and imported around $3.50 of goods.
Where to next?
If you are in a room where a brawl is getting ready to break out, it’s good to know where the door is. As supply chain professionals, we have a responsibility to manage risk in the supply chain. The Huawei situation is a warning. It’s getting ugly as the big guys reach for their weapons.
In terms of China and our supply chains, it may be time to ask for the check and head for the exit. Diversifying out of China is the prudent move. But where should U.S. importers shift? Unfortunately, from a risk perspective, the obvious candidates carry similar risks.
Japan is a stalwart ally and trading partner. Regrettably, there are risks there, too. Japan is in a nasty and disruptive trade war with South Korea. This trade tiff between Japan and South Korea is already disrupting exports to the U.S. Worse, Kim Jong-un of North Korea was launching missiles over Japan not that long ago.
Another established and reliable exporter to the U.S. is India. Unfortunately, political tensions are rising in the subcontinent. A Washington Post headline on September 8 reported, “Shots fired on the India-China border for the first time in decades as tensions flare.” Add to that the fact that India has a significant pandemic problem, and it is unclear that a move to India removes enough risk.
Taiwan? Vietnam? Thailand? These are all significant partners in Southeast Asia. All have cloudier risk profiles than a few years ago. Sifting through the potential for chaos emergent in Southeast Asia, a localized geographic lateral shuffle may not be enough. Given the continuing chaos of Brexit, Europe doesn’t look like a safer harbor, either.
Nearshoring to Canada or Mexico or reshoring to the United States may be the answer. As global political dynamics force a move away from low-cost offshore sources, we are implicitly adopting a more holistic view of sourcing decisions. We need to make best-value decisions that consider supply chain risk, not just supply chain cost.
It is time to rethink our sourcing decisions. No action is an action. The clock is ticking.
The venture-backed fleet telematics technology provider Platform Science will acquire a suite of “global transportation telematics business units” from supply chain technology provider Trimble Inc., the firms said Sunday.
Trimble's other core transportation business units — Enterprise, Maps, Vusion and Transporeon — are not included in the proposed transaction and will remain part of Trimble's Transportation & Logistics segment, with a continued focus on priority growth areas following completion of the proposed transaction.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed but as part of this agreement, Colorado-based Trimble will become a shareholder in Platform Science's expanded business. Specifically, Trimble will have a 32.5% stake in the newly expanded global Platform Science business and will receive a Platform Science board seat. The company joins C.R. England, Cummins, Daimler Truck, PACCAR, Prologis, RyderVentures, and Schneider as a key strategic investor in Platform Science along with financial investors 8VC, Activant Capital, BDT & MSD Partners, Softbank, and NewRoad Capital Partners.
According to San Diego-based Platform Science, the proposed transaction aims to enhance driver experience, fleet safety, efficiency, and compliance by combining two cutting-edge in-cab commercial vehicle ecosystems, which will give customers access to more applications and offerings.
From Trimble customers’ point of view, they will continue to enjoy the benefits of their Trimble solutions, with the added flexibility of the Virtual Vehicle platform from Platform Science. That means Virtual Vehicle-enabled fleets will receive access to the Virtual Vehicle Marketplace, offering hundreds of new and expanded applications, software, and solution providers focused on innovating and improving drivers' quality of life and fleet performance.
Meanwhile, Platform Science customers will enjoy the added choice of Trimble's remaining portfolio of transportation solutions which will be available on the Virtual Vehicle platform, the partners said.
"We believe combining our global transportation telematics portfolio with Platform Science's will further advance fleet mobility and provide our customers with a broader portfolio of solutions to solve industry problems," Rob Painter, president and CEO of Trimble, said in a release. "Increased collaboration between the new Platform Science business and Trimble's remaining transportation businesses will enhance our ability to provide positive outcomes for our global customers of commercial mapping, transportation management, freight procurement, and visibility solutions. This deal will result in significant synergies along with tremendous opportunities for employees to continue to grow in a more-competitive business."
The acquisition comes just five months after Platform Science raised $125 million in growth capital from some of the biggest names in freight trucking, saying the money would help accelerate innovation in the commercial transportation sector.
Nearly one-third of American consumers have increased their secondhand purchases in the past year, revealing a jump in “recommerce” according to a buyer survey from ShipStation, a provider of web-based shipping and order fulfillment solutions.
The number comes from a survey of 500 U.S. consumers showing that nearly one in four (23%) Americans lack confidence in making purchases over $200 in the next six months. Due to economic uncertainty, savvy shoppers are looking for ways to save money without sacrificing quality or style, the research found.
Younger shoppers are leading the charge in that trend, with 59% of Gen Z and 48% of Millennials buying pre-owned items weekly or monthly. That rate makes Gen Z nearly twice as likely to buy second hand compared to older generations.
The primary reason that shoppers say they have increased their recommerce habits is lower prices (74%), followed by the thrill of finding unique or rare items (38%) and getting higher quality for a lower price (28%). Only 14% of Americans cite environmental concerns as a primary reason they shop second-hand.
Despite the challenge of adjusting to the new pattern, recommerce represents a strategic opportunity for businesses to capture today’s budget-minded shoppers and foster long-term loyalty, Austin, Texas-based ShipStation said.
For example, retailers don’t have to sell used goods to capitalize on the secondhand boom. Instead, they can offer trade-in programs swapping discounts or store credit for shoppers’ old items. And they can improve product discoverability to help customers—particularly older generations—find what they’re looking for.
Other ways for retailers to connect with recommerce shoppers are to improve shipping practices. According to ShipStation:
70% of shoppers won’t return to a brand if shipping is too expensive.
51% of consumers are turned off by late deliveries
40% of shoppers won’t return to a retailer again if the packaging is bad.
The “CMA CGM Startup Awards”—created in collaboration with BFM Business and La Tribune—will identify the best innovations to accelerate its transformation, the French company said.
Specifically, the company will select the best startup among the applicants, with clear industry transformation objectives focused on environmental performance, competitiveness, and quality of life at work in each of the three areas:
Shipping: Enabling safer, more efficient, and sustainable navigation through innovative technological solutions.
Logistics: Reinventing the global supply chain with smart and sustainable logistics solutions.
Media: Transform content creation, and customer engagement with innovative media technologies and strategies.
Three winners will be selected during a final event organized on November 15 at the Orange Vélodrome Stadium in Marseille, during the 2nd Artificial Intelligence Marseille (AIM) forum organized by La Tribune and BFM Business. The selection will be made by a jury chaired by Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of the Group, and including members of the executive committee representing the various sectors of CMA CGM.
Economic activity in the logistics industry expanded in August, though growth slowed slightly from July, according to the most recent Logistics Manager’s Index report (LMI), released this week.
The August LMI registered 56.4, down from July’s reading of 56.6 but consistent with readings over the past four months. The August reading represents nine straight months of growth across the logistics industry.
The LMI is a monthly gauge of economic activity across warehousing, transportation, and logistics markets. An LMI above 50 indicates expansion, and a reading below 50 indicates contraction.
Inventory levels saw a marked change in August, increasing more than six points compared to July and breaking a three-month streak of contraction. The LMI researchers said this suggests that after running inventories down, companies are now building them back up in anticipation of fourth-quarter demand. It also represents a return to more typical growth patterns following the accelerated demand for logistics services during the Covid-19 pandemic and the lows of the recent freight recession.
“This suggests a return to traditional patterns of seasonality that we have not seen since pre-COVID,” the researchers wrote in the monthly LMI report, published Tuesday, adding that the buildup is somewhat tempered by increases in warehousing capacity and transportation capacity.
The LMI report is based on a monthly survey of logistics managers from across the country. It tracks industry growth overall and across eight areas: inventory levels and costs; warehousing capacity, utilization, and prices; and transportation capacity, utilization, and prices. The report is released monthly by researchers from Arizona State University, Colorado State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, and the University of Nevada, Reno, in conjunction with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).
That hiring surge marks a significant jump in relation to the company’s nearly 17,000 current employees across North America, adding 21% more workers.
That increase is necessary because U.S. holiday sales in 2023 increased 3.9% year-over-year as consumer spending grew even amidst uncertain economic times and trends like inflation and consumer price sensitivity. Looking at the coming peak, a similar pattern is projected for this year, with shoppers forecasted to drive a 4.8% increase in holiday retail sales for 2024, Geodis said, citing data from Emarketer.
To attract the extra workforce, Geodis says it will offer competitive wages, peak premium pay incentives, peak and referral bonuses, an expedited payment option, and flexible schedules. And it’s using an AI-powered chatbot named Sophie to serve as a virtual recruiting assistant.
“We acknowledge the immense responsibility we have to our customers to deliver exceptional service every day, and this is especially true during peak season,” Anthony Jordan, GEODIS in Americas Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, said in a release. “Because peak season is the most business-critical sales period of the year for many of our retail clients, expanding our workforce is vital to ensure we have a flexible, dynamic team that can handle anticipated surges in demand.”