As the global pandemic wreaked havoc on global supply chains, causing product orders to sit in warehouses and shipping ports due to supply chain delays, many manufacturers and importers tried to move their supply chain reliance away from China. But it’s not as easy as it sounds. I’ve had many discussions with people where they…
We’ve regularly written about the chaos that has been the global supply chain over the last couple of years. Here’s a summary reviewing what’s happened to global supply chains over the last couple of years and what to expect going forward.
As supply chains have seen record-breaking & mind-numbing shipping costs over the last two years, could there be (some) light at the end of the tunnel for shipping rates? It looks like freight costs from China to the US have fallen 34% from the beginning of 2022 (although still four times higher than rates in…
As the backlog of shipping containers at terminals around the world continues, some carriers are charging additional fees (driving up end-user prices) which may not be completely legal for the current backlog situation. What’s your take?
The global shortage in semiconductor chips over the last couple of years is well-documented, but could we be seeing supply catching up now? Don’t hold your breath, it looks like inflation and interest-rate hikes is slowing demand, allowing chip makers to catch up (kind of) to demand. But once caught up, chip makers could find…
As Shanghai emerges from their lockdowns, and their shipping container traffic reached 95% of its normal capacity and Shanghai Pudong airport increased its air cargo handling to about 80% of pre-COVID levels, will we see some easing of global supply chain issues?
In a ranking you DON’T want to be included in, Canada’s Port of Vancouver has been ranked as one of the least efficient port in the world (by a report by the World Bank and S&P Global). The Port of Vancouver is a crucial supply link between Canada and Asia. As the ports around the…
In the middle of all of this supply chain chaos, supply chain managers are learning some useful lessons. Take Danone, the yogurt producer, they realized they produced 300 different lids for their multitude of yogurt products, so they concluded they could simplify things by reducing the amount of different lids they produced “significantly”. Are you…
As gas prices soar and ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicle drivers are scrambling to switch to electric vehicles only to be told to come back later as EV sellers have nothing to sell. So, when’s the best time to buy an EV? When you didn’t need one… As the global chip shortage rages on, wait…
Importers & Exporters are alleging that shipping container companies are starting to break contracts amid the current global supply chain chaos, and forcing importers/exporters to pay massive rate increases. Trading companies who thought their costs were a certain figure are now finding they could be paying 2-3 times (or more) the costs they originally calculated…