Potential Solution to America’s Electricity Supply As countries look at moving towards electrifying vehicles and renewable energy, the problem in the US is the existing electric infrastructure is currently insufficient. According to researchers at UC Berkeley, they may have a feasible solution: replacing the existing power lines with cables made from state-of-the-art materials, thus potentially doubling existing capacity. This proposed method costs less and can be implemented quickly. What’s not to like? As Captain Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation would say, “Make it so!” This Startu ..read more

Summer of High Oil Prices My local news station has been warning drivers of surging gas prices as Summer nears. Oil prices are near a five month high. This coincides with the current production cuts by OPEC at least until June. UPS In, Fedex Out with USPS The collaboration between the US Postal Service (USPS) and Fedex is coming to end after almost two decades. UPS will now be the primary air carrier for the USPS. Fedex says it’s not worried and this new “freedom” could see better efficiency & optimization for their service offering now that they’re no longer in contract with the USPS ..read more

Summer of High Oil Prices My local news station has been warning drivers of surging gas prices as Summer nears. Oil prices are near a five month high. This coincides with the current production cuts by OPEC at least until June. UPS In, Fedex Out with USPS The collaboration between the US Postal Service (USPS) and Fedex is coming to end after almost two decades. UPS will now be the primary air carrier for the USPS. Fedex says it’s not worried and this new “freedom” could see better efficiency & optimization for their service offering now that they’re no longer in contract with the USPS ..read more

Pain Ahead for Chocolate-Lovers We mentioned this just a couple of weeks ago, but cocoa futures has reached new highs this past week. The shortages in cocoa supply are mainly due to climate and weather events which can severely affect commodity prices such as cocoa. Baltimore Bridge Collapse In an absolutely tragic accident, a Sri Lankan-bound container ship lost power and rammed into the Fraser Scott Key bridge in Baltimore, almost collapsing the entire bridge. Sadly, six construction workers are estimated to have died from this tragic event. As this route is also a major shipping route, ther ..read more

Port of Vancouver Handles Record Cargo Volume The past year has been somewhat chaotic for the Port of Vancouver, with worker strikes and a slowdown in global shipping, the Port of Vancouver actually saw a 6% increase in cargo handling from the previous year. Fast-Fashion Behemoth, Shein, Wants to Be Your Supply Friend Shein, the bargain fast-fashion e-commerce provider that has taken the world by storm is planning to open up its supply network to small brands and designers. This new service is Shein’s entry into offering “supply-chain-as-a-service” as it attempts to dominate the market and thr ..read more

US Plans to Launch AI in Manufacturing Institute The U.S. government is launching a competition to create a new institute focused on using artificial intelligence (AI) to strengthen American manufacturing. This institute, overseen by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will receive $70 million from the government over five years, with additional funding expected from private and other non-government sources. A look at warehouse management systems Here’s an interesting look at how various retailers have implemented warehouse management systems ..read more

Factories testing out flex-time Traditionally, factories wanting to be efficient and producing seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day found that workers need to start and end at the same time in order to maximize their efforts. Land O’Lakes, a cheese manufacturer based in Minnesota, is testing out flex-time schedules. Eliminating the traditional factory work schedule. And it’s working! Not only does the flexible schedule attract workers, the benefit helps retain workers. Are newspapers the solution to the “last mile”? Last-mile startup, Ziing – based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada – acquired ..read more

Food Logistics Tests Autonomous Trucking Autonomous trucking startup, Kodiak Robotics, are testing a new delivery route to deliver refrigerated freight with their autonomous trucks for logistics company Martin Bower. Martin Bower’s big clients include McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, Ikea and Maersk. China’s BYD Could Disrupt the EV Market As the world builds up the demand for EV’s, China’s leading EV manufacturer, BYD is building capacity with factories coming to Brazil, Thailand, Hungary and Uzbekistan with more possibly coming to Indonesia and Mexico. That kind of aggressive ramp up of production f ..read more

Relief Coming to Shipping Disruptions As the Houthi attacks in the Middle-East has caused massive disruptions for shipping from Asia and the surrounding region as well as skyrocketing shipping costs, relief is in sight. New shipping containers that were ordered 2-3 years ago are ready to come online and help relieve the disruptions caused by the attacks by the Houthi rebels. U.S. Throwing Funding into EV Game We’ve covered a lot about how Canada has been aggressive in attracting investment for the EV supply chain, not to be outdone, the U.S. Energy Department approved $710 million in loans to ..read more

What’s happening to Cocoa? Cocoa, the key ingredient in chocolate, has seen prices surge to an all-time high not seen since 1977. Why? Weather & climate events such as massive rains, droughts and pests & disease have affected cocoa crops from West African nations, where 70% of the world’s cocoa beans come from. (BTW, if you want to know how to manage raw ingredient price fluctuations like this, check out how weather & climate events can affect commodity prices). Largest Nickel Plant Coming to Canada Toronto-based nickel miner, Canada Nickel, has plans to build a $1B nickel plant in ..read more