One of the disruptive impacts of the rise of e-commerce is a shortage of labor to fill a growing number of warehouse positions needed to keep up with increasing e-commerce volume and customer expectations. Distribution hub markets are oversaturated with new DCs and that's driving greater competition for labor. This, at a time when both the working population and unemployment statistics are trending downward. The challenges were never more evident than through the most recent peak season. -George Swartz, Group Vice President, Fortna Inc.
By 2030, the supply chain market labor market is estimated to experience a 20 percent shortage of trained employees. The skill gap is at the intersection of new process evolution based on emerging analytics, the evolution of blockchain, and the use of streaming data for the building of outside-in processes. While most companies have established programs for new hires and high-performance employees, the training of supply chain employees on next-generation processes is a gap. -Lora Cecere, Founder, Supply Chain Insights
Toyota Motor Corp. is readying electric motors that include as much as 50 percent less in rare earths amid concern of a supply crunch as automakers race to expand their electric-vehicle lineups.
In 2012, a Los Angeles start-up named Club W set out to help millennials find and buy decent wine on the internet. With bottles from a few boutique vintners, a slick web platform and a simple recommendation algorithm, the company had a propitious plan.
Stretched for talent, big tech firms are looking outside of Silicon Valley to expand, and increasingly one of the beneficiaries has been the D.C. area.
The fast food chain KFC has been forced to temporarily close most of its U.K. outlets after problems with a new delivery contract led to a chicken shortage.