Industry News Bites that May Affect Supply Chain

Supply chain and material handling are industries that live in a dichotomy. They will always be needed, but the accelerated pace of change in technology creates strange obsolescences that the industries have to quickly adapt to. Here are three news bites that we may need to be aware of as companies presses forward in production.

Industrial Space Availability

As the manufacturing and supply industry continues to expand, the problem becomes space to do so. As e-commerce continues to explode, current industrial spaces can’t keep up with the demand. CBRE reports that demand has been running nearly double of supply and vacancy of industrials paces declines in leaps and bounds. This is great because it means that the industry is strong, but it will be tight for a while. However, it’s anticipated that developers will complete new buildings and narrow the gap between supply and demand.

EPA Large Vehicle Standards

The EPA has released new standards for large vehicles that require up to 25% lower carbon emissions by 2027. Though the initial costs of compliance and updates may strain smaller companies and may affect the number of trucks on the road, the good news for operators is that these new standards could lower fuel costs by as much as $170 billion while also lower carbon emissions. Initial higher costs can be recouped in lower fuel consumption and necessitates fewer chain locations.

Globalization and Technology Driven Data

Manufacturing technology is becoming increasingly global. Once limited to large conglomerations, mid-sized organizations now find themselves needed to have regional operations to support local customers on a global scale. As digital technology continues to improve and diversify, manufacturing technologies and operations technologies are relying on the cloud and creating and interconnected network that is data driven. It’s been discovered that some critical elements in connected manufacturing are:

–Technology starts with the workforce.

–Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) connects everything in the manufacturing environment.

–Big data starts on the plant floor.

–Consumer mobility puts pressure on industry-specific solutions.

–Cloud continues to be the catalyst for manufacturers that want to leverage mobility, big data, and IIoT.

We can learn more about these trends in the 2016 Annual Industry Report on accelerating change and innovation and at ProMat 2017 with the keynote on Industry 4.0. ProMat 2017 will be held April 3-6 at McCormick Place in Chicago. To learn more, visit ProMatShow.com.

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