[#218] Supply Chain in Numbers - Feb 12, 2024
Cummins investing $580M to upgrade the Engine plant, NY is facing a risk of unsold 250k lbs Cannabis, Flexport raises $260M, Walmart plans adding 150 stores in 5 years, Starship raises $90M
Welcome to “Supply Chain in Numbers.” This newsletter tracks significant digits from the world of the supply chain. Five prominent numbers are published every Monday. If you have any feedback, please send it to me.
$580 million to upgrade the Engine plant
Cummins is investing $580 million to upgrade its Rocky Mount engine plant in Whitakers, North Carolina. The money will go toward creating 80 jobs, upgrading new equipment, and adding an assembly line to expand the plant’s ability to produce gasoline and propane engines. The investment will also allow the site more capacity to help with natural gas emissions requirements, as well as explore and add alternative fuel options, including the fuel agnostic platform, a technology that helps reduce carbon emissions. The project is expected to be complete by 2027. [Manufacturing Dive]
Risk of wasting 250,000 lbs Cannabis
Three years after New York approved recreational cannabis use for adults 21 and older, the rollout of the Empire State’s legal-cannabis program has created a bottleneck of products with limited options to get it to market. New York state has only opened about 50 legal stores, yet state-legal cannabis farmers grew enough product this past summer and fall to supply up to 1,500 stores. Across the state, at least 250,000 pounds of cannabis — worth about $27 million, plus an additional $10 million in tax revenue — remain unsold. The state’s 270 conditional cultivators and 40 processors urgently need to find a way to sell the crops and cannabis products legally, or they’ll have to throw them all away. [MarketWatch]
$260 million funding
Digital-oriented freight forwarder Flexport has raised $260 million from e-commerce provider Shopify after a tumultuous year, giving the supply chain solutions provider confidence. The move comes after Flexport acquired Shopify’s logistics arm last year, expanding the company into e-commerce fulfillment and last-mile delivery. The two companies have worked closely together since then. In February 2023, Flexport created a tool that helps sellers on the Shopify e-commerce platform manage and track inbound ocean shipments. [Freightwaves]
150 new stores in 5 years
Walmart wants to grow again. The retail giant plans to open or expand 150 stores in the U.S. over the next five years, beginning with 12 new stores this year. Its push includes converting several smaller-format stores to larger Supercenters and remodeling 650 U.S. locations. The strategy is a reversal from recent years when Walmart focused on keeping store count flat. Walmart has been using its 4,700 U.S. stores to play a growing role in its e-commerce fulfillment strategy, with store associates picking and packing online orders. [WSJ]
$90 million for autonomous delivery
Starship Technologies, a player in autonomous delivery services, has raised $90 million in funding for its delivery robots. The funding marks a big milestone for the company, bringing its total funding to $230 million since its inception in 2014. Starship Technologies will use the fresh capital to bolster global expansion efforts and capitalize on the soaring demand for home deliveries. Starship’s robots are active in 80 locations worldwide, including the U.S., United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, and Finland. They have delivered a wide range of goods, from groceries to corporate documents, reducing reliance on traditional car journeys and lowering carbon emissions. [Venture Beat]