[#301] Supply Chain in Numbers - Sep 1, 2025
Colgate-Palmolive to invest $200 to $300M in SC, Hyundai's new plant has 1:2 ratio for robots to human, $1B worth Aluminum in trash, Ohio to add 1.4k truck parking, Overhaul raises $105M
Welcome to “Supply Chain in Numbers.” This newsletter tracks significant numbers from the supply chain world. Five prominent numbers are published every Monday. If you have any feedback, please send it to me.
$200 to $300 million to optimize supply chain
Colgate-Palmolive plans to optimize its global supply chain as part of a three-year, $200 million to $300 million productivity program. The initiative will also include restructuring parts of the personal and home care company’s organizational framework and streamlining operations to reduce overhead and increase efficiency. Colgate-Palmolive’s latest productivity program comes less than 12 months after it completed a two-year initiative that included streamlining the company’s supply chain to reduce structural costs. [Supply Chain Dive]
750 robots, and 1,450 human workers
Humans are sparse in much of Hyundai Motor’s ultramodern new plant in Georgia, which opened late last year and illustrates advanced manufacturing’s evolving balance between humans and machines. The plant deploys 750 robots alongside about 1,450 human workers. That roughly 2-to1 ratio compares with an auto-industry average of 7-to-1, a sign of the rapid influx of robotic technology into manufacturing. The plant features robotic dogs and Hyundai plans to deploy humanoid robots. Some incoming workers wonder how long they will be able to keep their jobs. Some industry watchers say they are right to be concerned. [WSJ]
$1 billion worth Aluminium cans
A way around President Trump’s 50% tariff on imported aluminum might be sitting in your garbage can. The duty on imported aluminum is walloping beverage, auto and manufacturing companies that use the material to make goods from cans and furniture to auto parts. More than $1 billion of beverage cans were dumped in U.S. landfills last year, according to the Aluminum Association. By weight, that was similar to all the primary aluminum produced by U.S. smelters. Much of the aluminum in junked cars, demolition debris and old electronics is thrown away as well. If Americans significantly improve their recycling habits and more aluminum-recycling plants are built, the U.S. could reduce aluminum imports by as much as half. [WSJ]
Addition of 1,400 truck packing spaces
Ohio will double its truck parking capacity at sites maintained by the Ohio Department of Transportation by adding 1,400 spaces across 33 locations between 2026 and the end of 2027. The state has earmarked $150 million from its transportation budget for the commercial truck parking plan, which will create or expand long-term truck parking lots in 17 counties. Each parking area will have lighting and restroom facilities. Following the expansion, Ohio will lead the nation in the total number of long-term truck parking spaces available on state-owned property, per the American Transportation Research Institute. Ohio is one of the country’s busiest freight corridors. Trucks logged 27.5 million miles on Ohio roads in 2023, and that is only expected to grow, as the ODOT anticipates a 26% increase in freight volume by 2045. [Trucking Dive]
$105 million Series C
Supply-chain risk management company Overhaul raised $105 million as it seeks to capitalize on growing demand for freight-tracking services, in part to combat cargo theft. Austin, Texas-based Overhaul sets shippers up with tracking devices that link to its platform and allow the technology provider to monitor shipments in real time. It will use the new funding to invest in AI technology and make acquisitions. The company this week acquired supply-chain technology company FreightVerify for an undisclosed amount. Overhaul has raised $215 million since it was founded in 2016, including this latest round. [WSJ]