[#97] Supply Chain in Numbers - Oct 18, 2021
Semiconductor order book can make 120M cars, Ryder's success with used vehicle sales, Nordstrom offers $2,500 bonus for holiday, LaserShip acquires OnTrac, Earning season is full of 'supply chain'
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.
120 million cars
The volume of semiconductors being ordered by global carmakers would enable them to build a record amount of vehicles when supply constraints ease, order patterns at Europe’s largest chipmaker Infineon suggest. The current orders can produce 110m to 120m cars. The previous record was reached in 2018 when 95m cars and vans were delivered to customers. Since then, the global car market has shrunk, after being hit by an economic slowdown, the pandemic, and the semiconductor supply crisis in quick succession. The current shortage of crucial components, which has led to plants being shut around the world, could lead overall car production to slump to 77m in 202. [Financial Times]
5 locations for used vehicle sales
Ryder saw an increase in demand for used vehicles this past year, as the semiconductor shortage stalled manufacturing of new vehicles of all kinds, consumer and industrial. The logistics company opens five new locations in the United States, offering a range of logistics-level vehicles such as day cab tractors, sleepers, refrigeration equipment, box trucks, sprinter vans, cargo vans, and trailers. The new locations include Salt Lake City, Utah, Oklahoma City, Okla., Orlando, Fla., Syracuse, N.Y., and Allentown, Pa. [Food Logistics]
$2,500 bonus
Nordstrom, like other major retailers, is stepping up its hiring goals ahead of the holidays. It wants to hire 28,600 seasonal and regular employees to staff stores and supply chain facilities and customer care teams. Nordstrom employees are eligible for a 20% merchandise discount as well as an employee charitable match and volunteering program. Some employees are also eligible for medical coverage and an employer-matched retirement plan. New store employees who sign on are eligible to receive up to $650 on top of regular wages. Supply chain employees who sign on are eligible for up to an additional $2,500. [Yahoo]
2-day shipping to 74% of the U.S.
Fast-growing parcel carrier LaserShip Inc. agreed to buy Western U.S. rival OnTrac Logistics Inc. in an approximately $1.3 billion deal aimed at extending the regional last-mile delivery specialist’s reach across a wider swath of the U.S. at a time of surging e-commerce demand. The transaction is expected to close at the end of October and would create a network allowing two-day shipping to 74% of the U.S. population. The combined entity would have over 100 sorting and delivery hubs in 30 states and DC. [WSJ]
3,000 times
This earnings season, investors will hear two words over and over again — and they’re not “great quarter!” Executives at S&P 500 companies have mentioned the phrase “supply chain” about 3,000 times on investor calls as of last week, a tally that easily sails past last year’s then-record figure. A new milestone will certainly be set once the third-quarter earnings season concludes right around Thanksgiving. From Tesla Inc. to Target Corp., the phrase has been uttered more often this year than even the buzzwords “synergy” and “value proposition” combined. [Bloomberg]