Distribution Business Articles

Caterpillar Logistics is modernizing its parts distribution operations.  They will not be laying off any workers in their Morton, Illinois headquarters just outside of Peoria, Illinois.  About 70 employees will relocate to the Waco area.

Caterpillar hopes to take advantage of warehousing and fulfillment in more modern facilities located closer to their ultimate destination.

In following many other distribution companies to Texas, Caterpillar should be able to capitalize on lower freight rates, cheaper labor rates, and faster more efficient delivery times.  The bottom line is that location is key to logistics.  If you want to run an alcohol rehab, you go to Malibu.  If you want to run JIT logistics and fulfillment for parts, Ft Worth and Waco are the place to be in the middle of the country, Savannah, Georgia and South Carolina are the places to be in the South East, and if you can still afford it Ontario, California in the West.

Additional Coverage: Caterpillar Logistics to build plant

More and more manufacturing jobs may have moved over seas but logistics jobs here in the United States are rising.  Regional hubs are popping up all around the country and the demand for productive and efficient logistical support has never been greater.  A good case in point is developing in Arizona where local community colleges are providing training and retraining in logistics, inventory management, and general business skills.

The Valley is becoming a regional distribution hub and could soon have 3,000 to 6,000 new warehouse jobs available, so Estrella Mountain Community College's Southwest Skill Center is starting a program to train technicians for those jobs.

Program aims to fill area warehouse jobs

As the US has moved away from being a country that produces the actual goods and as it continues to move more into the role of designing those products and consuming them as they are made abroad by the cheapest available labor, emphasis on logistics roles and inventory management and the technologies that support them have increased dramatically.  Everything from cars and cell phones and Seagull lighting may be produced over seas, but to sell it still has to ship through the United States.

Unlike colleges that focus on a well rounded liberal arts education almost to a fault, local community colleges are proving to be a better training ground for these job functions.

The student population is often times more experienced and more in touch with the working world.  Likewise, many professors at community colleges are also more in touch with the professional world as well, especially as it relates to more practical matters.

Citigroup got a lesson in Chinese Cash Investment this week as the Government in China decided against providing $1.8 billion in investment in Citigroup. 

Don't fear for Citigroup, Singapore came through with the money.

The lesson to be learned here is that China is always willing to invest cash in a good investment, but when that cash is leaving the actual country of China then all bets are off.  The same pretty much holds true for all business in China.  You will often find an open door policy in China for starting new business ventures as long as the cash or the controlling authority of the cash is going into China, staying in China or reinvesting in some other area in China.

Taking actual cash out of China is about as taboo as wearing a Tianemen square t-shirt to a Politburo luncheon or finding a de-humidifiers running in a Chinese sweatshop.  It just doesn't happen very often.

Singapore apparently paid Citi more when China refused - MarketWatch

Well, I'm just getting back from CES 2008 in Las Vegas and I have a lot of interesting companies and products to start covering next week.  One of the things that caught my attention out at the show was the amount of buzz from many different people and companies, complaining about the high costs of Las Vegas hotels.

During CES, hotel prices are usually at least $200 per night at hotels that typically charge $50 and $400 - $600 per night at hotels that charge $150.  The show lasts 4-6 nights depending on how much pre-show activity you go in for and 4 nights at $500 per night per person in your company adds up fast!

It would seem that this charge (as opposed to the CEA booth fees which can start off in about the $5k range and rapidly work their way up too very high rates) really got under people's nerves this year and there are rumblings that the show may try and move to a different city sometime soon.  I suspect that there are not too many cities that can handle a show the size of CES with 150k visitors coming in just for the show, maybe Los Angeles or San Francisco. 

The complaints did seem a little odd.  These prices have been this high for several years.  Its hard to tell if the reason for the recent complaints are due to a sagging economy, weariness of paying too much for hotels for several years running, or maybe everyone is just upset that the chameleon didn't really deliver a great auto insurance quote with Geico or something.  I suspect that its highly possible that this complaining might even be some sort of concerted campaign to pressure hotels to drop their rates during CES next year if they want to keep the business at all!

Anyone that has ever worked in distribution with a mid sized company will tell you that running a good and flexible ERP system is invaluable.  Get the wrong system and you literally can loose control of your products, your customers, your warehouse, your partners, your company and before you know it, you will loose control over your salary and bonus too!

Performing the due diligence to identify a good ERP system takes time both to learn about the system, but then also to find a consulting company that

• Knows what they are doing to install it
• Has the time necessary to dedicate to your company
• Has very good referrals from recent past customers
• Has a very good knowledge of 'YOUR TYPE OF COMPANY"

That last point may be the same.  We do not all work selling widgets.  Some of us sell toothpaste, and food products and prescription drugs, or electronics or 4 story electricity generating wind mills or even adjustable beds.

Finding a consultant that understands how your business operates with its product type is KEY to successfully finding an ERP system capable of working well with your business and getting that system configured quickly to do just that.

Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC) (www.technologyevaluation.com) has partnered with SupplyChainBrain, publisher of Global Logistics & Supply Chain Strategies, to produce the industry-leading 2008 ERP-Distribution Buyer's Guide -- specifically aimed at the mid-market.

The 2008 ERP-Distribution Software Buyer's Guide assists those companies operating in distribution and logistics industries that are actively searching for enterprise resource planning (ERP)-distribution software for their needs, or looking to improve business processes with supply chain management (SCM), distribution process management (DPM) or retail and commerce systems.

IT decision makers will easily find essential product and vendor information, detailed comparative analysis and customer case studies, as well as a comprehensive vendor directory. This directory highlights the 150 industry-leading vendors in ERP-distribution, transportation management systems (TMS), warehouse management systems (WMS) and supplier relationship management (SRM).

With planned distribution to over 500,000 IT decision makers via TEC's channels and to more than 50,000 C-level executives via SupplyChainBrain (www.supplychainbrain.com), the 2008 buyer's guide is scheduled for publication at the end of January and will be available for download at no charge.

TEC and SupplyChainBrain Present 2008 ERP-Distribution Software Buyer's Guide for the Mid-market

If you are a consumer electronics, manufacturer, distributor, licensee or multi-national that is the licensor of intellectual property, there may be no more important trade show than the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas Nevada.  The show runs for 4 days and as much business is done during the day as happens in the evening and in the middle of the morning hours.

One of the most important investments in CES is finding the right booth space, and in that regards it is all about real estate.

Location, Location, Location!

The show is segmented off for different types of products and depending on the nature of your business (automotive goes in North Hall, Home products go in the South hall) the two most dynamic areas for the show are typically in the massive Central Hall and in the Sands/Venetian convention centers.

The massive corporations of the world (Sony, Panasonic, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Microsoft) all populate the Central Hall, along with a number of companies that work with them or support them with accessories or distribution.  Being close to these companies and their booths (enormous displays that might be better measured by the acre as opposed to the foot), can mean that your company benefits from their foot traffic.

But being too close to the sun, might melt your wings as well.  If your company does not have the budget to put up a booth, whose quality or artistic design is some where close to the levels set by these companies that spend millions on their 'booths', then your company may appear to be less successful.

For the last two years, the new hot area to be at in CES was in the Sands/Venetian convention center.  Its about 2 miles away from the main convention center, and you will want to ride the bus there probably as the walk is not really conducive to pedestrians (I've done it twice).  The thing about this part of the convention is that it usually has the coolest, newest tech gadgets.  This is where the cool dancing robots are and every other gadget that has a major WOW factor.  Again positioning your booth close to these (much smaller booths) can bring you some great foot traffic and media too.  But over here you do not want to get too far from the real action on the floor.

Last year this was also the primary location for most of the south asian manufacturers that throw up small half booths providing a product catalog for the products they can manufacture for you under and outsourcing deal. 

Make no mistake, this is the place to wheel and deal, but its not a sexy area of the show.  There isn't that much foot traffic here, and the traffic that goes through the area is no nonsense on a mission to find a deal or make an appointment for a business meeting to complete a deal.