This Week in Logistics Information (September 24 – 30)

YES! Lastly. McDonald’s is launching a retro-themed boxed meal (Completely happy Meal) for adults that features a collectible figurine of a traditional McDonald’s mascot – Birdie, Grimace, Hamburglar, or the brand new Cactus Buddy. McDonald’s is collaborating with Cactus Plant Flea Market on this initiative. The grownup themed boxed meal shall be accessible for a restricted time from October 3 – 30. And for these of you that care about extra than simply gathering the toy figures – clients can select between a Huge Mac or a 10-piece McNuggets meal that comes with medium fries and a drink. This particular providing could entice me to McDonald’s extra the Shamrock Shake has carried out so persistently in winters previous. And now to this week’s logistics information…

Charleys Philly Steaks introduced it has partnered with Flytrex to ship freshly-made grilled cheesesteaks by way of drone in Durham, North Carolina. Now working in its fifth station, Flytrex’s three-minute supply service shall be accessible to roughly 140,000 clients throughout the US. In 2017, Flytrex efficiently launched the world’s first totally autonomous city drone supply system in Reykjavik, Iceland, and we lined that initiative in these pages on June 15, 2018. I gotta admit, I’m intrigued. Perhaps strive Boston subsequent?

Walmart held the grand opening of the first-of-its-kind Subsequent Era achievement middle (FC), location in Joliet, IL. That is the primary of 4 next-generation FCs introduced by Walmart earlier this yr. Walmart partnered with KNAPP to develop an automatic, high-density storage system that streamlines a handbook, twelve-step course of into simply 5 steps. As soon as accomplished, Walmart anticipates the 4 new state-of-the-art FCs might present 75 % of the U.S. inhabitants with subsequent or two-day delivery. The power will even fulfill Market objects shipped by Walmart Success Providers (WFS).

American Shipper reported that indexes measuring container-ship rental charges at the moment are dropping quickly. The Harpex index, revealed by brokerage Harper Petersen & Co. since 2004, hit an all-time excessive of 4,586 factors in late March. It stayed within the neighborhood of that peak, within the low 4,400s, till late July. As of Friday, it had collapsed all the way in which down to three,095 factors, sinking 30% in simply eight weeks and 18% versus the earlier week. Braemar’s BOXi index was at 317 factors on Monday, plunging 30% up to now week alone. The price to move containerized items peaked at unprecedented ranges in late 2021. That price has been falling ever since. In distinction, the fee to lease ships that carry containerized items held up for much longer.

Cloth, a warehouse automation/robotics resolution supplier and third-party operator of micro achievement facilities, is reported by the Wall Avenue Journal to be chopping its workforce and shifting its enterprise technique as grocers and retailers shift their focus to automated achievement operations inside shops. The article states that Cloth clients communicated that they needed to make use of Cloth expertise immediately in their very own warehouses, quite than contracting with Cloth to function a 3PL managing achievement operations with Cloth expertise. Really, Cloth’s 3PL enterprise mannequin utilizing its personal proprietary expertise to satisfy buyer orders is an atypical approach for expertise suppliers to ship worth out there. For my part, Cloth’s expertise is and has been central to its worth proposition. I imagine that Cloth will expertise extra speedy adoption now that it has shifted its enterprise mannequin to that of a expertise provider.

Nike reported its first fiscal quarter 2023 outcomes yesterday (September 29). The provision chain points famous within the reporting have been notable, attention-grabbing, and sure acquainted to many. The CNBC article states, “As supply occasions and client demand rose this yr, retailers responded by ordering stock sooner than standard. When in-transit delivery time started to enhance shortly, Nike CFO Matthew Buddy mentioned, it led to swelling inventories.” This seems like one other instance of provide chain whiplash (begin and cease) to me. Nike’s CFO additional acknowledged, “Consequently, we face a brand new diploma of complexity.” For my part, this enterprise conduct sounds lots just like the previous bullwhip impact in motion.