Articles
Vertical Focus
VERTICAL FOCUS: Perishables
Grain Pain As with many other sectors, transportation disruptions have hit the perishables industry in 2022. The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) released its mid-year status update on transportation systems in the United States—and, as you might expect, the numbers are troublesome. Total grain rail cars loaded and billed dipped slightly, from 381,000 cars in […]
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Vertical Focus: Outdoor Retail
Kicking Up Sustainability VF Corp.—parent company of several outdoor gear brands including The North Face and Timberland—has upped its commitment to supply chain sustainability. David Quass, the company’s new senior director of sustainability for EMEA, has signaled a greater commitment to environmentally friendly concepts such as regenerative agriculture and using recycled materials. The North Face […]
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Vertical Focus – Electronics
Robots Traverse New Terrain South Korean technology company LG Electronics unveiled a new delivery robot that can serve both indoor and outdoor environments, which could be a game-changer for contactless delivery and services. The four-wheeled robot can adjust the gap between its wheels to self-adapt quickly to uneven terrain for a smoother ride. Food delivery […]
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Vertical Focus: Footwear
China SC Woes Have Footwear Industry Tied In Knots The impact on the supply chain from lockdowns in China was a major themefor footwear retailers in the first half of 2022. Largely reporting lower-than-expected earnings, many major footwear brands pointed a finger at the lockdowns to explain their disappointing performance levels. Strict and extended COVID-19 […]
Read MoreVertical Focus: Electronics
The electronics industry has seen price hikes, supply chain shortages, an increase in global demand, and much more. Here’s the latest Vertical Focus on what’s happening in the electronics industry.
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Vertical Focus: Exercise Equipment
Planet Fitness is one fitness club company that has thrived in recent years, growing from 918 locations in 2014 to more than 2,200 in 2021. FISCAL Fitness Here’s a sampling of statistics about the fitness equipment industry, compiled by RunRepeat and other sources, that helps to illustrate its status today. The fitness equipment industry is […]
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Vertical Focus: Toys
Do You Want Sustainability with That? McDonald’s is making its supply chain more sustainable by manufacturing its Happy Meal toys with significantly less plastic by the end of 2025. The fast food chain will make some toys, such as board game pieces, with plant-derived or recycled material. Super heroes and movie characters will be 3-D […]
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Vertical Focus: Luxury Goods
Shedding Animal Materials Fur Good Dolce & Gabbana joins several other luxury fashion brands in banning fur from all future collections starting in 2022. It will continue to work with fur artisans in its supply chain to incorporate into its designs sustainable faux fur made from recycled materials, the fashion house says. The company has […]
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Vertical Focus: Consumer Packaged Goods
Green Things Come in Small Packages The Sustainability Consortium, a global nonprofit focused on transforming the consumer goods industry, formed a new recycling coalition to address small-format packaging, which is commonly used in cosmetics and food supply chains. Small-format packaging consists of items such as beverage bottle caps, lip balms, travel-size shampoo bottles, and other […]
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Vertical Focus: Pet Supplies
Pets Get Their Paws on Table Food With 89% of dog and cat owners saying it’s important for their pets to eat the highest-quality ingredients, a Chewy.com survey reports, dog and cat food manufacturers shift their products from pet food facilities to human food supply chains. Two examples: The Honest Kitchen recently launched a 100% […]
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