Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.
The chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee said today he supports in principle a proposal to use foreign-earned profits repatriated by U.S. firms to fund improvements to the country's highways and mass transit systems.
Speaking to reporters after a business-industry roundtable in Atlanta, Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said such an initiative, which is the centerpiece of bills introduced in the House and Senate, could gain traction because the two cosponsors of the Senate version, Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), carry a great deal of clout. Boxer, ranking minority member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, was key in spearheading the most recent transport-spending bill through Congress in 2012; Paul is a candidate for president in 2016.
Shuster noted that Boxer and Paul are political polar opposites, and it's significant that the two have surmounted their differences to cosponsor the bill, which is called the "Invest in Transportation Act of 2015."
"I think we can get something done," Shuster said, adding that he is open to discussing a broad range of ideas to pay for infrastructure improvements.
One idea off the table is an increase in federal motor-fuels taxes, which have remained at the same levels since 1993. Shuster said there's virtually no political appetite to increase federal taxes on diesel fuel and gasoline. Motor-fuels taxes are the primary source of revenue to fund transport programs.
The current transport spending law, signed by President Obama in July 2012, was originally set to expire at the end of September 2014. It has since received two extensions, with the latest set to end on July 31. Shuster, who has said he wants a six-year spending bill, said there would almost surely be another extension to run through November or December to ensure that projects are funded through the fall construction season in warm-weather regions.
Shuster's committee does not have jurisdiction over transportation funding in the House; the power to appropriate funds rests with the House Appropriations Committee, while the House Ways and Means Committee handles tax-related legislation. However, the opinions of the T&I committee chair are usually taken seriously when transportation issues are concerned.
The Paul-Boxer bill allows U.S. companies to voluntarily repatriate, or bring back, foreign-earned profits at a special tax rate of 6.5 percent—well below the 35-percent corporate income-tax rate--as long as the proceeds are dedicated to the Highway Trust Fund, the mechanism used to finance highway and transit programs. Companies could take five years to transfer proceeds to the Trust Fund. Funds to be transferred must have been earned no earlier than 2015, and repatriated funds cannot be spent on executive compensation increases, stock buybacks, or shareholder dividends for three years following the program's end.
In the House, Rep. John K. Delaney (D-Md.) reintroduced legislation earlier this year to create an infrastructure fund seeded by the sale of $50 billion in bonds at 50-year maturities. U.S. corporations would be encouraged to buy the bonds by repatriating, tax free, part of their foreign earnings for each dollar they invest in the fund. Meanwhile, President Obama's fiscal year 2016 budget request called for a mandatory one-time 14-percent repatriation tax to pay for half of his six-year, $478 billion infrastructure-funding proposal. The balance would come from motor-fuels tax receipts.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), chairs of the Senate and House tax-writing committees, have already declared the White House proposal a nonstarter.
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), just to maintain the Highway Trust Fund at its current level over the next six years would take $90 billion in additional subsidies from the general treasury, a shortfall that may be difficult to eliminate. For nearly a decade, Congress has diverted money from the general fund to shore up the Highway Trust Fund, which has been chronically short of cash.
Trust fund revenue is likely to decline in the years ahead as vehicles of all types become more fuel-efficient and rely less on traditional energy sources that have provided excise taxes. This has led lawmakers, regulators, and analysts to seriously rethink how to fund highway construction programs as increasing freight and passenger traffic puts additional demands on a battered infrastructure.
Some, like C. Kenneth Orski, a public-policy consultant on infrastructure issues, have called for increased investment by state and local governments in their own infrastructure, with Trust Fund revenue allocated to programs and issues of national significance. Those national programs could include maintaining and improving the interstate system, fixing aging bridges, and supporting highway-safety and research-and-development programs.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story identified Barbara Boxer as chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) chairs that committee. DC Velocity regrets the error.
The U.S., U.K., and Australia will strengthen supply chain resiliency by sharing data and taking joint actions under the terms of a pact signed last week, the three nations said.
The agreement creates a “Supply Chain Resilience Cooperation Group” designed to build resilience in priority supply chains and to enhance the members’ mutual ability to identify and address risks, threats, and disruptions, according to the U.K.’s Department for Business and Trade.
One of the top priorities for the new group is developing an early warning pilot focused on the telecommunications supply chain, which is essential for the three countries’ global, digitized economies, they said. By identifying and monitoring disruption risks to the telecommunications supply chain, this pilot will enhance all three countries’ knowledge of relevant vulnerabilities, criticality, and residual risks. It will also develop procedures for sharing this information and responding cooperatively to disruptions.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the group chose that sector because telecommunications infrastructure is vital to the distribution of public safety information, emergency services, and the day to day lives of many citizens. For example, undersea fiberoptic cables carry over 95% of transoceanic data traffic without which smartphones, financial networks, and communications systems would cease to function reliably.
“The resilience of our critical supply chains is a homeland security and economic security imperative,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas said in a release. “Collaboration with international partners allows us to anticipate and mitigate disruptions before they occur. Our new U.S.-U.K.-Australia Supply Chain Resilience Cooperation Group will help ensure that our communities continue to have the essential goods and services they need, when they need them.”
A new survey finds a disconnect in organizations’ approach to maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO), as specialists call for greater focus than executives are providing, according to a report from Verusen, a provider of inventory optimization software.
Nearly three-quarters (71%) of the 250 procurement and operations leaders surveyed think MRO procurement/operations should be treated as a strategic initiative for continuous improvement and a potential innovation source. However, just over half (58%) of respondents note that MRO procurement/operations are treated as strategic organizational initiatives.
That result comes from “Future Strategies for MRO Inventory Optimization,” a survey produced by Atlanta-based Verusen along with WBR Insights and ProcureCon MRO.
Balancing MRO working capital and risk has become increasingly important as large asset-intensive industries such as oil and gas, mining, energy and utilities, resources, and heavy manufacturing seek solutions to optimize their MRO inventories, spend, and risk with deeper intelligence. Roughly half of organizations need to take a risk-based approach, as the survey found that 46% of organizations do not include asset criticality (spare parts deemed the most critical to continuous operations) in their materials planning process.
“Rather than merely seeing the MRO function as a necessary project or cost, businesses now see it as a mission-critical deliverable, and companies are more apt to explore new methods and technologies, including AI, to enhance this capability and drive innovation,” Scott Matthews, CEO of Verusen, said in a release. “This is because improving MRO, while addressing asset criticality, delivers tangible results by removing risk and expense from procurement initiatives.”
Survey respondents expressed specific challenges with product data inconsistencies and inaccuracies from different systems and sources. A lack of standardized data formats and incomplete information hampers efficient inventory management. The problem is further compounded by the complexity of integrating legacy systems with modern data management, leading to fragmented/siloed data. Centralizing inventory management and optimizing procurement without standardized product data is especially challenging.
In fact, only 39% of survey respondents report full data uniformity across all materials, and many respondents do not regularly review asset criticality, which adds to the challenges.
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools can help users build “smart and responsive supply chains” by increasing workforce productivity, expanding visibility, accelerating processes, and prioritizing the next best action to drive results, according to business software vendor Oracle.
To help reach that goal, the Texas company last week released software upgrades including user experience (UX) enhancements to its Oracle Fusion Cloud Supply Chain & Manufacturing (SCM) suite.
“Organizations are under pressure to create efficient and resilient supply chains that can quickly adapt to economic conditions, control costs, and protect margins,” Chris Leone, executive vice president, Applications Development, Oracle, said in a release. “The latest enhancements to Oracle Cloud SCM help customers create a smarter, more responsive supply chain by enabling them to optimize planning and execution and improve the speed and accuracy of processes.”
According to Oracle, specific upgrades feature changes to its:
Production Supervisor Workbench, which helps organizations improve manufacturing performance by providing real-time insight into work orders and generative AI-powered shift reporting.
Maintenance Supervisor Workbench, which helps organizations increase productivity and reduce asset downtime by resolving maintenance issues faster.
Order Management Enhancements, which help organizations increase operational performance by enabling users to quickly create and find orders, take actions, and engage customers.
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Enhancements, which help organizations accelerate product development and go-to-market by enabling users to quickly find items and configure critical objects and navigation paths to meet business-critical priorities.
Nearly one-third of American consumers have increased their secondhand purchases in the past year, revealing a jump in “recommerce” according to a buyer survey from ShipStation, a provider of web-based shipping and order fulfillment solutions.
The number comes from a survey of 500 U.S. consumers showing that nearly one in four (23%) Americans lack confidence in making purchases over $200 in the next six months. Due to economic uncertainty, savvy shoppers are looking for ways to save money without sacrificing quality or style, the research found.
Younger shoppers are leading the charge in that trend, with 59% of Gen Z and 48% of Millennials buying pre-owned items weekly or monthly. That rate makes Gen Z nearly twice as likely to buy second hand compared to older generations.
The primary reason that shoppers say they have increased their recommerce habits is lower prices (74%), followed by the thrill of finding unique or rare items (38%) and getting higher quality for a lower price (28%). Only 14% of Americans cite environmental concerns as a primary reason they shop second-hand.
Despite the challenge of adjusting to the new pattern, recommerce represents a strategic opportunity for businesses to capture today’s budget-minded shoppers and foster long-term loyalty, Austin, Texas-based ShipStation said.
For example, retailers don’t have to sell used goods to capitalize on the secondhand boom. Instead, they can offer trade-in programs swapping discounts or store credit for shoppers’ old items. And they can improve product discoverability to help customers—particularly older generations—find what they’re looking for.
Other ways for retailers to connect with recommerce shoppers are to improve shipping practices. According to ShipStation:
70% of shoppers won’t return to a brand if shipping is too expensive.
51% of consumers are turned off by late deliveries
40% of shoppers won’t return to a retailer again if the packaging is bad.
The “CMA CGM Startup Awards”—created in collaboration with BFM Business and La Tribune—will identify the best innovations to accelerate its transformation, the French company said.
Specifically, the company will select the best startup among the applicants, with clear industry transformation objectives focused on environmental performance, competitiveness, and quality of life at work in each of the three areas:
Shipping: Enabling safer, more efficient, and sustainable navigation through innovative technological solutions.
Logistics: Reinventing the global supply chain with smart and sustainable logistics solutions.
Media: Transform content creation, and customer engagement with innovative media technologies and strategies.
Three winners will be selected during a final event organized on November 15 at the Orange Vélodrome Stadium in Marseille, during the 2nd Artificial Intelligence Marseille (AIM) forum organized by La Tribune and BFM Business. The selection will be made by a jury chaired by Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of the Group, and including members of the executive committee representing the various sectors of CMA CGM.