Last month, a large and powerful supply chain player held a summit with its top suppliers and major technology providers in which it outlined its expectations for becoming RFID-ready. The player? No, it wasn't Wal-Mart, although the megaretailer did hold such a meeting in November. This time it was an agency that dwarfs Wal-Mart in size, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).
Like Wal-Mart, the DOD has issued an edict that its suppliers begin attaching radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags to incoming shipments by January 2005. The tags will allow the agency to track everything from Hummers to ocean containers wherever they are in the supply chain. Although it reiterated its intent to move forward aggressively with RFID—it hopes to have final plans in place by July—it did not issue comprehensive compliance information at the meeting. "If people were coming to get their marching orders, that's not what they got, nor should that have been the expectation," says Michael Guillory, director of industry relations for technology vendor Intermec, who attended the meeting.
What they got instead was the assurance that the Defense Department is not wavering from its commitment to the technology. "We did receive strong and clear indications that the DOD is 100 percent committed to the use of RFID," says Guillory. Better yet, attendees came away with assurances that the DOD intends to adopt the Electronic Product Code (EPC) standard that's also being adopted by Wal- Mart. (The EPC is a unique number stored on an RFID tag that identifies a specific item in the supply chain.)
"I think the primary thing we took away from the meeting was that the department stayed closely in line with what Wal-Mart announced [in November]," says Brandon Drew, a product manager for technology vendor Manhattan Associates, who also attended the DOD meeting. "That's important for us.When you look at the DOD, it has twice as many suppliers as Wal- Mart does. For them to be driving the EPC standard into their supplier base helps with the adoption of RFID."
Remote controls The bad news is that although the military is moving in step with the commercial sector, some of its requirements will almost certainly extend well beyond what any retail user would ever need, creating additional challenges for both suppliers and RFID technology developers.More will be known when the department issues a revised draft of its policy this month, but it's already clear that the military will have unique demands. "The military is like thousands of Wal-Marts moving all the time and they never know when Christmas is going to happen," says Guillory.
For example, while early development of the EPC for commercial use has concentrated on a chip with 96 bits of memory, the military is likely to want significantly more—256 bits at a minimum. Guillory explains that is particularly important in remote locations without access to networks. Any mission-critical data associated with a shipment would have to be on the tag. "That could have some implications on when the EPC standard is first available," says Drew.
The DOD's also likely to demand technology that's compatible with several radio frequencies so that its system complies with regulations around the world. "The reality is that the DOD is global," says Guillory. "While its supply source is within the United States, it distributes and operates in an expeditionary manner. As such, it needs its supply chain extended in a global fashion."
Even so, both Guillory and Drew believe that Wal-Mart and DOD are aligned closely enough. "We're very encouraged that it's staying well in line with what Wal-Mart announced," says Drew. "We have two major shipping entities endorsing the same standard and working toward a common goal. What it tells us is that companies working toward defined standards are on the right track."
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The U.S. manufacturing sector has become an engine of new job creation over the past four years, thanks to a combination of federal incentives and mega-trends like nearshoring and the clean energy boom, according to the industrial real estate firm Savills.
While those manufacturing announcements have softened slightly from their 2022 high point, they remain historically elevated. And the sector’s growth outlook remains strong, regardless of the results of the November U.S. presidential election, the company said in its September “Savills Manufacturing Report.”
From 2021 to 2024, over 995,000 new U.S. manufacturing jobs were announced, with two thirds in advanced sectors like electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries, semiconductors, clean energy, and biomanufacturing. After peaking at 350,000 news jobs in 2022, the growth pace has slowed, with 2024 expected to see just over half that number.
But the ingredients are in place to sustain the hot temperature of American manufacturing expansion in 2025 and beyond, the company said. According to Savills, that’s because the U.S. manufacturing revival is fueled by $910 billion in federal incentives—including the Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS and Science Act, and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—much of which has not yet been spent. Domestic production is also expected to be boosted by new tariffs, including a planned rise in semiconductor tariffs to 50% in 2025 and an increase in tariffs on Chinese EVs from 25% to 100%.
Certain geographical regions will see greater manufacturing growth than others, since just eight states account for 47% of new manufacturing jobs and over 6.3 billion square feet of industrial space, with 197 million more square feet under development. They are: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Tennessee.
Across the border, Mexico’s manufacturing sector has also seen “revolutionary” growth driven by nearshoring strategies targeting U.S. markets and offering lower-cost labor, with a workforce that is now even cheaper than in China. Over the past four years, that country has launched 27 new plants, each creating over 500 jobs. Unlike the U.S. focus on tech manufacturing, Mexico focuses on traditional sectors such as automative parts, appliances, and consumer goods.
Looking at the future, the U.S. manufacturing sector’s growth outlook remains strong, regardless of the results of November’s presidential election, Savills said. That’s because both candidates favor protectionist trade policies, and since significant change to federal incentives would require a single party to control both the legislative and executive branches. Rather than relying on changes in political leadership, future growth of U.S. manufacturing now hinges on finding affordable, reliable power amid increasing competition between manufacturing sites and data centers, Savills said.
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.