Tag Archives: supply chains

The New Panama Canal: A Risky Bet

Posted on June 23, 2016 by | Comments Off on The New Panama Canal: A Risky Bet

Outstanding long form research piece on the new Panama Canal locks.  Much of it is business as usual in the world of very large infrastructure projects; I’m reminded of San Francisco Bay Area’s struggles replacing and retrofitting several bridges to meet more resistant earthquake standards.  Cost overruns, failing concrete, poor design– all typical.

But a water shortage making ships lighten up before paying to use new locks that should let them carry full loads through?   And everyone knew in advance that more water would be needed?

Wonderful pictures, too, in this great story. We’ll see how it plays out.

  After a Spanish-led consortium won the right to build locks for bigger ships at a rock-bottom price, internal arguments soon gave way to larger problems.

Source: The New Panama Canal: A Risky Bet – The New York Times

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Posted in Logistics, Ports, Shipping, Strategy, Supply Chains

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Can Ports Keep Up With the Changing Needs of Container Lines?

Posted on June 21, 2016 by | Comments Off on Can Ports Keep Up With the Changing Needs of Container Lines?

Robert J. Bowman has written a nice short piece on the turmoil in ports due to changes in the ocean shipping industry (and inland, as well, we should add).   Ultimately there should be more capacity with less utilization, but how fast a port can work in the time it has the ship will be the most important part of efficiency.  Time will tell if the in-port efficiency gains will pay for the lengthened idle times, and cover the risk of frequent variability of visit schedules.

  Source: Can Ports Keep Up With the Changing Needs of Container Lines?

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Posted in Logistics, Ports, Supply Chains

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Legendary i2 Founder Sanjiv Sidhu: What’s Next for Supply Chain?

Posted on June 9, 2016 by | Leave a comment

Here is a great video featuring Sanjiv Sidhu, founder of i2, which was one of the firms that invented modern supply chain software.  I was in industry when they were at the fore.  He’s a very perceptive observer. His big thrust is now on agility, and he asks really good questions and tries to answer them with his new company, called o9.

His punch line, near the end, is fascinating. When things don’t go as expected, we humans often have, or can dig out, the knowledge about what went wrong. But it’s very hard to get that into systems, so the next plans can take more into account.  He sees this as a key area for the future of supply chain planning software.  I’d bet on his ideas.

  Source: Supply Chain Thought Leaders Video Series: Legendary i2 Founder Sanjiv Sidhu on What’s Next for Supply Chain

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Posted in Logistics, Supply Chains

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