Manufacturing

The report’s third quarter shipment index value, at 84.0, was off 1.9% compared to the second quarter and was down 21.2% annually. Third quarter freight spend, at 186.6, fell 1.4%, from the second quarter to the third quarter, and fell 21.3% annually.

When top executives at high-profile logistics companies share a stage together, it stands to reason that their opinions and insights will be valuable. That was certainly the case earlier this month, when Hamid Moghadam, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of San Francisco-based real estate investment trust Prologis, and Fred Smith, founder and executive chairman of Memphis-based freight transportation and logistics services provider FedEx, took the stage in London at Prologis’s annual Groundbreakers conference.

The report’s benchmark reading, the PMI, at 47.2 (a reading of 50 or higher indicates growth), matched August. ISM added that the PMI has not seen growth in 22 of the last 23 months, with the overall economy growing, at the same rate, for the 53rd consecutive month.

The foreign-trade zone program was designed to strike a balance between transparency and confidentiality—and there are now additional ways to leverage the program to further enhance U.S. economic security. Is your operation putting these advantages to work?

In this podcast, Jeff Berman, Group News Editor for Logistics Management and the Peerless Media Supply Chain Group, interviews Matt Muenster, Chief Economist for Green Bay, Wisc.-based Breakthrough, an innovator in transportation management, dedicated to creating transparent and fair strategies for the world’s leading shippers.

Coupled with the threat of further increases in tariffs, ongoing geopolitical issues, and long, risky supply chains, many manufacturers have turned their manufacturing interests from China to Mexico. Here are a few issues to consider before your organization does the same.

he July PMI is 1.3% below the 12-month average of 48.1, with March’s 50.3 marking the high over that period, and November 2023 marking the lowest, at 46.6.

Amid a mixed economic outlook, three less-than-truckload (LTL) executives examined various business drivers, in terms of how they are impacting LTL market and economic conditions, at SMC3 Connections conference, which was recently held in Colorado Springs, Co. The session’s panelists included: Dennis Anderson, Chief Strategy Officer, ArcBest; John Luciani, COO, LTL Solutions, A. Duie Pyle; and Kent Williams, EVP, Sales and Marketing, Averitt.

The report’s benchmark reading, the PMI, came in at 48.5 (a reading of 50 or higher indicates growth), down 0.2% from May’s 48.7, which was down 0.5% from April’s 49.2.

Stay ahead in the dynamic world of manufacturing by downloading the full Manufacturing Market Report 2024.

The influential 35th annual State of Logistics Report released today shows how logisticians are adapting to what the report calls “permanent volatility” in their supply chains while they ride out the wave of uncertainty.

Incremental change will not be enough for manufacturing companies to remain competitive in the future.

The report’s benchmark reading, the PMI, came in at 48.7 (a reading of 50 or higher indicates growth), down 0.5% from April’s 49.2, which was off 1.1% compared to March’s 50.3 reading.

As was the case in its previous edition in December, the manufacturing and services sectors remain on diverging paths, to a certain extent, in May. One common theme the sectors share, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) May 2024 Semiannual Economic Forecast, which was issued today, is that growth is expected over the balance of the year, albeit at reduced rates.

The survey’s findings were largely positive, in terms of the attitude and approaches shippers are taking to setting up shop in Mexico, coupled with the ones that plan to make inroads there.