Shifting paradigms
I recently got back from hosting Furniture/Today's Second Annual Logistics Conference.
We opted to title it Logistics 2.0 - Solving The Supply Chain Puzzle, because today's supply chain has not only become a puzzle - it has become a puzzle with pieces that seem to keep changing size, shape and dimension.
But thanks to the expertise of two dozen logistics experts from retail, ocean freight, trucking and the supply side of the business, we made some serious inroads in putting the pieces together.
If you would like to read snapshots of each of the six panels we hosted during the event, you can visit the Furniture/Today website at www.furnituretoday.com and read them online.
One of the issues that came to light during the event was the trend toward reshoring and nearsourcing, both terms that describe a movement toward production either returning to the states or being established near U.S. soil, such as in Mexico or Costa Rica.
It's easy to see why this topic was of interest to our logistics attendees. Clearly, it impacts the current supply chain from the standpoint of ocean freight, trucking, pricing and delivery times.
So to my mind, a key consideration is whether this shift is a temporary blip or the beginning of a long-term major paradigm shift.
Of late, there certainly has been evidence that this could be more than a blip. During the recent High Point Market, Furniture/Today broke the story detailing an $80 million project on behalf of Ashley Furniture that will result in the home furnishings giant eventually adding some 3 million square feet of domestic production that will produce both case goods and upholstery here in North Carolina.
Typically, much like the brokerage house E.F. Hutton, when Ashley "speaks", the industry listens. With this latest $80 investment in more domestic production, Ashley has put its money where its mouth is ... and the industry is listening.
Another industry giant, Sauder Woodworking, which has always made goods in Archbold, Ohio, is moving some production back to the states, and let's not forget former Cochrane Furniture president Bruce Cochrane, who in 2011 started Lincolnton Furniture, a North Carolina-based company that is now producing solid wood bedroom and dining room furniture.
Nanu commented:
OR..the government could step out of the way of ivoinatonn and allow us to create a sustainable world that could continue to grow without major lack and scarcity..there is more than enough resources if we use them properly basically we need to get rid of the fed..they confuse real wealth with paper mache' and since they can over-print, we over-produce, over-consume and we waste a ton of real wealth we need to stop pretending wealth comes from a printing press and take care of ourselves
Francisco commented:
can someone psaele explain to me, how it just so happens, that dubai (very much an american ally) crashes the day after the dollar starts to tank again, breaking key support, and gold is about to explode thru 1200/oz? i realize it's a holiday market, but why would asia sell PMs in this case when western banks, namely british, bear the brunt of the counterparty risk. i'm quite confused....buy dollars, sell gold bc a panic is setting in? isn't that the reason to buy PMs?gold just hit $1136 a bit ago...why will the usd rally?
Tahasildar commented:
I think that the government's done to atpmett to support the economy is making things much worse actually. They have wasted trillions of dollars bailing out creditors and shareholders of failed institutions with broken business models. And this is going to lead to massive problems down the road with regard to our currency and interest rates, in my opinion. And I think that the gold price breaking out to a new high is a strong indication of the reduction in faith and confidence that people have in governments and their fiat currencies. So for most people one of the few ways to protect themselves from these risks is to invest in gold related assets. One gold mining company that I particularly like is Premier Gold because it offers a lot of leverage to the gold price. There is a good article here called Premier Gold Aims for Multi-Million Ounce Deposit at Hardrock which discusses one of the gold mining company's recent high grade gold discoveries at its Hardrock project in Canada. I think this company will continue to benefit from the Federal Reserve's inflationary programs and money printing because of a higher gold price.
