Save the Thin Mint!

They don’t offer a badge for it, but Girl Scouts are learning about supply chain management and the perils of product proliferation. As reported in The Atlantic Online, Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) has launched a pilot program that will reduce the number of cookie varieties it sells. The aim is to eliminate the excess inventories of less-popular varieties accumulated by most scout councils (think Dulce de Leche and Thank U Berry Munch) and to sell more of the popular varieties to achieve the same overall volume. (Don’t worry—Thin Mints aren’t going anywhere.)

The Girl Scouts may even be cultivating a future crop of supply chain professionals. A GSUSA slide presentation included in the article touts the diesel fuel savings and more efficient truckloads resulting from packaging changes. “We teach the girls about supply chain issues and the need for efficiencies,” Denise Pesich, vice president of communications, told The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson.

If you ever need to explain to friends and family just what it is you do for a living, you can point them to several television shows that profile companies and products in areas like manufacturing, transportation, and logistics.

Take the History Channel’s “Modern Marvels” series, for example. On Jan. 14, 2011, the network aired a program on the technology and ingenuity behind packaging. Segments included a look at how Sealed Air Corp.’s patented Bubble Wrap is made, how workers in Texas packed up the world’s largest crane, and how the U.S. Transportation Command packages and ships military goods and supplies. The Feb. 4, 2011, program focused on “American Trucking” (not all of it about the Class 8 highway rigs we know and love), and the April 29, 2010, show looked at “super ships.” Watch them all online at www.history.com/shows/mod-ern-marvels.

Meanwhile, viewers of the Public Broadcasting Service program “MotorWeek” have learned that—as host John Davis put it— propane isn’t just for grilling. The Dec. 4–5, 2010, episode included a segment about the use of propane to fuel off-road equipment, including forklifts, and on-road vehicles, such as light-duty commercial fleets, where centralized refueling is available. The focus is on propane’s “green” credentials as a cleaner, less expensive alternative to gasoline. You can watch at http://video.pbs.org/video/1704544184. The segment starts at 6 minutes, 37 seconds and runs about 5 minutes.

Your life on TV

inbound

Have an oversized shipment that needs protection from the elements while in transit or in outdoor storage? Industrial-grade shrink wrap may be the answer.

But that raises another question: How do you wrap, say, a large load of machinery or construction materials that is too big for the wrapping equipment typically used in warehouses?

Let the shrink wrap come to you, say executives at Fast Wrap, an unusual service that performs on-site wrapping of almost anything. One of Fast Wrap’s target markets is freight transportation. So far, the company has successfully encapsulated freight containers, a military jet, a rooftop exhaust system, and an entire exploratory drill rig. Several photos on the company’s website show very large shrink-wrapped shipments on flatbeds, barges, and oceangoing vessels.

According to the company, the heavy-duty shrink wrap film is recyclable, fire-retardant, anti-microbial, and weather-resistant and protects against ultraviolet rays.

Shrink wrap to go
Updated APICS Dictionary
now available

APICS: The Association for Operations Management has released the 13th edition of its well-known APICS Dictionary, a compendium of terminology used by operations and supply chain management professionals. First published in 1963, the dictionary fosters effective communications by establishing standard definitions.

“By using common terminology, operations and supply chain management professionals can ensure efficiency and understanding whether they’re communicating with colleagues down the street or across the globe,” said APICS Chief Executive Officer Abe Eshkenazi.

The 13th edition is offered for the first time as an electronic download, which can be printed or viewed on multiple devices. APICS members receive one print copy of the dictionary as a member benefit. Non-members can purchase the dictionary in print or as a download for $50.