inbound
Romney: No whistling while you work
Mitt Romney clearly hasn’t spent enough time in warehouses or
manufacturing plants. In a November speech at an Americans for
Prosperity Foundation event, the Republican presidential candidate
charged that Solyndra, the solar-panel manufacturer that went bank-
rupt after receiving federal loan guarantees, had engaged in frivolous
spending at taxpayers’ expense. His evidence? Solyndra’s manufac-
turing plant, he said, “had robots that whistled Disney songs.”
That statement piqued the interest of PolitiFact Florida, a division of
the Tampa Bay Times that researches claims by political figures.
PolitiFact tracked down Solyndra’s former facilities manager and its
manager of automation, who explained that the “whistling robots”
were actually automated guided vehicles (AGVs)—“basically driver-
less forklifts,” as PolitiFact put it. The AGVs played melodies when in
motion as an alternative to constant, loud beeping, said the former
Solyndra managers. The vehicles played a variety of tunes, including
Japanese folk songs, but neither could recall hearing any Disney songs.
PolitiFact’s Truth-o-Meter gave Romney’s “whistling robots” assertion a “Half True” rating. Read the whole story at www.politifact.com.
Ironically, in his speech, Romney went on to praise the office supplies giant Staples, which he helped fund in its early days, as an
example of modest spending and fiscal responsibility. And what does
Staples use today in some of its warehouses? Lots and lots of robots,
purchased from Kiva Systems. (We checked—they don’t sing.) ;
Military logisticians find
workaround to Pakistan
route closings
PHOTO BY SGT. 1ST CLASS PETER MAYES
One of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ main
missions is to provide education in logistics and supply chain management. To that end, the organization is offering an impressive lineup of
workshops from now through the group’s Annual Global Conference
in late September. Here are just a few of the upcoming courses:
▪ May 21–22. “Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management”
Workshop: an introductory, interactive workshop covering all aspects
of the supply chain, from how to choose a facility location to managing your employees.
▪ Aug. 6–7. “Distribution Center Planning and Operations”
Workshop: a hands-on course on planning, alternatives in design
and layout, automation issues and choices, and risk management.
▪ July 23–24. “Growing Your Business With Supply Chain
Management” Workshop: an interactive, case-driven class that
focuses on practical applications of supply chain management techniques to achieve corporate strategies and objectives.
▪ Sept. 30. Pre-conference workshops at CSCMP’s Annual Global
Conference: New additions to these popular full-day programs
include “Leveraging Supply Chain Management for Enterprise
Development,” “Building and Maintaining Business Relationships,”
and “Supply Chain Risk Management.”
For details on these and CSCMP’s other educational programs, go
to http://cscmp.org/events/all-events.asp. ;
CSCMP workshops: learn from the best
We’re always looking to shine a light on
emerging stories in logistics, and that
includes new developments in the military.
We recently attended the National Defense
Industrial Association’s 28th Annual National
Logistics Conference and Exhibition in
Miami and found attendees there were very
low-key about something that is pretty amazing—that is, the ability of the U.S. military’s
logistics organization to continue supporting
personnel in Afghanistan even though its
routing options for delivering supplies have
been drastically reduced.
Excluding Iran, which for obvious reasons
is not an option, there are only three ways
into Afghanistan on the ground. Two are
overland routes through Pakistan, via the
Port of Karachi, and the third is from the
north at the Hairatan Gate, dropping into
Afghanistan from central Asia.
In November, Pakistan closed its two border crossings. Yet the U.S. military, together
with its commercial partners, hasn’t missed a
beat. We are still supporting close to 100,000
troops on the ground and probably about the
same number of contractors. In our opinion,
that’s a spectacular achievement that offers
lessons in agility, resilience, and contingency
planning for private sector logistics and supply chain managers.
You can learn more about the military’s
logistics accomplishments in Afghanistan in
“Why Hairatan Gate matters,” by Sgt. 1st Class
Pete Mayes, 101st Sustainment Brigade, and in
our 2010 article “Northern Distribution
Network to shore up Afghan supply chain,”
both at www.dcvelocity.com. ;
