DC Velocity - November 2016

inbound

Three-dimensional (3-D) printing is quickly becoming an important tool in the business world, but few can predict its impact on the supply chain sector.

Will demand for warehouse space shrink as manufacturers print the parts they need on demand instead of making them ahead of time and storing them in DCs? Will express parcel carriers see a drop in business as shippers e-mail digital designs instead of mailing physical parts? Or will 3-D printing be reserved mainly for filling niche demand for prototypes and replacement parts (the approach taken by a New Zealand airline that prints out replacement tray tables)?

Truck manufacturer Daimler recently helped clarify the situation when it announced it had begun using 3-D printing to produce spare parts. The announcement suggests that 3-D printing has matured beyond creating basic engineering prototypes and demonstration parts, and graduated to producing functional automotive-grade items.

Also known as “additive manufacturing,” 3-D printing works by using a digital blueprint to direct specialized printers to create physical parts from substrates such as plastic, glass, metal, or ceramic. Daimler will use a version called selective laser sintering (SLS) that allows it to create high-quality plastic components, such as covers, spacers, spring caps, air and cable ducts, and clamps.

By allowing customers to order spare parts from digital catalogs, Daimler expects to save money by closing factory lines and eliminating stocking and warehousing costs for those seldom-needed items.

Who needs a
warehouse when you
have a printer?

Shippers have received good news and bad news about the state of global cargo theft in recent months. Reports showed a drop in U.S. incidents during the second quarter of 2016—that’s the good news—but a closer look suggests that thieves are simply becoming better at targeting the type of freight they want to steal as well as expanding their horizons.

Cargo thieves have traditionally targeted compact high-value items such as cash and electronics, but lately, improved warehouse security has pushed the crooks to diversify their portfolios and start stealing a range of items, including food, alcohol, and clothing, according to Bloomberg.

Rather than lurking around DCs, cargo thieves are increasingly focused on mobile targets like trucks and trailers. Examples of recent thefts include hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of salmon in Norway, cases of whiskey in London, and truckloads of nuts around the globe, Freightwatch International reports. In another escapade, thieves snatched six pallets of maple syrup destined for Japan from a Montreal company’s truck yard, making off with $150,000 in sweet merchandise.

As for the seemingly oddball assortment of items, this may be partly a reflection of the digital age. In past years, these items might have been difficult to resell, but the Internet makes it easy to locate a buyer for almost anything.

Cargo thieves turn a larcenous eye on
whiskey, syrup

When shippers need to move valuable cargo long distances in a hurry, they often turn to air cargo. More expensive than options like sea, rail, or truck, air freight has one great advantage—speed.

Today, most people take for granted the ability to whisk inventory from coast to coast in a few hours, but few outside the aviation industry remember the name of Joe Sutter.

Sutter, who passed away Aug. 30 at the age of 95, is known in the aviation trade as the “Father of the 747.” Although he had a hand in many iconic commercial airplane projects, he secured his place in history by leading the team of Boeing engineers that designed the 747 jumbo jet—a team that became known as the “Incredibles” for their feat of producing what was then the world’s largest airplane in a 29-month period in the mid-1960s.

Boeing went on to sell more than 1,500 747s after completing the original version in 1968, according to The New York Times. The plane was a smash hit because it could haul more passengers and cargo than other aircraft, while flying faster and farther than its competitors could without stopping to refuel.

The 747 also boasted a 20-foot-wide twin-aisle passenger cabin, fully seven feet wider than the cabin of its predecessor, the 707. And Sutter made one more design decision that would influence the airfreight industry for decades—he left space for the eight-foot-square cargo containers that would eventually become the global standard for air freight.