Supply Chain by the Numbers
   
 

- March 30 , 2012
   
 

Supply Chain by the Numbers for Week of March 30, 2012
   
 

Procurement - Jobs that is - Headed Offshore; Retailers Need Help Counting; China Hires are Here Today, Gone Tomorrow; Don't Plan on Truckers Adding Capacity

   
 
 
 

25%

The percent of procurement-related headcount that will be operating offshore in low cost countries by the end of 2013, up from 16% at the end of 2011. That from a survey conducting with procurement executives by the Hackett Group. That would be a jump of 56% in two years, as companies look to offload more basic tasks to lower costs areas of the world.
 
 



 
 
 

18-20%

Annual turnover in white color jobs at small engine maker Briggs & Stratton in its Shanghai area operations, according to the company's Mark Plum, president for Asia, as quoted in an article this week by Reuters. White collar salaries are rising annually about that much too, with workers jumping ship rapidly for any new opportunities. A new survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China found that US companies say human resource constraints are the biggest barrier they have to growth, and that the level of such concern is rising rapidly.
 
 
 
 
 
50-60%

Average level of store SKU-level inventory accuracy, when accuracy is defined as the percent of items in store for which the actual count exactly matches the count in the perpetual inventory system. That according to Bill Hardgrave of Auburn University, in a presentation last week at the VCF conference. He said he recently worked at one chain that had just 28% accuracy. Hardgrave is an RFID expert, and says item-level RFID will get this to 90+% accuracy in short order.
 
 
 
 
 
65%

The percent of trucking company CEOs that said they planned to add little or no new capacity in 2012, according to the most recent quarterly survey of the group by Transport Capital Partners. That despite the fact that the economy and hence freight volumes appear to be improving. Freight was up 5.7% in

 
 
 
 
 
 
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