By Chris Kuehl, managing director, Armada Corporate Intelligence There has been a great deal of mood shifting as 2023 gets underway. At this juncture, it is as easy to find a pessimist predicting a deep and long recession as it is finding an optimist asserting the downturn will be mild. Why the variability? The easy answer is that some very significant motivators for the … [Read more...] about North American Outlook: Inflation Is the Focus
Economy
Four Steps to Improve Supply Chain Forecasting
by Matt Stekier, principal, and Ryan Muneio, manager, Plante Moran Good supply chain forecasting – working hand in hand with sales and operations – will help a company right-size stock levels, minimize lead times and optimize order management. Done right, the result will be increased efficiency, better information across the team, reduced costs, faster time to market and … [Read more...] about Four Steps to Improve Supply Chain Forecasting
Despite Supply Chain Improvements, Skepticism Remains
by Andrew Carlsgaard, business relations manager, MAPP With recession and inflation concerns looming, plastics manufacturing leaders maintain a lukewarm stance on key industry metrics at the end of Q3, and only 13% have a positive six-month outlook on the industry overall. Over the past two and a half years, dynamic conditions in the plastics industry, manufacturing and … [Read more...] about Despite Supply Chain Improvements, Skepticism Remains
What to Make of Recession Angst
by Chris Kuehl, managing director, Armada Corporate Intelligence I really don’t want to be a media basher – really, I don’t. I understand that this is a tough task and that those in the media are trying to explain very complicated issues in a sound bite or two. I never know where blame lies – on the consumers who seem to have the attention span of a gnat or the media outlets … [Read more...] about What to Make of Recession Angst
Applying TQM to Sales
by Lewis Yasenchak, senior plastics consultant, P&Y Management Resources On March 7, 2022, 175 countries unanimously agreed on a United Nations framework to fight global plastic pollution from cradle to grave. For contract manufacturers supplying plastic products to OEMS and end users, that framework signals a change in how the industry needs to do business. For … [Read more...] about Applying TQM to Sales