Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Logistics industry growth continued in June

Strong demand for warehousing and transportation keeps industry humming as the latest Logistics Manager’s Index reaches second all-time high reading.

june21lmi.png

Economic activity in the logistics industry increased in June, driven by strong consumer demand that continues to put pressure on warehousing and transportation networks.

The Logistics Manager’s Index registered 75 in June, up nearly four percentage points to reach the second-highest level in the history of the five-year index. The quarterly three-month moving average also reached a record level this spring, indicating second-quarter growth as the fastest in the history of the index as well, according to LMI researchers.


The LMI gauges monthly business activity in the logistics industry; a reading above 50 indicates growth and a reading below 50 indicates contraction.

Inventory is moving through supply chains quickly, and tight capacity and high costs remain throughout the channel, the researchers said. Inventory levels and costs continued to grow in June, rising 9 points and more than 5 points, respectively. At the same time, warehousing and transportation capacity continued to contract, registering 40.7 and 34.5.

“The combined lack of capacity makes it difficult to meet consumer expectations. The mismatch between supply and demand has driven logistics costs up, despite the fact that inventory is flowing quickly,” according to the report. “Essentially, the changes to logistics demand over the last year mean that it has become significantly more expensive for supply chains to hold and move each unit of inventory, even in cases where they have less inventory than they did before. This will continue until supply chain networks, which are still configured for pre-pandemic business cycles, can be adjusted to better reflect our post-pandemic reality.”

Looking ahead, respondents predicted a 12-month future growth rate of nearly 70, indicating strong growth and continued tight industry conditions as 2021 unfolds, according to the researchers.

The LMI tracks logistics industry growth overall and across eight areas: inventory levels and costs; warehousing capacity, utilization, and prices; and transportation capacity, utilization, and prices. The report is released monthly by researchers from Arizona State University, Colorado State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, and the University of Nevada, Reno, in conjunction with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). An LMI above 50 indicates expansion in the market; an LMI below 50 indicates contraction.

Visit the LMI website to participate in the monthly survey.


The Latest

More Stories

warehouse and conveyors systems in motion

Five-way merger in material handling forms Systems in Motion co.

Five material handling companies have merged into a single entity, forming an Elgin, Illinois-based company called “Systems in Motion” that will function as a tier-one, turnkey material handling integrator, the members said.

The initiative is the culmination of the companies’ close working relationship for the past five years and represents their unified strength. “We recognized that going to market under a cadre of names was not helping our customers understand our complete turn-key services and approach,” Scott Lee, CEO of Systems in Motion, said in a release. “Operating as one voice, and one company, Systems in Motion will move forward to continue offering superior industrial automation.”

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

Resilience is a daily fight

I recently came across a report showing that 86% of CEOs around the world see resiliency problems in their supply chains, and that business leaders are spending more time than ever tackling supply chain-related challenges. Initially I was surprised, thinking that the lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic surely prepared industry leaders for just about anything, helping to bake risk and resiliency planning into corporate strategies for companies of all sizes.

But then I thought about the growing number of issues that can affect supply chains today—more frequent severe weather events, accelerating cybersecurity threats, and the tangle of emerging demands and regulations around decarbonization, to name just a few. The level of potential problems seems to be increasing at lightning speed, making it difficult, if not impossible, to plan for every imaginable scenario.

Keep ReadingShow less
AI tops digital supply chain investment priorities

AI tops digital supply chain investment priorities

Investing in artificial intelligence (AI) is a top priority for supply chain leaders as they develop their organization’s technology roadmap, according to data from research and consulting firm Gartner.

AI—including machine learning—and Generative AI (GenAI) ranked as the top two priorities for digital supply chain investments globally among more than 400 supply chain leaders surveyed earlier this year. But key differences apply regionally and by job responsibility, according to the research.

Keep ReadingShow less
voting stickers for election results analysis

Report: Manufacturing leaders should think beyond November election

U.S. manufacturing leaders should think beyond November and focus on responsiveness for building long-term success regardless of who occupies the Oval Office in 2025, according to a report from Propel Software about uncertainty on business conditions as the presidential election approaches.

Regardless of the elected administration, the future likely holds significant changes for trade, taxes, and regulatory compliance. As a result, it’s crucial that U.S. businesses avoid making decisions contingent on election outcomes, and instead focus on resilience, agility, and growth, according to California-based Propel, which provides a product value management (PVM) platform for manufacturing, medical device, and consumer electronics industries.

Keep ReadingShow less
shopper survey peak 2024 rakuten

Rakuten: shoppers do not plan to increase their 2024 holiday spend

An overwhelming majority (81%) of shoppers do not plan to increase their holiday spend this year over last year, revealing a significant disconnect between retail marketers and shoppers in the weeks before peak season, according to online shopping platform provider Rakuten.

That result flies in the face of high confidence levels from retailers who have been delaying their marketing spend, as 79% of marketers are optimistic they will reach holiday sales objectives, and 65% are timing their spend as late as November.

Keep ReadingShow less