Insight

Retailers are shifting back to “just-in-time” (JIT) inventory management strategies after moving away from them to "just-in-case" strategies during the recent years of pandemic disruptions and unstable supply chains, as the Wall Street Journal reported recently. JIT involves keeping inventory levels as lean as possible to minimize holding

Oil is the pulsing vein of supply chains — when crude prices spike, your costs convulse. As transportation fuel, manufacturing feedstock, and agriculture input, this global commodity intertwines with your budget. Sudden dips and surges in the oil market translate into wild swings in expenses. Shipments, production, inventory — all shaken by

Artificial intelligence (AI) has often been hyped as having the potential to automate away human jobs. With advancements in computer vision AI that can "see" and generative AI that can write and design, concerns have grown about AI making large segments of the workforce obsolete.  However, a recent

Empty shelves and delayed deliveries have become all too familiar in recent years. The pandemic, geopolitical tensions, and climate disruptions have exposed the Achilles’ heel of globalized supply chains: their vulnerability to shocks.  This is underlined by a recent analysis from S&P Global Market Intelligence’s Head of

On the surface, last year's record electric vehicle (EV) sales crossing one million units seems like sunny news for automakers heavily invested in an electrified future. However, inventory stockpiles of new EVs gathering dust at dealerships across America cloud that optimism. This growing gap between manufacturing capacity and

Nike recently downgraded its growth expectations, projecting sales to rise only ~1% this fiscal year along with cost-cutting initiatives underway. Given Nike's industry bellwether status, this signals cooling demand could spread across apparel, ushering in a growth moderation period after over a decade of expansion.   For apparel businesses,