Biofuel Research Can Lead to a Greener Supply Chain – The United States Department of Agriculture has budgeted $136 million for biofuel research. A University of Washington team received $40 million from the plan to research energy crops, which can ultimately lead to the production of renewable aviation fuel. Funding has also been given to teams at Iowa State, Tennessee, and Louisiana State for research on sustainable fuel for the supply chain. The growing need for biofuel production could result in hundreds of thousands of new industry jobs by 2022.
Read more from Supply Chain Digital.
Ultra Large Vessels on Order will Dominate the Seas – Market analysts forecast that large container vessels with capacities beyond 7,500 TEUs will soon dominate the shipping industry. Bigger container ships are being used to decrease the slot cost per TEU and achieve higher efficiency levels as goods production increases. Currently, more than half of container vessels on order can shoulder loads exceeding 10,000 TEUs – double the capacity of vessels ten years ago. Environmental critics are looking for more innovation from the industry and argue that building ever-larger ships cannot be the only strategy for reducing carbon emissions.
Read more from the JOC .
UK’s Largest Container Port Opens New Shipping Terminal – The Port of Felixstowe, UK’s largest container port, recently opened a new deep water shipping terminal. The port currently handles over 40% of the country’s container cargo, worth about €60 billion of imports and exports. The expansion of the new deep water shipping terminal makes it possible for the UK to receive the largest container ships currently on order and can result in an additional €20 billion of trading volume.
Read more from Eye for Transport.
Mobile Technology in the Supply Chain – Advancement in mobile technology has been a huge contributing factor in the revamping of communication and supply chain efficiency. Reports indicate that about a quarter of supply chain managers use mobile technology to scan barcodes, and 69% of them use it daily in supply chain operations. They are using Apple’s iPhone and iPad to facilitate warehouse management and support order picking processes. Smartphones have become a valuable tool in many processes including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
Read more from About.com 2022lpl Blog .
