Editorial: Innovation in Logistics will Drive SC Recovery

Guest Contribution by Susie Shannon, President & CEO of SC Council on Competitiveness

What’s driving our economy right now? Innovation in Logistics. 

What will be key to driving our recovery? You guessed it — Innovation in Logistics. 

Lately, it seems that every day presents new challenges and opportunities to figure out what it looks like to work from home during a global crisis. But while I’m sorting that out with a view from my couch, it’s impossible not to think of a few of those who are out working on the front lines for us: healthcare workers, retailers and grocers, and the truckers who move needed products to all of them on behalf of all of us.

Dealing with the disruption caused by coronavirus has exposed the fault lines in both our work and home lives from the profound to the simple — Who and what are essential; can our innovative and transformative ideas withstand a predicted downturn; and, notably, have we been taking the availability of toilet paper for granted all our lives?  

But, at the same time, this crisis has revealed an often-shrouded hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurship that has always glimmered as a key part of our everyday lives in the best of times, but now beams in an even more critical role during these worst of times: Innovation in Logistics and our supply chain economy. 

Wait, Logistics? Yes, Logistics, but more innovatively-powerful than most people ever considered before, with the current crisis highlighting the important role moving “stuff” plays in our everyday life: Transporting life-saving medical supplies, stocking bags of rice in grocery stores, and keeping our bathrooms comfortably full of toilet paper. Artificial intelligence isn’t just at the heart of telling Siri or Alexa to order the next shipment of dog food.  For instance, AI is taking photos of cargo using special cameras to identify damage and identify an appropriate corrective action while products are en route, thereby saving companies time and money. Autonomous vehicles aren’t just for Tesla lovers; during the pandemic crisis, grocers are using autonomous robots to deliver groceries for contactless orders to neighborhood customers.  From digital marketplaces, to Smart Data, to predictive hiring, and robotics and automation, Logistics develops and deploys the best in technology and innovation to make sure our just-in-time economy can deliver what we need, when we need it.

From Supply Chain to Demand Chain

Getting what we need – and when we need it — requires both art and science. That’s what the SC Council on Competitiveness and its many partners do to promote Logistics every day, from supporting our trucking partners to encouraging the latest-and-greatest in tech.  South Carolina’s Logistics economy and companies are moving faster than we ever have before, even in the midst of the traffic jam that this public health crisis has caused. 

Where do we see it? In homegrown SC-based logistics companies, of course:

• ShipChain is using blockchain documents so that every player in the supply chain – from start to finish – has down-to-the moment data to prevent and identify problems that could snarl the supply chain.
• TrueLoad Time is determining average wait times at shipper and receiver locations so that companies can make smart decisions to make deliveries fast instead of waiting in endless lines.
• Fast Fetch is improving the speed and accuracy of piece-picking to create a revolutionary system for order fulfillment.

 

That’s just a small sampling of how Logistics companies are delivering for our economy, but it’s only the beginning. In these uncertain times, one thing is clear: returning our lives to normal will require even mo

MSIB USCG 13-20 COVID-19 TWIC Operations.pdf

COVID-19-Business Impact-Report_3.23.20.pdf

News & Notes April 9, 2020

Port News

NC Port Ready for 14,000TEU Vessels Following Completion of Turning Basin (AJOT)

Golden Ray Salvage Continuing Day and Night (GCaptain)

Steamship/Pilot

Container Shipping Lines Cancel Sailings to Weather Coronavirus Storm (WSJ)

Ships Are Moving, but Exhausted Sailors Stuck at Sea (WSJ)

Coronavirus Pushes Shipping Companies Into Survival Mode (WSJ)

MSC Prepares to Store Cargoes at TransShipment Hubs (Lloyd’s List)

Truck/Rail

Biggest Chokepoint in Global Food Supply Chain: Trucks (Detroit News)

Forwarders Switch Focus from Costly Air and Ocean to Overland Asia-Europe (Loadstar)

Supply Chain/Logistics

Warehouse Hiring Surge Defies US Crashing Jobs Market (WSJ)

Overflowing Oil Tanks Have Traders Eying Rail Cars for Storage (Bloomberg)

Logistics Firms Endeavor to Keep Goods Moving As Much as Economy Slows Down (WSJ)

Maritime Start Ups Face Coronavirus Cull (Freightwaves)

Inventory, Network Optimization Among Most Widely Adopted Supply Chain Technology (Supply Chain)

Commerce

Coronavirus Exacts a Toll From Business Winners Too (WSJ)

Custom Brokers Applaud US Customs Keeping Borders Open to Cargo (Freightwaves)

Marine Safety Information Bulletin

U. S. Coast Guard MSIB Number: 14-20

Sector Charleston Date: April 3, 2020

Waterways Management Division

196 Tradd Street

Charleston, SC 29401

E-Mail: D07-PF-SECTORCHASN-WWM@uscg.mil

Port Access Route Study (PARS)

Sector Charleston, SC

ACTION: Notice of study; request for comments. SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is conducting a Port Access Route Study (PARS) to determine whether existing or additional vessel routing measures are necessary along the seacoast of North Carolina and in the approaches to the Cape Fear River and Beaufort Inlet (hereinafter, “NCPARS”). The study is focused on routes between port approaches and international entry and departure transit areas affecting North Carolina ports. The NCPARS will consider whether existing or additional routing measures are necessary to improve navigation safety due to factors such as planned or potential offshore development, current port capabilities and planned improvements, increased vessel traffic, existing and potential anchorage areas, changing vessel traffic patterns, weather conditions, or navigational difficulty. The aim of vessel routing measures are to reduce the risk of casualties. Examples of potential measures include traffic separation schemes, two-way routes, recommended tracks, deep-water routes, precautionary areas, and areas to be avoided. The recommendations of the study may lead to future rulemakings or appropriate international agreements. DATES: Comments and related material must be received on or before May 18, 2020. Requests for a public meeting must be submitted on or before April 17, 2020. For additional information and/or to coordinate a public meeting regarding the NCPARS, please visit the below website.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/03/18/2020-05653/port-access-route-study-seacoast-of-north-carolina-including-offshore-approaches-to-the-cape-fear

This MSIB can be viewed at https://homeport.uscg.mil/port-directory/charleston.

The Post and Courier   •   USA   •   Apr 5   •   03:00 pm Former SC scrap tire dump, now cleaned up, gets new owner going to take some time." Business After busy February, Charleston port expects a springtime slowdown By David Wren...    The Wall Street Journal   •   USA   •   Apr 5   •   07:11 am Ships Are Moving, but Exhausted Sailors Are Stuck at Sea Under Coronavirus Restrictions Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line, at South Carolina’s Port of Charleston in February....    Savannahnow.com   •   USA   •   Apr 2   •   11:35 am Georgia Ports Authority announces Saturday gate closures cargo continues to slow due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Georgia Ports Authority announced this week. Truck gates don’t operate... Journal of Commerce –  April 3, 2020 Hapag-Lloyd to pass on NY-NJ container charge to customers Hugh Morley https://www.joc.com/port-news/us-ports/port-new-york-and-new-jersey/hapag-lloyd-pass-ny-nj-container-charge-customers_20200403.html Journal of Commerce – April 3, 2020 US importers urged to ‘proactively’ challenge demurrage charges William Cassidy https://www.joc.com/port-news/us-ports/us-importers-urged-%E2%80%98proactively%E2%80%99-challenge-demurrage-charges_20200403.html

NWS Colleagues and Partners,

The National Weather Service, in an effort to help simplify and reduce the number of our products, is going to propose (in the very near future) eliminating the term "Advisory" from our Watch, Warning, Advisory products.  The public information statement below explains this in more detail.  As part of this change we are also proposing that "Small Craft Advisory" be changed to a "Small Craft Warning".  The criteria for the Small Craft Warning will be the same as the old Small Craft Advisory, so this will literally just be a name change.  There is precedent for this.  Back in the 1970's this product used to be called a Small Craft Warning.  The public information statement below contains a link to a survey in which we are seeking feedback to this renaming proposal.  There will be a larger survey at a later date on the removal of "Advisory" across the board, but this survey is just for Small Craft Advisory.  Please send the survey out far and wide so we get a lot of feedback.  Publishers, feel free to write an article.  The survey will be live through May 24, 2020.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Public Information Statement

https://www.weather.gov/media/notification/pns20-14small_craft_advisory.pdf

Survey on the proposal to rename Small Craft Advisory to Small Craft Warning (very short survey - 4 questions)

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VZGX6BF  

Regards,

Darren

--

Darren Wright
National Marine Program Leader
NOAA/National Weather Service - W/AFS26
1325 East West Highway
Station 13134
Silver Spring, MD. 20910
Cell: 240-338-1347
Tel: 301-427-9283      

E-mail: darren.wright@noaa.gov

Sector Charleston MSIB 13-20 Vessel Inspections.pdf

NVIC_01-20_CyberRisk_dtd_2020-02-26.pdf

Cyber NVIC FAQs.docx

MSIB 20-001 COVID-19 Cruiseship Medical Capabilities_Signed.29Mar20.pdf