John’s Blog

8-17-09

Dear Friends,

It appears the economy has bottomed out with industrial production increasing in the US for the first time in 18 months.  The Federal Reserve announced last week that even though production is down 13.1 percent from a year ago that July showed the first month over month increase.

The New York Manufacturing Index rose 13 points to a level that had not been reached since November of 2007.

In transportation, the railroads are reporting better traffic as the economy slowly gets better.  Some economists are projecting a 3.5 percent rise in the third quarter GDP which should help all modes except the LTL industry as they continue to suffer from over capacity.

Poor retailer results in July show that the consumer is still sitting on the sideline.  Preliminary numbers from “Back to School” are disappointing.  We can only hope that consumers find their wallets by Christmas.

At Wagner we are proud to have been recognized twice.  Wagner Industries was named a Top 100 3PL by Inbound Logistics Magazine and a Top 70 3PL by Food Logistics Magazine.

Our IT & engineering folks are in Jacksonville FL installing our Red Prairie WMS to accommodate the needs of a new major paper customer.  We are already receiving and scanning inbound loads as inventory builds.

In Grand Prairie TX (Dallas) the Wagner team kicked off operations for a new e-commerce fulfillment account.  This extensive pick & pack operation uses Red Prairie too and pickers are using wrist mounted finger scanners to check for accuracy.

If you have any upcoming projects please give me a call.  Use Wagner’s ability to execute to your advantage in Distribution/fulfillment, transportation, and packaging.

Have a great week,

John