Trump Urges Automakers to Start Making Ventilators

It seems unlikely that an automobile manufacturer would make a ventilator for a novel coronavirus patient. But in fact, they may be well suited to mass production of highly complex medical equipment, which is in desperate shortage.

Think of the carmakers’ vast supply chains, staffed by skilled engineers. They are used to producing to strict standards and sometimes use “clean rooms” in factories. There are even similarities between some parts of a ventilator and a car, such as a hose.

Days after ford motor Co. and general motors Co. said they would help produce the emergency equipment, Mr. Trump stepped up the pressure and on Friday used federal authority to speed production.

General motors must immediately reopen the plant it foolishly abandoned in lordstown, Ohio, or something else. Anyway, we’ve got to start making ventilators, now! Ford, build the ventilator!! General motors @ford motor company
— Donald j. trump, March 27, 2020

In any case, carmakers now have no choice. Days after ford motor Co. and general motors Co. said they would help produce the emergency equipment, Mr. Trump stepped up the pressure and on Friday used federal authority to speed production.

Even with a simplified product, there are still doubts about whether the carmakers will be able to do their part to make these medical devices, especially if they are a little unfamiliar to them.

Coronavirus: New challenge to buy in Mercadona

I am going to talk about “Mercadona” which you can find it at every corner in Valencia.Mercadona is the Spanish distribution chain that sells the most own-brand or reseller branded products, accounting for 46.5 per cent of the total products sold. In addition, about 60% of the products it sells come from its own brands.Literally，we can buy basic things we need for life in here.

In this crisis time, Mercadona as a resource of people living .It is a huge responsibility to make sure enough physical supply.

“If there is anything that will make the situation worse it is fear,” said Juan Roig, chairman of Mercadona supermarket chain, who insists that the reason shelves are empty is because people are stockpiling rather than because there is a shortage.

“If you see the shelves are empty, that’s because they are sold out in that shop not because there aren’t more stocks in the warehouses. Our outlets are being restocked daily.”

Meanwhile  Aurelio del Pino, the head of ACES, an association representing large supermarket chains in Spain , assures that “supplies to the stores are absolutely guaranteed in every region of Spain.”

In Mercadona, we are seeing no disruption to the supply chain beyond the shortage of hand sanitizing gels and alcohol cleansers.

He insists that products are being restocked daily.

Supply and internal measures：
As they have assured, the stores will remain supplied, reinforcing and guaranteeing the supply of basic and basic necessities, so that our clients can make their daily purchases. In order to protect food safety, in no case and under no circumstances will product returns be accepted.

Supermarket delivery services full to capacity

For those who want to avoid the mayhem of visiting the supermarket, might online ordering and delivery to the door prove a solution? 

Take-away delivery services are still operating.Well, yes but there are reported difficulties from across the board of supermarkets with delivery slots not being available for up to a week in advance.  

"hospital indoor logistics robot" is employed to escort medical workers

More and more intelligent devices and artificial intelligence products are applied to the anti-epidemic front line, showing the hard power of China’s intelligent manufacturing.

It is understood that the robot can accurately complete the 24-hour non-contact autonomous distribution of clean materials such as hospital meals and medical supplies. At the same time, it can realize the functions of regular movement, meals and medical articles handling. Thus effectively improve the hospital operation efficiency, reduce the risk of cross-infection between doctors and patients, reduce the burden of medical staff.

Since the outbreak of new crown pneumonia, the hospitals in the open area have made active prevention and control deployment. The prevention and control of new coronavirus pneumonia is a systematic project involving space structure, human and material resources, etc. In order to reduce the input of medical staff, reduce the risk of cross-infection, and deal with the shortage of epidemic prevention materials, the hospitals in the area immediately raised the demand for robot services.

We will develop and produce disinfection robot, medicine delivery robot, human indicators monitoring robot, physiotherapy robot and a series of products suitable for clinical use in hospitals. These “iron guardians” will help the medical staff who are fighting against the epidemic, get out of the basic work, and better deal with the epidemic and treat the patients.

Intelligent supply chain

JINGDONG has demonstrated the distinct advantages of “new infrastructure construction” represented by digitalization, which not only ensures the supply of materials in the epidemic area and supports the safe operation of a large number of medical institutions, but also opens the mode of contactless distribution in advance.

In the future, intelligent supply chain can integrate supply, production, marketing and sales in an efficient way, and can use data to accurately match resources. In layman’s terms, what you need is an idea that can be produced and delivered quickly through an intelligent supply chain. Don’t think this is a fantasy, about this, JINGDONG has had a preliminary attempt.

The “digital supply chain” under the self-run logistics mode can not only serve its own business development and improve user experience, but also help a large number of traditional enterprises to break through the difficulties caused by the epidemic and carry out digital transformation. Meanwhile, it can provide enterprises with abundant and cost-effective material support and multi-scene services. Of course, for every batch of businesses that survive, there are millions of families behind them with a source of income.

Logistics and express delivery: the crisis and the opportunity under the Corona Virus

At the critical moment of fighting against the CORONA VIRUS, many citizens had to choose the consumption method of “staying indoors”.

SHUNFENG as a China famous express company.The scientific and technological strength of sf express is also demonstrated in the transportation of anti-epidemic materials. Sf ark uav joined in the delivery of epidemic prevention materials to local hospitals in wuhan, demonstrating the effectiveness of effectively eliminating the impact of road restrictions and community closure, reducing the delivery time and delivering emergency supplies to designated places in the shortest time. Meanwhile, the delivery of uav can effectively avoid the face-to-face contact between delivery personnel and medical personnel and avoid cross-infection. Since its first flight to jinyintan on Feb. 12, sf express has been increasing the number and routes of drones to coordinate the delivery of relief supplies in wuhan.

In addition to the full cargo transport, sf express international is also committed to transport from overseas organizations, enterprises and Chinese enterprises and individuals sent to the domestic medical supplies. Because the outbreak caused the Spring Festival suspension of the international airlines can not resume normal flights, this to the purchasing country Foreign medical supplies caused great difficulties. In this special case, sf on February 14 emergency resumption of the European freight route. On the one hand, it provides international supply chain transportation support for the delivery of medical materials. On the other hand, it will restore the supply chain for consumer electronics exports to Europe, which will be operated by sf airlines’ current largest aircraft, the b747-400erf, with a maximum capacity of 110 tonnes per flight.

In the short term, the epidemic has had a huge impact on the Courier industry in terms of orders, labor and delivery. However, although the epidemic has affected the short-term benefits of express delivery enterprises, it has not affected the intrinsic value of express delivery enterprises. On the contrary, the outbreak has raised consumers’ awareness of the importance of express delivery, which will help increase the penetration rate of online shopping, from which express delivery companies will benefit.

The continued spread of the epidemic has seriously hindered People’s Daily life. Outdoor activities have been canceled and most people are confined to their homes, but daily necessities are essential, which means the outbreak will cause a surge in demand for online shopping and express delivery.

Asia Pacific air cargo industry traumatized by Coronavirus

Since the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Outbreak emanated in the Far East, it should come as no surprise that its disruptive impact on global logistics struck there first. Analysts agree that the one transport mode most facing the greatest challenges now and in the foreseeable future is the air cargo industry. 

Asia-Pacific carriers last December posted a decrease in demand of 3.5% compared to the same period a year earlier. Capacity increased by 2.8%. The full-year 2019 saw volumes decline 5.7%, the largest decrease of any region, while capacity increased by just 1.1%. 

As the world’s main manufacturing region, international trade tensions and the global growth slowdown weighed heavily on regional air freight volumes in 2019.  Within-Asia freight tons were particularly affected (down 8% compared to a year ago).

Some companies are trying to source parts to stock up on inventory, to try to outlast this critical virus period. This in turn, will eventually cause shortages of all kinds as companies pay premium prices and hoard parts.

Yet even if some parts start to trickle out of China, enhanced screening for the virus at airports, and all China border crossings are likely to cause significant delays. 

New Trends And Technologies Evolving Supply Chain And Logistics

From manually operated forklifts to today’s robotic machines, warehousing facilities have come a long way. The various autonomous facilities not only help in inventory placement, but also record and verify locations (mobile robots) and transport goods while ensuring safety and fast delivery of goods. With proper management of inventory, a company can plan and schedule better, as inventory visibility helps in exact knowledge about material management and plan for optimum order management. The management of multiple carriers provides choices based on rates or transit times all on one screen instead of contacting multiple carriers. Automation helps in increasing storage density and eases labor overheads, providing companies with more tactical autonomy in their network-footprint decisions.

With Wearable Technology, employees do not need to stop and write every detail manually. It also provides live tracking of goods. It can also monitor vital signs so that health problems (exhaustion, heart attacks) among the warehouse workers can be prevented (especially during working hours), making technology more humane. Employees and wearables work in unison as it helps in reducing inaccuracy, thus enhancing safety and increasing productivity.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can enable much in supply chain, physical machines such as robots and drones can complete deliveries despite bad traffic or unfavorable weather conditions ensuring an easy flow of goods from the point of origin to the point of consumption. But this capability will take some time to be adopted as a common reality as safety and security concerns have to be first addressed and resolved for their commercial usage in public areas. Moreover, as per the research shared by The Economist, the implementation of AI in logistics and supply chain can generate its potential economic value from $1.3 trillion to $2 trillion per year.

The role of technology has changed significantly in the logistics and supply chain industry and it still has the potential to completely change the face of the industry. It is therefore a direct enabler of business growth. The economy widely affected by this industry is all set to grow with the new trends and technologies.