Lee, our leather repair guy, has mended and polished countless shoes and bags and heels and soles for our family over the last couple of decades. From Korea, his English has got better and better and during a recent visit, he told me business was good as the recession had reduced competition but that local distributors had also gone away. So, he was ordering more from IL and VA – higher shipping costs and longer lead times. It made me think about the supply chain of specialty leather, nails and adhesives.
And while I was thinking about that I was stunned to read the NASSTRAC 2013 Shipper of the Year award has gone to …hold on, a maker of pencils. Seriously, how retro is that in our paperless world?
But this is a giant in that industry – Dixon Ticonderoga, one of the oldest US companies still alive, sells a half billion pencils a year and has 150,000 SKUs.
It is a fascinating story of how that contraption of cedar, lead, rubber and layers of iconic yellow paint made in Mexico, China, Korea and India shows up at our local Staples for about 25c, and in time for the back to school spike in orders.
I know not as exciting as the new iPad or the Google autonomous car, but in many ways more heart warming.
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The Internet of Small Supplies
Lee, our leather repair guy, has mended and polished countless shoes and bags and heels and soles for our family over the last couple of decades. From Korea, his English has got better and better and during a recent visit, he told me business was good as the recession had reduced competition but that local distributors had also gone away. So, he was ordering more from IL and VA – higher shipping costs and longer lead times. It made me think about the supply chain of specialty leather, nails and adhesives.
And while I was thinking about that I was stunned to read the NASSTRAC 2013 Shipper of the Year award has gone to …hold on, a maker of pencils. Seriously, how retro is that in our paperless world?
But this is a giant in that industry – Dixon Ticonderoga, one of the oldest US companies still alive, sells a half billion pencils a year and has 150,000 SKUs.
It is a fascinating story of how that contraption of cedar, lead, rubber and layers of iconic yellow paint made in Mexico, China, Korea and India shows up at our local Staples for about 25c, and in time for the back to school spike in orders.
I know not as exciting as the new iPad or the Google autonomous car, but in many ways more heart warming.
The Internet of Small Supplies
Lee, our leather repair guy, has mended and polished countless shoes and bags and heels and soles for our family over the last couple of decades. From Korea, his English has got better and better and during a recent visit, he told me business was good as the recession had reduced competition but that local distributors had also gone away. So, he was ordering more from IL and VA – higher shipping costs and longer lead times. It made me think about the supply chain of specialty leather, nails and adhesives.
And while I was thinking about that I was stunned to read the NASSTRAC 2013 Shipper of the Year award has gone to …hold on, a maker of pencils. Seriously, how retro is that in our paperless world?
But this is a giant in that industry – Dixon Ticonderoga, one of the oldest US companies still alive, sells a half billion pencils a year and has 150,000 SKUs.
It is a fascinating story of how that contraption of cedar, lead, rubber and layers of iconic yellow paint made in Mexico, China, Korea and India shows up at our local Staples for about 25c, and in time for the back to school spike in orders.
I know not as exciting as the new iPad or the Google autonomous car, but in many ways more heart warming.
October 24, 2013 in Industry Commentary | Permalink