CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT

Claus Industries Chief of Logistics, Tidlywinkle Blifflepufph, is retiring after 273 years. Jyngle Wyntergrien, current Vice President of Delivery, will be promoted to the position.

INDUSTRY DIRECTIONS

Supply chains, marketing and wish fulfillment - technology is bringing "magic" closer to reality every day.

Advances in unmanned aerial vehicles, drones and augmented reality assist in surveillance, delivery and real time information.

LABOR DISPUTE

The UEW (United Elf Workers) has reached a tentative agreement to end the strike in the paint division of Elfin Electrocoating. The Tier 2 supplier had proposed a change of benefits.

PLANT EXPANSION

Greenland's St. Nicholas Machining based in Etah is adding a second line to meet anticipated growth in 2018. $15m in financial incentives were provided by the North Pole and will employ an additional 243 workers. The facility produces tin drums for distribution to children worldwide.

PLANT OPENING

Stocking & Christmas Warehousing has opened a new facility in Barrow, Alaska. Specializing in demand-flow manufacturing, the 10m sf facility will coordinate delivery and specialty logistics for partner organizations along the coast of the Arctic Ocean.

PRODUCTION DECREASE

Recent complaints of a productivity decrease at Claus Industries has correlated with the rise in traffic to a new website.

PRODUCTION INCREASE

The Claus Industries facility in Alert, Nunavut has added a third shift to its manufacturing facility. The added workers are expected to address skyrocketing demand for the most popular products.

RAW MATERIALS

Global brass prices are on the rise affecting the production of sleigh bells. Many manufacturers are considering increasing production of nickel sleigh bells to meet demand. Nickel has been relatively stable after a spike in early 2014.

REGULATION

The current North Pole administration is considering changing the law surrounding how asset value is calculated. Gifting toys vs selling them allows Santa to rid his estate tax exclusion of just north of $5m. The government hopes to close this loophole.

Another area of concern for the current administration is the mileage deduction. Certain manufacturing facilities are under scrutiny for claiming a yearly deduction of $43,412,500 (75.5m miles at $0.575/mile).

RISK ANALYTICS

This week's long read: The Atlantic has an interesting breakdown of workload by population density and time zone.

Some call it "The Most Dangerous Job in the World" (infographic)

SUPPLY CHAIN

RTÉ covers the feasibility of on-time delivery in parallel universes and nano-technology (video). 

GO Supply Chain Consulting put together a nice infographic: "The Logistics of Santa Claus".

From Forbes and SAP: Santa's Supply Chain: Best in the World?