Economists say the cost of just two days of U.S.-Canada trade being halted at the border is $101 million, maybe more. Wayne State University economics professor Michael Belzer says with the pandemic and the supply chain issues, the long-term effects from the Ambassador Bridge closure could be economically catastrophic. “Twenty years ago, I would have answered that we’ll get ourselves back in order in two or three weeks. Now, I don’t know how long that will take, so this is a pretty major national security threat to the United States as well as to Canada. Belzer said if the Canadian government doesn’t shut this down now and other border crossings are disrupted, the cost is incalculable.   

About 100 protestors unhappy with Canadian COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates for people entering the country have shut down the bridge since Monday. The protests are putting a strain on supply chains. About $135 billion in trade between the U.S. and Canada goes across the Ambassador Bridge every year, and Hugo DeCampos, an assistant professor of supply chain at Wayne State University’s Mike Ilitch School of Business, said roughly one third of that trade is auto-related. The automotive industry has been dealing with supply chain issues throughout the pandemic, and parts shortages have already caused a temporary cut to one shift at a Stellantis plant in Windsor. DeCampos said it’s expensive to keep vast amounts of inventory and that leaves automakers susceptible to shortages. “Now when you stop that bridge, if you have those parts that are required hourly, then you’re in trouble,” DeCampos said. “Anytime an assembly line gets shut down temporarily then not only the assembly plant is not recovering the cost for the machinery and equipment, but now they’re paying some of the highest skilled and highest paid workers to stand idly not creating value. So you get hit with a double whammy.”  

By Nana-Sentuo Bonsu  The global microchip shortage continues to create inventory challenges for local retailers, who say many customers are growing frustrated with the ongoing problem which has impacted everything from video game controllers to household appliances. Some consumers are waiting a year for appliances. Kevin Ketels, a global supply chain management professor at Wayne State University, said the timeline sounds about right. “To be honest, we think that over the next year it should start to flatten out and we will be able to catch up on demand, but it’s hard to say,” Ketels said. He said several things are being done now to tackle the shortage, including a bill put forth by the Biden administration and investments on the part of tech companies to increase and incentivize chip production.  

By Adrienne Roberts   Last month, the Dearborn-based apparel company Carhartt was thrust into the spotlight when a leaked email from its CEO to staff said it would continue with its vaccine mandate – despite the U.S. Supreme Court saying it, and other private companies, did not have to abide by the Biden administration’s vaccine and testing rule that set off court fights and division among workers. The email was widely circulated on social media, with some praising the company’s commitment to worker safety and others criticizing the brand – which they associated with more rural, conservative consumers – for mandating their employees to get vaccinated. The brand has continued to expand its reach, without alienating the blue-collar worker at the core of its customer base. Recently, the brand has been prominently featured on the show “Yellowstone,” which follows a family as they protect their ranch. Jeff Stoltman, a professor of marketing at the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University noted the rise of the show’s popularity is concurrent with a movement of younger people out to the western U.S. “They’re yearning for that simplicity,” Stoltman said. “There’s a lot of forces that are converging on: ‘What do you wear when you’re an outdoorsy person?’” 

By Rose White  At some grocery stores, bare shelves are continuing into 2022. It brings back memories of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when toilet paper shelves were picked clean and hand sanitizer was hard to find. Retailers are caught in a web of issues, including supply chain disruptions, labor shortages and high COVID-19 cases. From cereal to soup to December’s cream cheese demand, fully stocked shelves can be hit or miss at stores. John Taylor, professor of global supply chain management at Wayne State University, says both supply and changing consumer demand are snarling supply chains. “The demand signal is not clear,” he said. “There’s inadequate communication and information flowing through the supply chain to really understand what the actual demand is.” 

With over 50% of Michigan’s population being female and most working outside the home, a panel of experts, including Carey Oven, Leslie Murphy, Carla Bailo, and Terry Barclay, appear on this segment hosted by Carol Cain discussing how women are faring in corporate America. Barclay, president and CEO of Inforum Michigan, shared details of their upcoming 2022 Michigan Women’s Leadership Report which was compiled with the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University. The report examines 82 publicly held companies in Michigan and found a mixed bag of how women are faring in leadership roles.  

Kevin Ketels, assistant professor of teaching in global supply chain management at Wayne State University, delves into the reasons behind ongoing shortages. Ketels suggests there are four reasons for the issue: consumer demand is up, there are fewer workers, there is a shortage of shipping containers, and ports in the U.S. and around the world are clogged. “Before COVID-19, global supply chains worked pretty efficiently to move products around the world,” Ketels said. “There a couple ways we’ll see relief – a shift of consumer spending from goods to services and increased global vaccination rates. I don’t expect either to happen until well into 2022.”  

By Jenn Schanz   If you’ve bought gas or walked into a grocery store in the last several months, you already know that inflation is impacting our daily lives. The latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows consumer prices jumped 7% in December, a near-40-year high. It was up 6.8% for November, and all of this is happening while annual pay increases range from 3-5%. Inflation may move the dial for raises in 2022, but how much will likely depend on your role and your specific company. “The inflation that we’re experiencing right now is a residual effect of the decision that the central banks around the world made last year to flood our economy with money,” said Matthew Roling, an adjunct finance professor at the Wayne state University Mike Ilitch School of Business. Roling said that the move has helped avoid a deep depression from the pandemic, although the increasing costs haves brought employer raises into question. “Employees have a lot more bargaining power with their employers right now than I think we’ve seen in years.”   

Kevin Ketels, assistant professor of teaching in global supply chain management at Wayne State University, shares his insights about the ongoing supply chain and inflation issues. As ongoing supply chain problems impact nearly every industry, some have accused the meat industry of unnecessarily raising prices to increase profit. Ketels says understanding the issue depends greatly on perspective. “If you’re asking the president, he’s saying there’s too much consolidation within the meat processors: they’ve cornered the market. In 1977, we had four firms that controlled 25% of meat processing – it’s about 80% today. That allows them to, perhaps, dictate price and so they have more control,” he said. “If you ask them, they would say that all costs are up: Costs for fertilizer, packaging, transportation, storage, labor. All of those expenses are up, and they’re driving prices up. Plus, demand is up.” Ketels said that he suspects many factors are contributing to the increase in prices, and most of those factors originate with the pandemic and subsequent conditions.   

The United States is experiencing a shortage of more than 80,000 truck drivers, according to an estimate from the American Trucking Associations. The ATA also estimates that 72% of America’s freight transport moves by trucks, which shows just how dependent consumers are on the drivers who deliver turkeys to sores or gas to pumps or the Christmas presents you order to your doorstep. This is not just an American problem. Truck haul comparable amounts of freight in places like the European Union and China, and countries and regions around the world, are experiencing driver shortages. This is also not a new problem. Analysts and industry groups have warned of truck driver shortages for years, around the globe. But supply chain disruptions during the pandemic and surges in demand have made this slow-rolling crisis much more acute. The first thing to know about the truck driver shortage, experts say, is that it’s not exactly a shortage. “It’s a recruitment and retention problem,” said Michael Belzer, a trucking industry expert and professor at Wayne State University. “There are in fact millions of truck drivers – people who have commercial driver’s licenses – who are not driving trucks and are not using those commercial driving licenses, more than we would even need,” Belzer said. “That’s because people have gotten recruited into this job, maybe paid to get trained in this job, and realize, ‘This is not for me. This is not adequate for what I’m doing.’”  

Electric vehicle maker Rivian confirmed its plans to build a $5 billion assembly plant and battery factory in Georgia, which Governor Brian Kemp called the largest single economic development project in the state’s history. Rivian plans to employ 7,500 workers at its factory, a jobs tally state officials have said could grow to 10,000. The plant will be built about an hour east of Atlanta, with construction slated to begin next summer and production at the factory expected to begin in 2024. Georgia beat out Texas and several other states for the factory. While Rivian might be well-financed and valued highly by Wall Street, the company faces several challenges to meet its goals. The company first must deliver quality vehicles, build its capacity to services the vehicles it sells and fend off EV competition from rivals such as Tesla, GM, Ford and Volkswagen, said John C. Taylor, a professor of supply chain management at Wayne State University. “Whether Rivian will get a significant share of (the future EV market), the jury is still out,” Taylor said.  

As Congress seeks solutions to a supply chain crisis that’s keeping shelves empty and consumers frustrated this holiday season, one suggestion keeps recurring: Address the trucker shortage. The American Trucking Association says there’s a need to fill 80,000 trucker jobs to satisfy America’s demand to move freight. The association asserts the jobs pay well, but that there have not been enough quality candidates. That theory stands in stark contrast to the views of an organization representing independent drivers, as well as those of at least four academics who study the industry, who say there isn’t really a shortage at all. Michael Belzer, a professor of economics at Wayne State University, said the issue is a direct outgrowth of the 1980 decision to deregulate interstate trucking. He said deregulation and the resulting collapse of Teamster representation of most truckers led to declining wages and poor job conditions that have effectively pushed drivers out of the industry. “It’s true, they can’t get drivers,” he said. “That’s not a shortage. If you don’t pay minimum wage, you shouldn’t be shocked that you can’t hire drivers.”  

A federal corruption probe into the United Auto Workers has led to an overhaul of the union’s elections, potentially bringing an end to a more than 70-year leadership dynasty under which recent leaders accepted bribes and embezzled millions in members’ dues and fees. UAW members and retirees voted to change the union’s process of electing leaders from a weight, delegate-based system to a direct, or “one member, one vote,” election, according to preliminary results published be a court-appointed UAW monitor. Both the monitor and vote, which still needs to be certified, were results of a settlement between the U.S. Justice Department and union to end a corruption investigation that sent 15 people to prison, including two recent UAW presidents and three Fiat Chrysler executives. Officials say it’s unclear how the new voting system will impact companies with workers represented by the UAW, specifically the Detroit automakers. The impact of the new election system on UAW members as well as companies depends on how the new process is implemented, according to Frank Goeddeke, a senior lecturer in management at Wayne State University. “The devil is always in the details, so that can affect how this is going to play out,” he said. “I do think that with the one member, one vote, that the officers will be more cognizant of how the membership is going to feel about certain things that they do.”  

By Mae Anderson  As the holiday season approaches, many businesses are concerned about inventory. This year, store shelves at businesses may be a little sparse because of bottlenecks in the global supply chain. The global supply chain has been impacted by a multitude of problems, from factories having to close due to COVID-19 surges, lack of containers to ship items in, backups at ports and warehouses, and a shortage of truckers. While bigger retailers like Walmart and Target have the power to buy their own containers, use air freight, and take other steps to make sure they get inventory, smaller retailers are at the mercy of vendors, who are increasingly suspending delivery guarantees and sometimes not communicating at all. In addition to a surge in shipping costs, vendors have reported delays because of backed up shipping ports. Kevin Ketels, a lecturer in global supply chain management at the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University said that normally, there’s no wait for container ships to unload and that such delays are major.  

Metro Detroit's two mortgage company giants — Rocket Companies and United Wholesale Mortgage — have experienced big profits, growing market shares and high industry rankings since going public during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet their stock prices remain stuck in the toilet. The sagging stocks have led to much shareholder grousing, including on online message boards, and in the case of Rocket, the slump has attracted shareholder lawsuits and could even affect how much future philanthropy its founder and chairman Dan Gilbert can give. Detroit-based Rocket Companies, the nation's No. 1 mortgage originator, which has more than 15,000 employees in downtown Detroit, closed Thursday at $16.90, below its August 2020 initial public offering price of $18. Rocket's stock briefly spiked in March to over $40 per share on speculative trading that many compared to the Reddit-induced GameStop rally from early in the year. It then hoovered between $22 and $25 for a couple months before dropping to more or less current levels in early May, after the company issued guidance about shrinking profit margins. "There are very few businesses that are more sensitive to rate increases than UWM and Rocket," said Matthew Roling, executive director of the Office of Business Innovation at Wayne State University's Mike Ilitch School of Business. "You have nowhere to go but up for rates. And more than anything else, that’s what is weighing so heavily on UWM and Rocket." 

You’ve heard time and time again that the coronavirus pandemic triggered the shortage of workers we are seeing today -- but it may not be for the reason that you think. Matt Piszczek, a business professor at Wayne State University, says that the assumption that unemployment checks kept people home during the pandemic is incorrect. Instead, a lot of people began to rethink their careers, priorities and life goals after the health crisis hit. “The pandemic gave them an opportunity to reflect on what’s important,” Piszczek said. “So, things like flexibility became more important than an extra dollar an hour.” 

Workers at Kellogg’s cereal plants in cities that include Battle Creek, and thousands of John Deere workers have walked away from their jobs to strike. "There’s no doubt that there’s a lot of pent-up frustration in the workforce," said Marick Masters. Masters, a professor of business at Wayne State University, believes contract disputes over items which include low wages, are driving this worker stoppage. "We could see a growing militancy on the part of some workers because they are tired of the cumulative effects of declining wages, they see inflation on the rise, and they see the devastating effects of the pandemic, in terms of lost businesses and jobs," he said. 

By Nancy Derringer  When the Detroit Regional Chamber convenes its Covid-delayed Mackinac Policy Conference later this month, it will require attendees to produce proof of vaccination to register. The usual suspects are balking, but the Chamber is standing firm. Its CEO, Sandy Baruah, had a kidney transplant in 2019, and is no doubt on anti-rejection drugs, i.e. immunosuppressants. He probably has a dim view of the trust-me-I-have-natural-immunity sermon preached by Covid survivors. Corporations like these – large, multinational, customer-facing – have advocated for a variety of social causes that some conservatives have dug in their heels on. Same-sex marriage and civil rights for LGBT individuals are only one example. Climate change and environmental impact are driving the auto industry in the direction of electric vehicles and renewable energy. Expect worker safety and security to be a higher priority, not only in company policy, but in their lobbying, too; tax-supported universal preschool isn’t just good for children, but for working parents. And good talent is hard enough to come by as it is. But Matthew Roling, an instructor at Wayne State University’s Mike Ilitch School of Business, warns the rest of us not to get too complacent with these apparent good deeds. “Businesses never do things for altruistic reasons,” Roling said. “It just so happens that the intersection of customers and talent align themselves (with business’ bottom line). Because the moment those issues diverge, they won’t be there to save us.” 

The Global Chip Shortage rages onward and, as of July, has resulted in more than one million unmanufactured vehicles in the U.S. alone and could reportedly extend into 2023. The major question of how such a massive mismatch between supply and demand could exist has multiple answers with several, unrelated root causes (e.g. pandemic affects on usage patterns, an impactful fire at a major Japanese plant caused by an electrical overload), however one of the most frequently suggested reasons was a mismanagement of the supply chain. “When the drop in automotive sales at the beginning of the pandemic happened, automotive companies just halted their orders. There was an implicit tradeoff there: saving cashflow and avoiding potential obsolescence,” said Timothy Butler, professor of global supply chain management, Wayne State University. As Butler points out, another key example of tradeoffs is single sourcing versus competitive sourcing. “If you single source and the supplier goes on strike or has such a catastrophe, you have a single point of failure,” cautions Butler. “Additionally, if that desirable supplier is also single-sourced to your competitor, you might have risks in sharing Intellectual Property.” So what have we collectively learned, if anything? “We all have to admit that hindsight is 20/20,” states Butler, “but these types of problems happen over and over again. Each is viewed as a one-off, but it’s the same thinking that undermines the successful endings.”

A growing executive master's degree program at Wayne State University offers students a flexible opportunity to build skills specific to the automotive and complex manufacturing fields. John Taylor, chairman of the university's Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management in the Ilitch School of Business, and Lori Sisk, a lecturer and career coach in the school, talk about the program, which is also designed as a pipeline of talent for Detroit-area supply chain businesses.