HP® And The Panama Canal
HP’s supply chain innovation through the Panama Canal expansion.
With the cold winter approaching, thoughts of the sunny south seem like a good idea to me. How about the Panama Canal for starters?
Did you know that the Panama Canal, which connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans together between North and South America, is currently being expanded. Yes, it is undergoing a vast expansion to the tune of $5.25 billion dollars. Currently, the canal is only able to accommodate ships holding less than 5000 containers. But with modern advancements and increased demand for shipping globally, ships now are built bigger and wider to haul more freight, up to 13000 containers. So to meet these needs, the Canal is being expanded.
The Canal currently handles approximately 5% of the world’s shipping trade with more than 13000 ships passing through annually. Once completed next year, the Canal is set to double the amount of goods that pass through it each year. It will have three lanes of transit, with wider, deeper locks.
Now you’re asking, cool info to share, but why is this is important to us and what does HP®have to do with this? Well, the Panama Canal is extremely crucial to worldwide companies such as HP. HP produces over 108 million personal computers and printers a year to over 6 continents. That is a lot of freight.
This expansion will allow HP to improve their existing supply chain network by being able to further improve transit times; lower inventory levels, as they will now ship directly from Panama to their customers; and with using water transportation instead of air is said to allow them to lower carbon emissions by 40%, reducing their environmental footprint.
This expansion further plays into HP®’s established Supply Chain Responsibility program and their HP Living Process, which aim to develop a holistic approach to social, economic and environmentally responsible citizenship. They have undertaken other supply chain optimization plans in Greece and China and continue to look for more ways to continuously improve.
For further information on HP® and to assist you with all your printing technology needs, call us at (800) 643-2664 and immediately talk to one of our friendly representatives; or chat us up on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn!
Sources:
http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-information/global-citizenship/index.htm
