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Safeguarding Shots; Electrified Valuations; Appliance Upheaval
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PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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Today's newsletter was written by WSJ Logistics Report's Jennifer Smith.
Healthcare supply chains are using logistics technology and spycraft to safeguard coveted doses of Covid-19 vaccines. Hospitals, drugmakers and health officials are beefing up security plans across distribution networks, the WSJ’s Jared Hopkins reports, in a bid to protect the shots from professional thieves who have also targeted coronavirus supplies like tests and masks. As leading vaccine candidates edge closer to use, potential weak links include truck stops, distribution centers and hospitals with lax security. U.S. marshals will ride shotgun once shots now stored in secret locations are authorized for distribution. Vaccine makers plan tactics such as fake shipments in dummy trucks to confuse
criminals, and will use GPS to track products through the supply chain. With global theft and counterfeiting of pharmaceutical products on the rise, one hospital purchasing group is urging members to treat the shots like controlled substances and take precautions including conducting inventory by hand.
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Investors are dashing into largely untested electric-vehicle startups as they hunt for the next auto-industry titan. Electric-and hybrid-truck venture Hyliion and Lordstown Motors are among the companies using blank-check mergers to go public before proving they can build their product, or in some cases even generate revenue, the WSJ’s Eliot Brown reports. Hyliion has a roughly $3.5 billion market capitalization despite having made fewer than two dozen natural-gas-and-battery-powered drivetrains. The investor rush comes as traditional auto makers are putting their considerable heft into electrification, including efforts to develop fuel cells for heavy-duty trucks.
That could make it tougher for new companies to break into an increasingly competitive market as regulators in California and abroad push to limit vehicle emissions. Critics of the investor enthusiasm point to Nikola’s plunging stock price amid allegations that it exaggerated its technology and progress toward building hydrogen-powered trucks.
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Thomas Healy, CEO of Hyliion. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG NEWS
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“The distribution at this scale of such a valuable product with such high care is going to be a very significant challenge for the industry.”
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— TraceLink CEO Shabbir Dahod, whose company’s technology is being used to track Covid-19 vaccines.
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Whirlpool's supply chain can't keep up with the appliance maker's domestic demand. While homebound consumers are clamoring for kitchen mixers and refrigerators, coronavirus-related supply constraints weighed on the company’s third-quarter results, the WSJ’s Austen Hufford reports, crimping revenue in North America as product backlogs there remain elevated. Overall net sales rose 3.9% to $5.29 billion on strong demand for appliances, with Whirlpool projecting 2020 revenue to fall by 1% or less, an improvement from earlier forecasts as consumer spending plummeted at the start of the pandemic. CEO Marc Bitzer says lower prices for raw materials and cost-cutting efforts earlier this year helped drive an 11%
increase in quarterly net earnings, positioning Whirlpool “to capitalize on the structural improvements in housing and consumer trends."
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877,413
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Loaded container imports into California’s ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in September, 15.9% more than the same month a year ago.
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