Afternoon Coffee: Simfoni adds David Bush as new CEO of Spend Automation; Chip shortage to cut Toyota production; Warehouse employment reaches new high

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Simfoni, a spend intelligence and spend automation provider, announced on Wednesday that itappointed David Bush its CEOof Spend Automation.

Bush has nearly 30 years of executive management experience. He has been considered a leading subject matter expert in procurement, enterprise contract management and supply management. He most recently served as the Chief Revenue Officer ofSpendHQ, a spend analytics provider. Prior to that, he served as co-Founder and CEO of IASTA, a strategic sourcing and spend management solution.

As CEO of Spend Automation for Simfoni, Bush will focus on expansion efforts, specifically through working with CFOs of mid-size businesses that are going digital.

With the addition of Bush, Jason Stern will continue as CEO of Spend Analytics.

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“Simfoni is in the vanguard of spend intelligence and automation, with a great success trajectory and undeniable value proposition for its global clients,” Bush said in a press release. “For me, this is an enormous opportunity to join one of the hottest vendors in procurement at precisely the right time, as the organization hits a major inflection point. I am thrilled to help Simfoni further its mission to provide turnkey spend automation products to an entirely new audience that was previously unable to access best-in-class procurement — mid-size businesses.”

Toyota cuts production at factories because of semiconductor shortage

Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday that it wascutting production by 40%in September at its Japanese plants because of the global semiconductor shortage, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The automaker said in March that its business continuity plan, developed after the tsunami and earthquakes, hadhelped shield it from problemsrelated to the computer chip shortage. But the shortage has dragged on and is now affecting Toyota's production.

The cuts will affect most of Toyota’s plants in Japan and some of its better-selling vehicles. One of its plants near the headquarters in Toyota City that produces the RAV4 and Corolla sedan will close from Sept. 1 to Sept. 17, the article said.

Toyota’s closures are the latest in a string of issues from the semiconductor shortage. The latest problem is a resurgence of COVID-19 infections in Southeast Asia, particularly Malaysia, where many semiconductors are assembled.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to our customers and suppliers,” Toyota said, the WSJ reported.

Warehouse employment reaches new high

Warehouse employmentreached a new high after a few months of low demand, according to Supply Chain Dive.

Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that there were 1.44 million warehouse and storage industry workers in July. This surpassed the previous record high from November and is the third consecutive month the sector has grown. The record-level employment has been linked to a rush to staff up as the Covid pandemic drives up e-commerce demand, Supply Chain Dive said.

"What it means is that instead of having 100 guys driving forklifts that have pallets around, now you've got individuals that have to do a lot of picking and packing," Rich Thompson, international director of supply chain and logistics solutions at JLL, told Supply Chain Dive. "And that requires far more labor."

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