Archive: Dec 2008

Green Shipping: Taking it Portside

Green Shipping: Taking it Portside

Ports play an important role in reducing the global carbon footprint of maritime shipping, says a new report by the International Transport Forum (ITF). Greenhouse gas emissions from shipping currently represent around 2.6 percent of total global emissions. Without reduction measures, this share could more than triple by 2050. The International Maritime Organization has set […]

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Gen Z Shifts Operations Into Hyperdrive

The transition to an autonomous supply chain is underway as Gen Z enters the workforce. Leaders should look to hire Gen Zers and consider these steps when digitizing, says a Gartner report: Automation: Identify and automate all repetitive, non-value-added tasks, like procure-to-pay and customer claim management. Robotic process automation is the primary technology for this. […]

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Choosing Voice-Directed Technology

Voice-based warehousing can result in high productivity and accuracy rates, safe working conditions, and a boost in worker morale. It can also have a positive impact on your organization’s bottom line. Paul Lightfoot, CEO and president of Rockaway, N.J.-based solutions provider AL Systems Inc., offers advice for selecting a voice-directed technology vendor. 1. Analyze your […]

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Establishing a Successful Industrial Park

Despite a rocky start, the North Carolina Global TransPark (GTP), a state managed and financed multi-modal transportation park, is thriving today. Conceived 20 years ago as an aviation-centered global assembly and distribution point, the 2,400-acre business park, located in the state’s southeastern quadrant near Kinston, encountered its share of problems before landing its first significant […]

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Do Your Logistics Partners Value Customer Service?

The most dreaded phrase in the English language just might be: “Please hold for the next available operator.” Good customer service experiences have become few and far between, with more companies either entrusting their customer outreach to computerized voice-prompted systems, or worse, outsourcing to call centers that have little knowledge about the companies they represent. […]

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Macro? No, Micro Economics

“The economy is bad so we’d better make cuts that hurt customer service.” OK, no business would set out with this goal, but often the results are the same. And the consequences of poor service in today’s economic climate are irrevocable. While the macro economic news is bad, customer service is all about managing micro […]

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Hospital Logistics Gets a Check-Up

Symptoms such as erratic billing rates, supply closet vertigo, and constricted inventory flow have healthcare facilities diagnosing better supply chain management as the cure for what ails them. To improve their condition, they’ll need help from suppliers and service providers.

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Customer Service Gets Personal

MORE TO THE STORY: SERVICE BY EXCEPTION Businesses today face the unenviable task of reducing supply chain costs while increasing front-facing service to end customers. Technology and automation help integrate and expedite service, but they don’t allay the problems and emotions—good, bad, and indifferent—that befall poor execution or unforeseeable exceptions. The business-to-consumer universe is rife […]

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Standing out in the Crowd

Whether you’re a rookie warehouse operator, a mid-level transportation manager, or a veteran logistician, industry associations can help you make a name for yourself.

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Charles Graffeo, Sr.: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

Coffee drinkers in certain regions of the South should raise their cups in salute to Charles Graffeo, Sr. At Community Coffee Company in Baton Rouge, La., Graffeo is responsible for the whole process chain—purchasing, logistics, manufacturing, and distribution—that takes coffee from bean to cup. Graffeo joined Community Coffee in 2006 as general manager of manufacturing. […]

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