Archive: Jan 2002

Keeping Pace with Logistics IT

Supply chain management practices are tough to integrate with ERP. Executive Editor Robert Malone assembled a panel of four logistics IT experts to benchmark the state of the supply chain ERP integration challenge.

Read More

Outsourcing from the Buyer’s Side of the Table

Since as long as I have been in the business, experts have debated the pros and cons of outsourcing logistics services as well as strategies for successful outsourcing. With logistics service providers claiming they can cure everything but world hunger, it is important to remember these 10 fundamental rules when you are on the buying […]

Read More

Web Portal Delivers Ocean Freight Connectivity

Despite some wavering in the e-commerce industry, web portals are not only here to stay, they have great potential to be a B2B growth area, and for good reason. Portals allow companies to take advantage of immediate, online access to trading partners, suppliers, and service providers. This access can lead to greater levels of collaboration, […]

Read More

9-11: A Supply Chain Call to Action

Amid tighter security restrictions, businesses in all sectors are struggling to find the proper balance between speeding product flow and ensuring security compliance. Here’s how three industry sectors integrate safety and security concerns to ensure a smoother, safer supply chain.

Read More

Mergers & Acquisitions: Disparate Measures

Integrating disparate supply chains demands a holistic approach, with careful detail to every core function. From IT compatibility to corporate culture clashes, this article sorts out complicated pieces of supply chain integration to find out where they fit in today’s M&A puzzle.

Read More

8 Steps to Info Systems Happiness

Before you go looking for an ERP solution, you must define an information systems architecture for your company. Follow these eight steps and turn that IT frown upside down.

Read More

3PL Liabilities Exposed: Who Gets Stuck With the Bill?

3PL usage is increasing. Along with that are corollary increases in liability. Just what are the limits of liabilities for all partners—transport buyer, intermediary, carrier? Legally who is responsible for what? This feature explores 3PL liability limits as seen through the eyes of a top logistics legal expert. While the term 3PL may be relatively […]

Read More

Maximizing LTL Efficiency

How efficient are you at less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping? The solution to reducing freight costs and lag times could lie right at your own docks. Here are 10 tips to maximize your LTL efficiency from Jon Winkler, vice president, operations at Chicago-based J&A Freight Systems, a logistics solutions provider. 1. Accurate information is key. When obtaining […]

Read More

Reader Profiles

This new column featuring logistics professionals who’ve been around the block a few times and have volunteered to share their experiences with readers. This debut installment features three profiles; future issues will carry one profile each.

Read More

Crossborder Transport 2002: It’s a Whole New Ballgame

Moving the products that make up billions of dollars in NAFTA trade poses new transportation challenges for shippers and carriers alike. Security enforcement and delays in this time of uncertainty are raising the bar on many compliance issues. How best to deal with it? Here’s some advice. New Year’s Day marked the eighth anniversary of […]

Read More

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow

Logistics innovations take courage, resources, and time—but the payback can be great. Here’s a look at key logistics developments over the years, what companies are doing today, and how to become a logistics innovator.

Read More

How Logistics Shaped Our Nation: Making Waves

New York, it turns out, achieved its “Empire State” status, at least in part, because of the canals that linked New York City to the Midwest and the west. That point was made in a recent PBS special on New York State and the integral role transportation played. Products, people and ambition flowed west. Raw […]

Read More

Producing the January Issue: Making Planners

While the publisher is thinking about making waves, I am busy editing and producing this Logistics Planner issue. It’s what I look forward to most each year. I guess I love pain, because I am writing this—the last page to go to the printer—in the office late Sunday afternoon. But it’s worth the effort. My […]

Read More

Reading the Logistics Radar Screen

Private network proliferation and the Internet’s global commercialization improve productivity in manufacturing and customer-facing business operations. But at the interface between information technology and the physical world of transportation and logistics, we still have a long way to go. The flip side of the IT revolution is that the quality of data fed into logistics […]

Read More

Creating New Avenues for Cost Reductions

To significantly reduce logistics costs, look beyond network optimization and rate reductions from your carriers. Transportation providers have limited opportunity left to cut costs, yet significant savings opportunities—in managing inbound inventory, reducing static inventory, and increasing supply chain velocity—often go untapped. The challenge in achieving these benefits is to replace traditional thinking with a new […]

Read More