Archive: Jan 2005

Talking Tactics with IBM

The global outsourcing trend has generated enough excitement in the media and the business community to heat a small Midwest city for a year. At issue is the concern that outsourcing strips away many U.S. jobs, and does detriment to America’s general long-term economic well being. The fact that outsourcing is by no means new […]

Read More

Cheri McCaslin: She’s Got Game

Cheri McCaslin first gained a taste for logistics when she taught herself to run a transportation brokerage. A few months into her job at a local delivery service in St. Louis, the company earned its brokerage authority. “The company decided it needed someone to start the brokerage,” McCaslin says, “and they handed the job to […]

Read More

Supply Chain Security: It’s Everyone’s Responsibility

Issues surrounding supply chain security top the corporate priority list these days. Do governments bear the burden of keeping the global supply chain safe, or, by working together more effectively, can the private sector get the job done? Which is steeper—the cost to implement security procedures, or the price we pay for being unprepared? Differing opinions, strategies, and outlooks abound. Two industry experts share their thoughts on mitigating the risks of today’s threats to supply chain security.

Read More

Environmental Compliance: Seeing Green

The EPA’s 2007 low-emission diesel engine specifications loom large in the minds of shippers and carriers. Will the industry take the high road and embrace the eco-friendly policies?

Read More

Build to Scale: Bringing PLM to the Masses

As globalization continues to level the playing field, smaller enterprises embrace PLM solutions as a go-to-market strategy for managing and scaling growth, and enhancing visibility and communication within the supply chain.

Read More

Panama Gold

Increasing congestion at West Coast ports, greater demand for predictability in the supply chain, and growing capacity constraints magnify the importance of the Panama Canal as a viable alternate route. Are global shippers and supply chain partners ready to take the all-water plunge?

Read More

Business Continuity: Ready, Set, Prepare

From labor slowdowns, port congestion, and power out­ages to wildfires, hurricanes, and terrorist attacks, we’ve seen no dearth of disasters that can shatter a company’s supply chain and transportation networks. Here’s how to plan for supply chain continuity—no matter what the obstacle.

Read More

Supply Chain Strategies: On-Demand is In Demand

“We’ve always had a supply chain. But until fairly recently, it was an adjunct to the ‘real’ business. Something to be managed rather than used as a strategic weapon. “The supply chain was plumbing. It was back office—the unglamorous work of negotiating contracts, procuring parts, getting them to the people making the products, then loading […]

Read More

Flexibility: AM General

Cutting-edge technology helps AM General optimize supply chain operations, enhance manufacturing flexibility, and add horsepower to marketing efforts.

Read More

Selecting a 3PL Without an RFP

Eleven years ago, Chuck Franzetta, president of logistics consulting group Franzetta Associates, was asked to consult for a major transportation entity trying to to jump-start its struggling third-party logistics division. He discovered that the 3PL was primarily focused on preparing detailed responses to a slew of RFPs (Request for Proposal), which cost the company a […]

Read More

Optimization: Game On

Like the Mousetrap game, optimizing logistics requires precision timing, nerves of steel, and a little bit of luck to reach your goal. While you may not care about catching mice, you certainly care about speeding shipments, reducing inventory, delighting customers or just plain cutting costs. Here are the strategies of several logistics leaders who put their optimizing game face on and play to win.

Read More