Global Logistics—November 2012
U.S., China Consider Joint Logistics Response Partnership Sometimes shared pain, or even altruism, can create unlikely allies. U.S. and Chinese officials plan to discuss the possibility of combining logistics resources during counter-piracy, humanitarian assistance, and disaster response missions. The United States officially extended an invitation for a team of senior Chinese logisticians to visit Washington […]
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Trends—November 2012
CSCMP: Notes, Quotes, and Totes The 2012 Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) conference in Atlanta was awash with new ideas and strategies, discussions of recurring economic and regulatory challenges, and examples of supply chain best practices. Logisticians and supply chain practitioners on both sides of the supply/demand coin mingled within the expansive Georgia […]
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Michael Smyers: Molecular Logistics
Michael Smyers is associate director, logistics, at Amyris, a manufacturer of chemical products and transportation fuels made from renewable resources, based on an industrial synthetic biology platform. Smyers has worked at Amyris, in Emeryville, Calif., since 2010. Responsibilities: Global logistics, trade compliance, and sourcing. Experience: Internship, TranzAct Technologies; several operational and managerial positions culminating in […]
Read MoreTransloading to Maximize Cost Savings
Transloading offers a cost-effective way to bring ocean containers inland to distribution centers. By transferring cargo without sorting the contents for shipment to a single destination, transloading services can reduce total landed costs, and—when combined with value-added services such as palletizing and shrink-wrapping—reduce handling at the destination. Jeff McCorstin, senior vice president of air and […]
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Retailers Rebalance Time vs. Cost?
For retailers and their value chain partners, practicing inbound logistics provides two competitive advantages—the ability to keep prices low, because matching demand to supply optimizes inventory-to-sales ratios and creates other economies; and the agility to use time as a competitive advantage by serving customers faster and more completely. In the past, retailers emphasized keeping costs […]
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“Sell By” Dates Cost Shippers Billions in Wasted Perishable Goods
Every milk carton and other perishable packaged food item bears date-stamped tags such as "Display Until," "Best Until," and "Sell By." Did you know that these dates are not intended for consumer use, and do not indicate when the food is spoiled? They are only intended for retailer use. Yet billions of dollars worth of […]
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Mitigating Facilitation Risk
Facilitation is a unique risk for logistics professionals and companies. It is unlawful for logistics professionals or providers to facilitate transactions with any person or entity sanctioned by the U.S. government. The U.S. Justice Department has pursued facilitation cases against half a dozen logistics companies in recent months, and penalties include up to 10 years […]
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3PL Value-Adds Mean Millions
You hate to say it, but everyone knows it: Today’s third-party logistics (3PL) relationship is transitional. Many 3PLs live and die by the freight rates they offer clients. Why? Because your shippers see the relationship as transactional, and trucking-focused. Shippers write checks for shipping expenses nearly every day, and freight is in the forefront of […]
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