Seven Tips for Finding the Right Chinese Partner
China is a major trading partner for the United States, and the relationship is key for both countries. U.S. trade with China is booming, but there are issues that continue to linger, such as the U.S. trade deficit and China’s trade surplus, a Chinese fiscal policy that keeps currency artificially low compared to the U.S. […]
Read MoreImproving Fleet Safety with On-Board Video
Transportation is vital to a supply chain that efficiently manages the flow of goods—physically connecting manufacturers to their customers to provide them access to their favorite products. A break in that link—such as late deliveries, or damaged or stolen goods—can be detrimental to the success of a business, negatively impacting supply chain relationships and, in […]
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A Fresh Route for Latin American Produce
More than 21 million metric tons of fruits and vegetables were imported into the United States in 2013, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Approximately 35 percent of that produce comes from Central and South America. While Latin American perishable exports have grown dramatically in recent years, some logistical shortcomings prevent maximum cold […]
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Growing Efficiency and Weeding Out Waste
With millions of dollars in annual waste bogging it down, Bell Nursery struggled to grow. But today, a new inventory management system helps business blossom.
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8 Ways to File Effective Freight Claims
No matter how much you try to prevent cargo loss and damage, well…stuff happens. Follow these eight steps to help recoup your losses.
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The Power of Power
Companies searching for just the right spot to locate their manufacturing plants, warehouses, and other facilities rank energy high on their list of priorities.
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Getting Packaging Costs Down to Size
Shippers find nested savings by eliminating packaging waste.
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Channeling the Brick and Click Dilemma
As e-commerce continues to transform consumer behavior, retailers explore hybrid omni-channel supply chain models that deliver the best that online and in-store have to offer.
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Procurement and Purchasing: Buying into Lean
While supply chain costs, primarily procurement and transportation, can range from 50 to 70 percent of sales, some companies place too much emphasis on the traditional focus of reducing material costs in supply processes. Applying Lean principles to procurement and purchasing processes can identify non-traditional sources of waste, in some cases creating a paradigm shift […]
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Driver Shortage Threatens to Slow Intermodal Growth
The shortage of qualified drivers threatens the intermodal industry’s continued growth. The challenge for intermodal is not only hiring enough professional drivers, but also retaining them. For many transportation companies, attracting and retaining drivers are the biggest challenges. The extreme number of multi-hour delays along the intermodal chain, combined with the impersonal treatment drivers receive […]
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How Non-Traditional Service Offerings Are Enhancing Supply Chains
Q: How do non-traditional supply chains differ from traditional supply chains? A: Traditionally, 3PL providers offered a specialized set of services focused around warehousing, order fulfillment, transportation and supply chain logistics. Today, several factors have driven 3PLs to non-traditional services that spread their influence further into the supply chain. Non-traditional supply chain services include various […]
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CPG Market Demanding More Flexible Logistics Solutions
According to a new study released by Transport Intelligence (Ti), one of the world’s leading providers of expert research and analysis dedicated to the global logistics industry, the consumer packaged goods (CPG) sector (also known as Fast Moving Consumer Goods or FMCG) is a giant with global sales exceeding $550bn (USD). The Consumer Packaged Goods […]
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Be a Logistics Superhero
In recent months, there has been a steady stream of articles bemoaning the increasing costs and challenges within the logistics industry. You hear about driver shortages, rising labor costs, lack of available real estate, oversize package regulations, increased shipping rates, and additional governmental regulations. CSCMP’s annual logistics study charted a 3.1 percent increase in 2014 […]
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Global Logistics—August 2015
UPS Peddles Electric Cargo Bikes in Europe E-commerce growth and last-mile expectations place a greater burden on shippers and carriers to find more efficient means to deliver parcels—especially in congested urban areas. That’s why UPS is currently testing the feasibility of using electric cargo bikes to pick up and drop off packages in downtown Basel, […]
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Trends—August 2015
Warehouse Performance: It’s a Whole New Game One new way to save money on warehouse labor costs is to turn work into a game. No, we don’t mean a chucking-things-across-the-warehouse-floor kind of game, but creating competition through gamification. It’s a way to drive down warehouse labor costs by increasing employee performance and morale. The process […]
Read MoreSafeguarding Your Loading Dock
No matter how thoroughly you follow OSHA’s safety training requirements, or how diligently you supplement safety requirements with in-house training and programs, there are still likely to be gaps in your company’s loading dock safety efforts. Andy Brousseau, manager of warehouse safety for third-party logistics services provider APL Logistics, offers the following recommendations for efficiently shaping […]
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Just Another Brick in the Mall
Travel around the world, and you see up-and-coming economies sporting many shiny new buildings, airports, ports, and factories, while more mature economies display aging legacy infrastructure. It’s the nature of progress. You see the same parallel in retail operations, where newer e-commerce models seem to overcome legacy brick-and-mortar models. But not entirely. Yes, e-commerce is […]
Read MoreHow to Make Ship Arrival Analytics and Predictions More Precise
Ninety percent of the world’s logistics traffic moves via ocean transport, and until today, the entire logistics community of shippers, forwarders, carriers, and tracking technology providers has suffered from the struggle to consistently predict the precise arrival of the world’s ocean vessels with reliable certainty. Many in the supply chain industry claim that dynamically predicting […]
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Reducing Supply Chain Risk by Outsourcing Technology
Supply chain risk management is a major concern for many companies. Risk management data would influence board-level decisions for 70 percent of respondents to a Gartner IT Risk Management Survey, up from just 46 percent a year earlier. While data loss and the threat of cyber-attacks are the most well-known security issues, there are three […]
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