Supply Chain Commentary: Customer Loyalty Hinges on Quality of Product Information
Knowledge is power, and today, consumers are demanding to know more about products they buy before making a purchasing decision. The internet and online shopping have helped fuel their appetites for more product details, driving big changes across all industries. In the food industry, for example, new legislation like the GMO labeling law and Nutrition […]
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The Key to Lasting Supply Chain Innovation: Get Real
Managing a business for sustained growth often means finding and implementing innovative solutions to the challenges of complex supply chain logistics. Yet, when it comes to achieving lasting, repeatable innovation, it’s the real-world solutions that win out time and time again in leading logistics facilities. In his book Moneyball, Michael Lewis detailed how an analytical, […]
Read MoreDiscovering Eight Truths of the New Era of Retail
Over the past 20 years many retailers have had the dream of entering the food retail business. The appeal is undeniable huge revenues, repeat business and in-store traffic. The fascination has resulted in a proliferation of food retail models ranging from dollar stores, off-price stores, convenience stores, drug stores, supermarkets, discount supermarkets, premium supermarkets, farmers […]
Read MoreWhy Onshoring Manufacturing Requires Offshoring IT
Despite a slowing economy, U.S. manufacturers continue to add capacity stateside. According to a 2015 Boston Consulting Group survey, 31 percent of U.S. manufacturing executives said they were most likely to add capacity within the U.S., compared to only 20 percent opting to do so in China. This marks a stark reversal from 2013, when […]
Read MoreAre Warehouse Insurance Policies Covering Today’s Emerging Risks?
Warehouse legal liability insurance has always been one of the most misunderstood insurance contracts in existence. In general, insurance companies and brokers have limited industry knowledge and understanding of what warehouse operations entail. Not only that, but warehouse risks and vulnerabilities are increasingly complex, and many policies simply aren’t keeping up with today’s sophisticated new […]
Read MoreSupply Chain Commentary: How Amazon’s Acquisition of Whole Foods Will Disrupt Industrial Real Estate
Demand for warehouse space soared to a new high in 2016, leading to lower vacancies and higher rents. The upsurge shows no signs of abating. This isn’t surprising. It’s simply a marker of the ongoing transformation of the industrial real estate market that’s occurred over the past 10 years. During this period, the unrelenting expansion […]
Read MoreFleets Must Be Hyper Vigilant About Securing Telematics
The broad deployment of telematics has driven unprecedented efficiencies in fleets by providing greater visibility into the location, movement, status, and behavior of every mobile asset. This level of connectivity and communication between assets has alleviated many of the pain points associated with day-to-day fleet management operations, on the road, and back at the office. […]
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Bad News, Good News
Why does logistics giant XPO Logistics invest $500 million annually on IT to drive its business? The explosion in e-commerce, according to Brad Jacobs, CEO of XPO. But it’s not only consumers who have been acculturated to supply chain impatience. Purchasing, buyers, and supply managers in industrial sectors also feel the need for speed—and for […]
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Updating Einstein?
Einstein said the faster an object moves, the slower time seems to pass. Well, not for me. The increased speed at which products now move through the supply chain seems to have the same impact on my calendar. I can’t believe half the year is gone, and in the blink of an eye it will […]
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GOOD QUESTION | What’s the most important question you should ask a potential 3PL partner?
Will your pricing and service change after the first few transactions? Erik Boe Warehouse Manager DC Group What do you do when the trucking company loses some of the customer’s freight? I found out the hard way that for at least one company I don’t use anymore, the answer is nothing. Kirby Mohr President Mohr […]
Read MoreMaking Vendor Managed Inventory Work
Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) lets suppliers manage re-supply by monitoring customer stock levels and forward demand that optimizes working capital with service levels. This gives suppliers better visibility into forward demand, allowing them to produce, ship, and store more efficiently. As a result, customers have a smooth supply of product delivered at the right time […]
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Optimizing Inbound Freight Beyond the Shipment Level – Schneider Logistics
In this era of omni-channel fulfillment, supply chain visibility is more important than ever. Yet many shippers are still in the dark when it comes to visibility to a significant portion of their supply chain cost: their inbound freight spend. Many inbound shipments are supplier-controlled with prepaid terms in which suppliers are adding in the […]
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Need Flexibility? Seek Out Full-Service 3PLs – WSI
The retail and supply chain worlds have changed—and are changing—rapidly. Soaring end-user consumer demand for same-day delivery of goods and companies’ desire for increased visibility of their supply chains are two instrumental factors in the ever-morphing industrial real estate industry. Companies want and need instant, flexible warehousing options with skilled, efficient labor to handle and […]
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The Power of Transparency: Technology and Your Supply Chain – RPM
In a world driven by new technology, industries are finding ways to work faster and smarter. Tech breakthroughs have provided businesses with new processes and improved systems that have helped to maintain or increase efficiency in one way or another. It’s time to see these same improvements in supply chain management. The transportation industry has […]
Read MoreWhy GRIs From LTL Carriers May Not Be So General This Year
Less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers have reported challenged earnings for quite some time now. Capacity has generally been pretty loose, service levels have been generally pretty high, and prices have generally stayed pretty competitive across the industry—all creating an advantage for shippers. This all may be changing. Many LTL carriers are signaling some strain in their networks […]
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Autonomous Vehicle Revolution Is Upon Us
Self-driving or autonomous vehicles are progressing quickly past the testing phase. This technology is a world-changing innovation—a revolution well underway—that may surpass the discovery of electricity and the invention of the automobile. What sets this revolution apart is how technologies will combine to help save lives, money, time, and resources. It could mean a near […]
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Leverage Your Freight Forwarder to Boost Your Compliance Program
In trade compliance, we find ourselves needing to overhaul or develop trade compliance controls within our company, often alone. Executing a classification/licensing process, recordkeeping methodology, auditing calendar, or automation solution can be overwhelming. Whether you are in the position of establishing trade compliance controls, or looking to strengthen an existing compliance program, don’t overlook your […]
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5 Steps to Preventing Brand Damage When Your Product Fails
A poorly handled product recall can devastate your company’s reputation, market share, and bottom line. With proper planning and systems in place, however, companies can effectively manage recalls to mitigate risk, as well as prevent brand damage. The key is not to think of a product recall as a singular event, but rather as a […]
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Stay Competitive with a Flexible TMS
Lean principles, when used in conjunction with a transportation management system (TMS), can deliver lower transportation costs, reduced inventory levels, and progress toward business goals. New technology is emerging to further improve the efficiency of transportation systems. You must manage and properly control—with complete visibility and great communication between partners—the transportation systems that connect your […]
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How New Technology is Boosting Human Potential in the Supply Chain
Advances in automation are liberating untapped human potential in the supply chain. A new opportunity to significantly improve operational performance is emerging due to advances in robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and prescriptive analytics. These advances are not about technology versus humans, but about how technology will supplement and augment humans in knowledge-intensive areas such as […]
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