E-commerce Shipment Costs to Rise
Two recent and important developments will impact domestic and international e-commerce shipments. The first one concerns the U.S. Postal Service’s relationship with Amazon. Let me set the stage. The Postal Service lost $2.7 billion in 2017. U.S. taxpayers guarantee the perennially stressed postal worker retirement fund. And first-class mail receipts are off by $1.8 billion […]
Read MoreThe New Faces of Trucking
Leilani and Cheyenne are not your typical high school students. What sets them apart is that they both share a passion for trucking and see the vast opportunities that industry offers. The students attend Patterson High School, in Patterson, California. Leilani is a senior and is enrolled in one of the first high school trucking […]
Read MoreCompanies Go for IoT
Companies will spend $434.9 billion to design, plan, build, and run Internet of Things (IoT) solutions by 2023, up from $186.1 billion in 2017, according to research company Forrester. This spending includes IoT-specific security software, platform software, service provider connectivity, application software, hardware, and professional services. Notably, Forrester predicts that spending in each of these […]
Read MoreAlaska Marine Lines expands Western Alaska service to Arctic ports
Alaska Marine Lines, an Alaska marine transportation company, is expanding its service from Seattle and Anchorage to the Arctic Region in 2019. Bowhead Transport will provide the destination services at the North Slope villages of Point Hope, Point Lay, Wainwright, Utqiagvik (Barrow), and Kaktovik. Alaska Marine Lines will also service Deadhorse with its two annual […]
Read MoreCommitting Head and Heart to Health
Chris Cassidy was eight years old when healthcare became a major theme in his life. Playing with friends, Cassidy was accidentally struck in the head with a golf club. At first, his doctor didn’t realize how serious the injury was, and had Cassidy’s mother not pressed for a CT scan, the boy might have died. […]
Read MoreStrong Im/Ex Market Fuels South Korea Trade Growth
Air trade in South Korea will remain steady due to strong exports of high technology, basic materials, and machinery parts, as well as imports of industrial raw materials and machinery parts, predicts the DHL Global Trade Barometer, an early indicator of global trade developments calculated using artificial intelligence and big data. The Barometer also expects […]
Read MoreBenefits of New Mobile Weighing Technologies
The online shopping experience is changing our lives. We purchase online and expect our purchases to be at our door the next day. Companies like Amazon are leading the industry in satisfying this consumer expectation by developing a model that provides convenience and fast delivery to the consumer. What does this mean to the manufacturer […]
Read MoreWhat’s Ahead for Retail Technology? Ask the Crystal Ball
What technology developments can retailers expect in 2019? Here’s some perspective from Adam Silverman, senior vice president of marketing for Theatro, and a former Forrester analyst with 20 years of industry experience. 1. E-commerce software will evolve into commerce software that powers both online and offline commerce. As retailers look to replatform antiquated point-of-sale (POS) […]
Read MoreBlack Friday Delivery Data
Consumer data is rolling in from Black Friday. Convey published data insights that show how deliveries are performing across various categories compared to year-over-year data from 2017. Some key findings include: Shipments way up – The number of shipments for each day last week dramatically increased over 2017, with Black Friday up 284%. This increase […]
Read MoreFactory Robots: Better Safe Than Sorry
In the new gig economy, workers are individual contractors—they are mobile, can work from any place, and save their companies time and resources. A Massachusetts company believes lidar technology could be the key to developing a safer factory robot—and to enabling those robots to take on many of the remaining tasks still completed by human […]
Read MoreGoing Straight to the Sourcing
Strategic sourcing, which consultants popularized in the late 1980s/early 1990s, is a supply chain management approach that formalizes the way organizations gather and use information to leverage consolidated purchasing power and find the best values in the marketplace. Strategic sourcing involves developing supply channels at the lowest total cost, as opposed to the lowest purchase […]
Read More12 Ways to Increase Supply Chain Velocity
Thanks to the Amazon effect, consumers expect the world—and they want it fast. Here’s advice on how to speed things up—from the way you design your footprint to how you execute the final mile.
Read MoreThe State Of Logistics Outsourcing
In an era where technology continues to migrate consumer spending habits online and away from brick-and-mortar stores, the 2019 Third-Party Logistics Study highlights how supply chains are also outsourcing, going digital and using science to keep pace. Here are a few notable findings from the report, which was created and supported by Infosys Consulting, Penn […]
Read MoreU.S. Ports, Seaway Report Positive October on Great Lakes
U.S. Great Lakes ports and the St. Lawrence Seaway had one of their busiest months of the season in October, fueled by increases in shipments of grain, salt and construction materials. Overall cargo shipments via the St. Lawrence Seaway (from March 29 to October 31) totaled 30.5 million metric tons, up four percent over the […]
Read MorePROJECT RUNWAY: Airfreight Forwarders Model New Service Collections
Traditional forwarders stay in fashion by strutting their stuff online and designing an expanded portfolio of supply chain services.
Read MoreNew DHL Survey Reveals Expected Cyber Monday Growth for Businesses & More
Forty percent of e-commerce businesses would rather experience a TV malfunction during their favorite Thanksgiving Day football game than contend with shipping issues on Cyber Monday, a recent DHL survey found. DHL distributed a poll to U.S. e-commerce businesses, including its customers. The survey, which had more than 14,000 responses, reveals major challenges, priorities, and […]
Read MoreSupply Chain Scorecards: A Tool for the Times
Advanced technologies like blockchain and AI have captured widespread interest with the benefits they promise to bring to logistics operations. But, for all the promise these appear to hold, there are proven enhancement-focused tools already available – in particular, scorecards – that supply chain managers should take full advantage right now to ensure optimized performance […]
Read MoreHow to Use Expedited Service For Painless Shipping to Mexico – Continental Expedited Services
As the second-largest economy in Latin America, Mexico has long been a destination for economic opportunity. For U.S. companies, cross-border regulations, varying border operating hours, and differing procedures for both import and export may complicate shipping and cause significant supply chain delays. MORE TO THE STORY: Know Your Mexican Customs Documents One way to manage […]
Read MoreHow to Make Your Holiday Shipping Less Frightful – Ascent Global Logistics
A month before Christmas, a major snowstorm blankets the Northeast. Traffic is snarled for weeks and truckloads of gifts are stuck in distribution centers and trailers. The Christmas buying rush could be in jeopardy for a large part of the country. Even Santa and his red-nosed reindeer friend are unable to save the day. MORE […]
Read MoreHow to Use a TMS for Shipment Visibility And Connectivity – Manhattan Associates
Medium to large shippers may have millions of dollars of materials and inventory on the highway and often do not know exactly where it is located. Delayed shipments can have a significant economic impact on shippers and receivers, and the lack of visibility from a legacy transportation management system (TMS) into shipment status only exacerbates […]
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