Now Is the Time to Automate the Middle Mile

Now Is the Time to Automate the Middle Mile

We are facing a state of volatility in the supply chain. Since the pandemic began in 2020, there has not been a steady cadence surrounding the transportation industry’s capacity, timing, or labor. Each individual market can therefore be in a state of over/under supply or demand on any given day, and who moves or what […]

Why Procurement Is the Key to Preparing for the Next Supply Chain Crisis

Why Procurement Is the Key to Preparing for the Next Supply Chain Crisis

There is no clear sign when the global supply chain crisis will end. It began during the COVID-19 pandemic, worsened with the surge in demand that followed the lifting of national lockdowns around the world, and further deepened amid recent global events. Some corporate leaders contend that the crisis, triggered by these exceptional events, could […]

The Importance of Establishing Relationships with Truckload Carriers

Supply chains have been stretched beyond their limits as shippers work hard to ensure inventories are received on time. However, this past year, carriers have struggled to provide the needed capacity due to unprecedented demand and rising costs in their networks. In addition, chip shortages are causing delays in new trucks and trailers entering the […]

Supply Chain Helps Meet ESG Goals

Supply Chain Helps Meet ESG Goals

As corporations become increasingly focused on ESG initiatives, their supply chain and logistics partners respond with tools and services designed to help them grow sustainability and other goals.

2022 75 Green Supply Chain Partners

2022 75 Green Supply Chain Partners

Inbound Logistics editors select 75 companies going above and beyond to prioritize green initiatives and help global supply chains become more sustainable. These companies are dedicated to developing and implementing best practices that leave a positive footprint on the world.

Wearables and Hands-Free Solutions

From devices that detect unsafe postures to an exosuit that assists with lifing tasks, these wearables and hands-free solutions increase safety and productivity in warehouses.

IN BRIEF: New Services & Solutions

From an enhanced ocean route between Turkey and the U.S. East Coast to the latest dunnage for auto parts, here are some notable supply chain services and solutions that recently hit the market.

Reshoring Now: Boom or Bust?

Reshoring Now: Boom or Bust?

The 2021 Reshoring Index from global consulting firm Kearny reports US companies are relying more heavily on manufacturing from low-cost countries (LCC), but sentiment is quickly changing.

Quick Look at the Last Mile

Quick Look at the Last Mile

Two new studies take a close look at the last mile and shed some light on the current state of this crucial logistics segment. The quick takeaway? The last mile is becoming more important for customer satisfaction, and as a result, shippers are increasing their focus on it and looking for tools to boost delivery […]

Vertical Focus: Footwear

Vertical Focus: Footwear

China SC Woes Have Footwear Industry Tied In Knots The impact on the supply chain from lockdowns in China was a major themefor footwear retailers in the first half of 2022. Largely reporting lower-than-expected earnings, many major footwear brands pointed a finger at the lockdowns to explain their disappointing performance levels. Strict and extended COVID-19 […]

Harness the Power of Plastic

Harness the Power of Plastic

Plastic Pallet Pros not only helps clients achieve sustainability goals, the pallet company provides a more cost effective solution, reducing clients’ overall pallet spend.

Pallets: Front and Center

Pallets: Front and Center

Playing a central role in the supply chain, the once-overlooked pallet is capturing the spotlight and evolving to keep up with rapidly changing demands and expectations. These pallet companies ensure standout performances.

Intermodal is Just the Ticket

Intermodal is Just the Ticket

With rail facility and infrastructure upgrades nailed down and intermodal network improvements on track, these ports and sites are riding high on intermodal’s advantages.

Brian C. Gaffney

Driver Shortage: Don’t Fall For It

The talking point that states the trucking industry is facing a driver shortage to explain the state of supply chain is a lie. Don’t fall for it. There has been a “shortage” of drivers for well over 20 years so be sure you are getting honest answers when digging into your supply chain issues.

Optimizing the Last Mile

Complexities and constantly changing demands impact last-mile delivery. Since the pandemic, consumer demand and e-commerce volumes have surged, as delivery windows have shrunk. Businesses can address the challenges of the last mile with technology, along with these directives.

TMS Must-Haves for a Competitive Edge

TMS Must-Haves for a Competitive Edge

A transportation management system (TMS)—a logistics platform that leverages technology to help businesses plan, manage, and optimize the physical movement of inbound and outbound goods—can help companies navigate uncertain business conditions and boost performance.

Vertical Focus: Electronics

The electronics industry has seen price hikes, supply chain shortages, an increase in global demand, and much more. Here’s the latest Vertical Focus on what’s happening in the electronics industry.

Parts and Parcels

Rony Kordahi is chief operating officer with Parts Town, a distributor of restaurant equipment parts.

Mark Balte

Designing a Soft Goods Supply Chain

Forecasting demand for soft goods can be difficult because demand changes due to fashion trends, weather patterns, and other factors. But artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies are changing the way soft goods manufacturers and retailers manage their supply chains.

Maureen Sullivan

Managing Working Capital Amid Product Shortages

Distributors can’t seem to catch a break. First they faced a liquidity squeeze when COVID-19 raged onto the scene, triggering a dislocation in the supply and demand for products. Now, as they enter the third year of the pandemic, distributors are grappling with wide-ranging shortages of goods and commodities across the supply chain that show no sign of abating.

5 Tips for Finding the Right Retail Consolidation Solution

5 Tips for Finding the Right Retail Consolidation Solution

Using multiple vendors can leave you vulnerable to inefficiencies and higher transportation spend. Here’s how to find the right consolidator for your business. The planning and management that go into multivendor supply chains are an orchestration of many complex parts. The process for new and existing brands trying to get into big box retail requires […]

5 Benefits of Remote Collaboration for Logistics Leaders

Logistics is an industry that doesn’t get attention until there’s a problem. Unfortunately, the pandemic has caused one problem after another, with non-stop delays and bottlenecks around the world. As logistics professionals come out from underwater, they’re dealing with the fact that they cannot resume business as usual. Fortunately, these challenges present a new reality […]

Is There a Logistics Professional in the House?

Even if you’re not a huge Star Trek fan, you’ve got to love Dr. McCoy—and the line he repeated so often that most of us could probably say it in our sleep: “(Darn) it Jim, I’m a doctor, not a _______.” When you think about it, it’s incredibly funny, because when bad things happen, the […]

Using Actionable Real-Time Visibility to Impact the Consumer Experience

Across the globe, the hot topic in boardrooms has been improving supply chains and getting products into the hands of consumers. Utilizing technology has become vitally important to improving both last-mile delivery and the end consumer’s experience with a brand. There are important costs for a brand to consider associated with a bad last-mile delivery […]

IN BRIEF: New Services & Solutions

Transportation Atlas Air, a subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, and Cainiao Network, the logistics arm of Alibaba Group, increased capacity on routes between China and the Americas by adding a Boeing 747-8 freighter under a long-term agreement. The new aircraft enters service for Cainiao in the second quarter of 2022, linking China with the […]

2022 TMS Guide

2022 TMS Guide

Recent supply chain disruptions have raised interest in transportation management systems (TMS). A variety of solutions – from cloud-based, on-demand, web-hosted applications to traditional licensing installations, over the road, on the rail, containerized, or parcel – are available from TMS vendors and service providers who are expanding their offerings to meet your unique business requirements.

Vertical Focus: Exercise Equipment

Vertical Focus: Exercise Equipment

Planet Fitness is one fitness club company that has thrived in recent years, growing from 918 locations in 2014 to more than 2,200 in 2021. FISCAL Fitness Here’s a sampling of statistics about the fitness equipment industry, compiled by RunRepeat and other sources, that helps to illustrate its status today. The fitness equipment industry is […]

Paul A. Myerson

Lean Isn’t Mean and Agile Isn’t Cheap

Back in 2014, I wrote a column extolling the benefits of a lean and agile supply chain, also known as a hybrid strategy. Depending on your product or service, your supply chain may tilt more one way or the other, or it might be segmented but still exhibit characteristics of both. For example, if you […]

Managing the Amazon Effect

Whether online or in-store, customers expect an immediate and frictionless shopping experience, thanks to Amazon. To compete, you must level the playing field with experiences that keep customers coming back to your branded e-commerce site.

Tim Motter

Digital Transformation: The Experience is King

Over the holidays, my wife and I decided to give ourselves the gift of a new couch. Because I work in transportation and logistics, I knew that constraints up and down the supply chain easily could result in a long delivery lead time. So it was a pleasant surprise when the home furnishings company said to expect the couch in about three weeks.

NOTED: The Supply Chain In Brief

NOTED: The Supply Chain In Brief

Green Seeds Maersk will add 300 electric trucks to its North America network—the largest heavy-duty electric truck deployment to date. The trucks will be delivered between 2023 and 2025 for use by Performance Team, Maersk’s North American warehousing, distribution, and transportation business. The trucks will be operated using technology company Einride’s digital road freight operating […]

Shipping Lines Skip a Beat

Global ports lost more than one-third of their expected capacity to ship containers in 2021, causing economic trouble for some smaller developing nations, among others, finds research commissioned by the Global Shippers Forum (GSF). The study, which was conducted by MDS Transmodal, identifies the extent of capacity restriction in 2021 that resulted from scheduled port […]

Mark Haslam

Out of Stock? Hoarding is Not a Solution

Investing time and money in making products available is more important today than ever before, thanks to the ripple effects of COVID-19. Capacity constraints and delivery agents have been upended, and product availability is at risk. Rising digital trends and changing consumer behavior and spending habits have also led to an urgency to respond to market conditions quickly.

Consumers Have the Last (Mile) Laugh

While the use of last-mile delivery has increased in the pandemic era, the process has experienced various growing pains. A new consumer survey shows customers have encountered regular delays and would like to have greater visibility of their deliveries. The survey, conducted for Anyline by Researchscape, examines the extent to which consumers have turned to […]

Geoff Kelley

Manage Supply and Demand Swings with a Digital Logistics Platform

Q. Capacity constraints, labor shortages, rising shipping costs, and growing shipping volumes are making it difficult to find carriers to cover freight. How can shippers, logistics providers, and carriers become more efficient amidst fluctuating market conditions? A. A digital logistics platform with intelligence AND execution capabilities from a proven partner drives efficient collaboration between shippers, […]

Keith Biondo

Artificial and Human Intelligence: An Unbeatable Combination

Investment in logistics technology—$26 billion in the past seven years—is white hot right now. Here’s a small sampling of the types of solutions that venture capitalists arefinancing: An artificial intelligence (AI)-driven demand-prediction engine that helps lifestyle brands forecast how many units of a particular item will sell. The mission? To better match global inventory levels […]

E-commerce Growth: Slower but Hefty

E-commerce Growth: Slower but Hefty

Even as growth slowed from 2020’s pandemic-fueled explosion in activity, the global e-commerce market still grew a robust 19.9% in 2021, according to Transport Intelligence (Ti). Indications are growth will slow but remain hefty. Ti’s market sizing and forecast data and analysis shows a projected annual growth rate of 11.8% in the global e-commerce logistics […]

Google Searches for Last-Mile Market

Google Searches for Last-Mile Market

Google is getting into the last-mile game with the launch of two new solutions to help fleet operators improve delivery success and optimize fleet performance through an integrated suite of mapping, routing, and analytics capabilities—Cloud Fleet Routing API from Google Cloud and Last Mile Fleet Solution from Google Maps Platform. Cloud Fleet Routing API focuses […]

Alaska: Inspiring Awe and Innovation

Alaska: Inspiring Awe and Innovation

In this 10th edition of our Alaska supplement, we explore the state’s beauty, resources, and the challenges presented by its location, geography, and climate. The logistics providers that excel in this state rely on grit, dedication, and expertise to move products to, from, and within the state safely and efficiently.

Russia-Ukraine Supply Chain Strain

Russia-Ukraine Supply Chain Strain

The commodities markets are the industry category that is experiencing the greatest strain as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a Dun & Bradstreet briefing report released in March 2022. The report, which assesses the global business impact of the crisis, focuses on the businesses and countries that work with Russian and […]

2022 Logistics IT Perspectives

Companies rely on logistics technology to help navigate a landscape reshaped by a pandemic and evolving customer demand. Our annual logistics IT market research report explores the challenges these companies face and the latest trends in IT solutions designed to meet that need.

Consumers Catch Cold

Growing consumer demand in the United States is impacting the storage and distribution of frozen foods and other products that depend on cold environments, finds the Thomas Index Report. The report examines the shift to buying groceries online during the pandemic, as consumers embraced online ordering and fully filled pantries and freezers. The increased demand […]

Frank Dreischarf

How Collaboration and Technology Create Efficiencies for SMB’s

One of the things people are starting to realize is that relationships and collaboration matter. Many shippers have long viewed their relationships with their transportation providers as tactical rather than strategic, and they’re the ones suffering the most with today’s supply chain challenges. Simply taking the time to develop meaningful and long-term relationships can eliminate […]

Technology Soups Up the Supply Chain

Technology Soups Up the Supply Chain

Consumers slurped up e-commerce with gusto amidst boiling disruption in 2021. To sate that appetite, supply chain professionals can serve up technology that aids with visibility, intelligence, and efficiency.

NOTED: The Supply Chain In Brief

NOTED: The Supply Chain In Brief

Green Seeds CMA CGM Group will no longer transport plastic waste aboard its ships. Ten million tons of plastic waste end up in the sea each year due in part to open-air storage and the absence of processing infrastructure for plastic waste that does not get recycled. CMA CGM’s move prevents this type of waste […]

Vertical Focus: Toys

Vertical Focus: Toys

Do You Want Sustainability with That? McDonald’s is making its supply chain more sustainable by manufacturing its Happy Meal toys with significantly less plastic by the end of 2025. The fast food chain will make some toys, such as board game pieces, with plant-derived or recycled material. Super heroes and movie characters will be 3-D […]

IN BRIEF: New Services & Solutions

Transportation ZIM Integrated Shipping Services introduced the ZIM Ecommerce Baltimore Express (ZXB) service, which offers a fast transit time to Baltimore from Asia, calling on Yantian, Cai Mep, New York, and Boston. Starting as a bi-weekly service, it will become weekly within a few months, offering shippers dedicated out-of-gate lanes to avoid queues in Baltimore; […]

Two Generations with a Drive to Serve, Grow and Innovate

Two Generations with a Drive to Serve, Grow and Innovate

When Dave Cox (pictured) joined Polaris Transportation Group in 1998, the trucking company was still finding its footing. Founded four years earlier by his parents, Larry and Geri, Polaris had just four employees with Dave’s addition – and only one was not a family member. However, the Ontario-based company already had something invaluable: a growing […]

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT | AMRs and AGVs

inVia Robotics Picker Robot: Through a robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model, inVia Robotics combines its picker robots with AI-powered software to optimize warehouse operations. The solution uses algorithms to calculate inventory location, the optimal labor needed to complete fulfillment tasks, and the most efficient paths to take items from storage shelves to the central inVia PickerWall where […]

Digital Businesses Look At the Bright Side

Digital Businesses Look At the Bright Side

Digitized businesses report even higher levels of optimism than their offline peers, says a report from Alibaba.com, bolstered by stronger sales performance, larger anticipated investments, and more global exports. Key findings from the report reveal: Digitized SMBs far outperformed businesses still operating offline in terms of sales and sourcing: 61% of digitized businesses saw increases […]

Why Should You Attend Connections 2022?

Why Should You Attend Connections 2022?

Connections 2022, an SMC³ event, offers collaborative supply chain intelligence, covering the year’s most pertinent topics and trend forecasting for the rest of the year. Take a second to think about everything that’s changed in the supply chain over the past two years. Dramatic changes in automation, driver shortages, dynamic pricing, new legislation and regulations, […]

Electric Trucks Save the Planet…and Some Cash

Electric Trucks Save the Planet…and Some Cash

By 2027, electric freight trucks and buses will become less expensive to purchase and operate than their combustion engine counterparts, says a study by Roush Industries for Environmental Defense Fund, with lower maintenance and energy costs. These electric vehicles will not only help save truckers and fleets money, but also provide substantial health and welfare […]

What’s your best reverse logistics tip?

According to the National Retail Federation, the total rate of returns was 16.6% in 2021, up from 10.6% in 2020. The best way to reduce returns is to understand the total cost of your returns and to make sure your reverse supply chain is optimized along with the rest of your supply chain.

George Kontoravdis, PhD

Optimizing Multimodal Shipping with a One-Stop Solution

Q. What does multimodal shipping look like in 2022? A. Historically, companies have relied on third-party freight brokers to handle complex shipments that include multiple modes, geographies, and freight characteristics. Planning and executing these shipments requires careful planning and coordination with various transportation providers for efficient freight hand-off. Industry experts agree that multimodal transport can […]

4 Tech Predictions that Came True

From companies spending billions on cybersecurity to the cloud becoming the biggest thing in desktop applications, some of the top tech predictions from those in the know in various tech fields were proved right in 2021. Here are four trends that came true: 1. Natural Language Processing The branch of artificial intelligence that helps computers […]

10 Tips: Choosing a 3PL

10 Tips: Choosing a 3PL

Selecting a third-party logistics (3PL) provider is a strategic business decision so treat it that way. Your 3PL should be a catalyst for producing unmatched retail logistics performance levels and total supply chain optimization. Here’s how to choose the right partner.

Global Trade Management Systems Guide 2022

Global Trade Management Systems Guide 2022

In today’s complex and unsettled business environment, global trade management (GTM) systems are more important than ever. They can connect sourcing and logistics to make global trade more transparent and efficient. From resource planning and transportation management to data analytics, these GTM providers can help take some of the stress out of managing a global supply chain.

Shan Haq

Why Logistics Managers Should Care About AP

Regardless of industry, logistics managers are charged with establishing and maintaining strong relationships with their suppliers. Good logistics managers strive to be easy to work with so their supply chain runs smoothly. However, with so much on their plates, developing relationships with suppliers may not be their top priority. In 2020, logistics managers’ jobs became […]

Troy Prothero

How to Ensure Delight in the Grocery Aisle

Fulfilling customer needs and maintaining their ongoing satisfaction remains a critical priority. Disappointing a customer doesn’t sit well with a retailer or store associate, and that sense of frustration is something retailers should be working to prevent, starting with the following strategic supply chain enhancements. Improve demand forecasting to reduce unwelcome surprises. Typical seasonal products, […]

Keith Biondo

Rowenta Irons Out Inventory Challenges

Where do I go when it is too painful to watch TV? To my garage workbench. As it happens, my daughter had a project for me. Her pricey Rowenta iron was staining and scorching clothes. I can’t fix what’s going on in the world, but I’ll try my hand at this! Having broken several appliances […]

David L. Buss

Using Digitalization to Navigate Through Disruptions

Industry 4.0 is a revolution in manufacturing and holds promise for improving supply chain efficiency and flexibility. The convergence of technology disruptions—automation, analytics, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality—drives this revolution. Why is digitization important and what key technologies are fueling the shift? Intelligent supply chains. Intelligent technologies, such as automation, remote fleet management, and cargo […]

The Georgia Connection(s)

The Georgia Connection(s)

The essence of logistics is making connections. No surprise, then, that Georgia—a state where connectivity is a way of life—is a shining star on the logistics land (and air and sea) scape.

Trucking Influencers Take Over

Trucking influencers on social media, especially women truckers and drivers, are gaining traction and changing up transportation, says a PartCatalog.com report. They teach beginners about their unique experiences of life on the road, review products such as truck bed covers and floor mats, and flatbed trucks, and show off their truck driving skills. Take a […]

Mike Glodziak

5 Ways to Improve and Optimize Driver Retention

COVID tightened up the supply chain with shortages of medical supplies, computer chips, consumer products, and household goods. Not only has demand increased relative to supply, but employee and customer satisfaction continue to be on the decline.