Great(er) Expectations: Meeting E-Commerce Consumer Demands
Consumers prioritize convenience, experience, and quality when making online purchases, according to an annual e-commerce study conducted by third-party logistics provider Dotcom Distribution. Data from more than 1,400 online shoppers indicates a shift from previous years, when consumers placed higher value on gift-like packaging and fast delivery. Results also demonstrate a change in how consumers […]
Hello, Good Buy
Today’s retail environment is more complex than ever, given the rise of e-commerce and a rediscovery of the age-old truth that the customer is king. As retailers across the globe struggle with demands for both personalization and convenience, balanced with consumer skepticism on data privacy, JDA Software and Centiro explored consumer trends in key markets […]
Moving a Superload Takes Experience – Landstar
When Landstar had to move oversized freight through five states, it developed and executed a plan for a safe delivery.
Dean Z. Myers: Drinking It All In
Dean Z. Myers is vice president, global supply chain, technical operations and business development, The McDonald’s division of The Coca-Cola Company Responsibilities: Leading the business and relationships in supply chain, technical functions, and business development for Coca-Cola’s global business with more than 35,000 McDonald’s restaurants in 115 countries. Accountable for creating value for McDonald’s, consumers, […]
DSCO Dancer
Over the course of his career, Vance Checketts has found six words to live by as a leader: Be humble. Value diversity. Be brave. MORE TO THE STORY: The Shipping Assignment That Started it All Humility means knowing when to say, “I don’t know” and recognizing that the best ideas come from other people, Checketts […]
Gulftainer Invests in Delaware and It’s a Pretty Big Deal
A new port deal represents the largest operation ever run by a United Arab Emirates (UAE) company in the United States, as well as the largest U.S. investment by a private UAE company. Gulftainer, the world’s largest privately owned independent port operator and logistics company based in the UAE, finalized a 50-year concession agreement with […]
Flying in the Face of Danger: Lufthansa Handles World’s First eDGD
When Lufthansa Cargo handled a shipment from global healthcare company Abbott based in Wiesbaden, it was no routine transaction. It represented the world’s first dangerous goods shipment with an electronic Dangerous Goods Declaration (eDGD), using the INFr8 platform. Lufthansa Cargo, flew the shipment from Frankfurt Airport to Mexico City on board cargo flight LH8222. The […]
Good Question: What recent supply chain development will have the greatest impact on your job
Tariffs create global challenges. The United States has taken a strong position in dealing with fair trade, but we have felt the same strong efforts by many governments around the world. Michael Ford Chief Compliance Officer BDP International The digitalization of the supply chain will provide the single biggest boost to transparency in what is […]
China’s Economy Stays Resilient
China’s railway freight volume, an indicator of broad economic activity, expanded at a faster pace in the first seven months of 2018, notes a Xinhua report. China’s railways carried a total of 2.3 billion metric tons of cargo between January and July 2018, up 7.9 percent from one year earlier, according to National Bureau of […]
Bye, a la Mode
As part of a business plan to centralize operations and move away from independent owner-operator networks, Hub Group sold its Mode Transportation subsidiary to an affiliate of York Capital Management, a diversified investment manager, for approximately $238.5 million, with about $20 billion under management. Hub’s primary focus is intermodal, and it has sold a 3PL […]
The Supply Chain in Brief
SEALED DEALS Electronic component maker Phoenix Contact awarded a small parts warehouse automation and expansion project to WITRON Logistik + Informatik GmbH. To help Phoenix meet an increase in pick volume driven by online ordering, WITRON added 10 multifunction ergonomic order-picking workstations (pictured), bringing the warehouse total to 31. Ben E. Keith, one the largest […]
IN BRIEF: New Services & Solutions-October 2018
Transportation Air Italy started cargo routes between India, Thailand, and the United States and Milan Malpensa airport, utilizing the 10-ton belly capacity of its A330 fleet. Now represented by Globe Air Cargo USA for all its U.S. cargo operations, the airline plans to offer direct daily flights from Miami and New York to the Milan airport. […]
Reuse Service of Use to Container Shippers
CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd, two of the world’s largest liner shipping companies, now offer reUse, a container management service, in Mexico. The service is made available on the online platform of Avantida, an INTTRA company. It is the first time this service is offered in Mexico, and represents Avantida’s first foray into the North American […]
6 Post-M&A Supply Chain Strategies for Success
The high-tech industry has experienced a season of acquisitions, and now it’s time to start thinking about supply chain optimization. According to the 2017 M&A Report, high-tech mergers and acquisitions totaled more than $700 billion in 2016, about 30 percent of the overall M&A market. This reflects a growth rate of 9 percent per year […]
News & Trends Impacting High-Tech & Electronics
it’s a beautiful day in GOOGLE’S neighborhood Toronto spells the site of Google parent company Alphabet’s planned $50 million high-tech neighborhood. Sidewalk Labs—Alphabet’s urban-innovation arm—will develop 12 acres of the city into a high-tech urban environment called Quayside. While the details aren’t yet finalized, a hint at what’s to come may be Sidewalk Labs’ previous […]
6 Ways to Find Hidden Capacity
As shippers puzzle their way through a record truckload capacity shortage, they have to change how they do business to find the right truck at the right time for the right price.
Beyond Table Stakes: Freight Payment Clients Hold All the Cards
Advances in technology, increasing globalization, and the growth of e-commerce are upending the traditional freight bill audit and payment industry.
Good Question: To address the truck driver shortage, should we lower the minimum driver age to 18?
I agree with lowering the age restriction for getting an interstate CDL to 18. Currently, commercial drivers between 18 and 21 can operate with a CDL as long as they don’t cross state borders. Think about that—a 19 year old can legally operate a commercial rig between Miami and Pensacola, Florida (670 miles apart), but […]
Good News From the Government! (Yes, You Read That Right)
In its second estimate of Q2 2018 Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the U.S. Census Bureau quoted growth at 4.2 percent, the best quarterly figure since Q3 2014. That comparison is important because 2014 was also the last time the truck market was tight. When GDP rises above four percent, freight grows and the truck market […]
Shipping and Delivery: How to Get it Right
Thanks to the rise of e-commerce and heightening customer expectations, shipping and delivery have become key drivers of overall customer satisfaction. An e-commerce company’s ability to meet customer expectations can be a source of competitive differentiation. Executing against the wrong strategy—or not having a strategy at all—is a recipe for higher costs and lower customer […]
Conserving a National Resource
Everyone has an opinion about how to combat the truck driver shortage—from boosting pay and benefits to lowering the age for getting a CDL (see Good Question, page 10) to self-driving trucks. But one valuable weapon you don’t hear much about is driver wellness programs. Carriers can implement these programs quickly, and net near immediate […]
Driver Wellness Programs: The Right Thing to Do
Wellness programs keep drivers healthy, and carriers wealthy and wise.
Who’s Running the Ship?
Norway is testing a new way to make ocean freight transportation more sustainable: autonomous electric ships. Norwegian fertilizer manufacturer Yara International has commissioned the Yara Birkeland, which will be the world’s first autonomous electric containership. The company plans to use the freighter between ports to eliminate the use of diesel-powered trucks. The electric ship should […]
Holy Mackerel! Oslo Reels in Seafood Center
Norway’s Oslo Airport is positioning itself as a preferred cargo hub by adding seafood transportation to its menu. Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) and Sjømatterminalen AS will operate the new Seafood Center at Oslo Airport, which will handle up to 250,000 tons of seafood annually. The facility is designed to meet industry requirements for cool chain […]
Ethiopian Airlines Launches Historic Cargo Route at MIA
Thank Ethiopian Airlines for the first-ever cargo-only route between the African continent and Miami International Airport (MIA). On August 29, 2018, Ethiopian launched the first of two weekly freighter flights between the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa and Miami. The scheduled flights operate on a route that includes intermediate stops in Spain, Colombia, and Belgium […]
New York City Introduces Off-Hour Deliveries Program to Combat Congestion
Maximizing the use of warehouse and transportation assets for increased productivity is a key goal of shippers and leading logistics businesses. Making better use of limited roadways and curbspace during the off-hours is an essential component of a logistics and supply chain management strategy. Dense urban centers are grappling with increased congestion. Due to limited […]
Reducing CO2 Emissions: Close But No Cigar
Carbon dioxide emissions from 22 of the world’s leading ocean container carriers, representing 85 percent of global containerized shipping, continued to fall in 2017, but more innovation and collaboration across the value chain are needed to achieve ambitious global climate goals, reports BSR’s Clean Cargo Working Group. The Clean Cargo Working Group compiles its annual […]
Trucking Generates $700 Billion
The U.S. trucking industry generated $700.3 billion in economic activity in 2017, a 3.5-percent increase over the $676.2 billion generated in 2016. That’s according to the American Trucking Associations’ trucking industry data report—ATA American Trucking Trends 2018. Among the findings in this year’s edition: Trucks moved 10.77 billion tons of freight, 70.2 percent of all […]
The Gig is Up
In the new gig economy, workers are individual contractors—they are mobile, can work from any place, and save their companies time and resources. The paradigm shift from having full-time workers to individual contractors is not that easy to manage when considering companies that have full-time employees, especially in logistics. To decide if a model like […]
Tariffs Go Nuts
Almonds are an especially lucrative product for California—the state’s almond industry currently supports more than 100,000 jobs and accounts for approximately $11 billion of the state’s economy. Instead of being roasted and seasoned with salt, however, almonds are being roasted by escalating Chinese tariffs. Earlier in 2018, President Trump implemented steep tariffs against offshore aluminum […]
Tuning Into Supply Chain Orchestration
In both the B2B and B2C markets, customers demand speedier shipments, greater flexibility, and more transparency in the order lifecycle. Only by innovating to establish real-time visibility with the power to make changes can companies achieve the agility required to meet customer needs and stand out from the competition. Let’s dig into five trends you […]
Helping Shippers Meet Production Deadlines With Custom Solutions – Celadon Logistics
When the ELD mandate turned next-day deliveries into two-day runs, Celadon Logistics came up with situation-specific supply chain solutions to help shippers in time-sensitive industries.
TMS Brings the Power
Electronics company Celestica plugs into a TMS solution to cut costs, increase visibility, and power continuous improvements.
Implementing a Network to Optimize a Client’s Supply Chain – Crane Solutions
Crane Solutions developed a customized solution for a leading audio/visual equipment rental company that lacked visibility to its time-sensitive shipments.
Using IoT to Move From Push to Pull
Customers want more and they want it now. If you are unable to meet expectations, they will go elsewhere. The supply chain model often used in retail distribution is outdated and broken. Using Internet of Things (IoT) and vertically integrated order processes can achieve a leaner supply chain and help you say goodbye to out […]
Securing Capacity While Pivoting for Peak Season – Hub Group
A home goods retailer turned to Hub Group to secure capacity in the face of a hectic peak season.
2018 Top 100 Truckers
Inbound Logistics’ annual Top 100 Truckers directory provides an in-depth index of carriers that match shippers’ diverse and demanding needs. MORE TO THE STORY: Use the Trucking Decision Support Tool IL editors selected this year’s list from a pool of 300-plus trucking companies, evaluating surveys, conducting online research, and talking with shippers and truckers alike. […]
2018 Trucking Perspectives
Insights collected through Inbound Logistics’ exclusive annual survey of shippers and truckers find the industry’s most significant trends and challenges.
Store Delivery Keeps Retailers in the Game
Multi-channel retail and fulfillment is typically based on the assumption that customers choose a main way to connect, whether physical stores or a website. Many retailers manage each channel separately with different teams, budgets, processes, tools, reporting structures, and revenue goals. In multi-channel retail and fulfillment, stores have their own stock and sell directly to […]
How to Choose a Specialized Carrier – Landstar
Q: What qualities should a shipper look for in a specialized carrier? A: A shipper’s evaluation should include people, processes, and performance. Specialized freight is often unique, high-value, and critical to the shipper or consignee operation, unlike many other commodities. Carriers with a history and reputation of safe, on-time and claim-free deliveries are the carriers […]
Defending Against Supply Chain Hackers
While your company may have excellent cyber security practices in place, your suppliers may not. These best practices will help protect your company from hackers who attack your supply chain partners. 1. Review Incident Response Plans. Always make sure vendors have an incident response plan in place before conducting business with them. If there is […]
Nina Luu: Banking on Data
Nina Luu is CEO and co-founder of Shippabo, a cloud-based supply chain management solution headquartered in Los Angeles. Responsibilities: Leading shippers, logistics experts, and technologists in creating cloud-based supply chain solutions. Experience: Co-founder, IGH Global Corporation; marketing director, Evergreen Herbs Education: B.S., business administration, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, 2005. One year after college, I […]
A Real-Time, Cost-Saving Opportunity – PLS Logistics
A client looked to PLS Logistics for a way to drive real-time visibility, performance, and cost savings to allow each of its 200+ office locations to operate effectively.
Inventory System Makes Mama and Data Proud
After Carter’s implements a cloud-based platform, inventory management and supply chain visibility become child’s play.
Send It Back! How to Manage E-Commerce Returns
Up to 30 percent of e-commerce orders shipped to customers wind up coming back. Here’s how smart retailers box up their reverse logistics strategies.
Moving Cross-border Shipments
As your suppliers and customers become more geographically diverse, more of your supply chain and customer experience depends on moving shipments through Customs accurately and without delay. 1. Create a dashboard for incoming orders. A visual tracker of inbound shipments may help simplify the importing process. Tracking where orders and shipments are while in transit, […]
TradeLens Caps Blockchain Initiative
In an effort to apply blockchain to the world’s global supply chain, Maersk Line and IBM have collaborated to develop TradeLens, a blockchain-enabled shipping solution to promote more efficient and secure global trade, bring together supply chain partners to support information sharing and transparency, and encourage industry-wide innovation. To date, 94 companies are actively involved […]
Supply Chain Visibility: Can You See Me Now?
Using technology to gain a clear view into your supply chain can both wipe out costs and pour revenue to your bottom line.
Tax, Energy, Land Incentives Drive Economic Development
Economic development partners collaborate to create incentive packages tailored to each company’s needs.
Returning Experience
The war between the retail/e-commerce customer experience and increasing costs is heating up, thanks to the impact that rising transportation prices are having on the retail process. That trend plagues e-commerce players and retailers, both large and small. For example, in July 2018, spot market trucking costs were up 30 percent year-over-year, according to DAT. […]
Home Depot Builds New Supply Chain
Home Depot will spend $1.2 billion to overhaul its supply chain to offer faster delivery for consumers and businesses. Walker Sands’ 2018 Future of Retail report offers the home improvement retailer some advice: To compete with Amazon, Home Depot should focus not only on delivery speed, but transparency as well. Only 30 percent of consumers […]
Leveraging Technology: Put Strategy First
With all the hype about technology’s potential, it’s easy to lose track of the basic truth that technology enables strategy. Technology applied to an inappropriate strategy will accelerate a firm’s demise. Tech trends enable strategies that are reshaping global supply chains. These new technologies complement each other; used in combination they create synergies far beyond […]
Is Asia The New Bermuda Triangle?
Large shipping losses declined by 38 percent globally over the past decade, but losses in Asia rose year-on-year, with incidents in the South China, Indochina, Indonesia, and Philippine maritime regions rising 25 percent. That makes Asia the top area worldwide for major shipping incidents in the past decade, leading it to be dubbed the "new […]
5 Tactics for Managing the Unexpected
No supply chain is immune from risk, and the farther a company’s supply chain traverses the globe, the more opportunity for things to go awry. Companies can take proactive steps to ensure they won’t be blindsided by sudden changes to their supply chain. Taking out a credit insurance policy from a credit insurer is just […]
Big Apple Polishes Freight Transportation System
New York City plans to overhaul its aging freight distribution systems through strategic investments to modernize maritime and rail assets and create new distribution facilities. Freight NYC is a $100-million plan with the ultimate goals of creating nearly 5,000 good-paying jobs for New Yorkers and a more sustainable and resilient supply chain network. New York […]
Fail Fast, Then Move On
Jim Barnes did not have a mentor at the start of his career. “No one taught me how to become a leader,” recalls Barnes, chief executive officer of enVista, an Indianapolis-based supply chain consultancy and software firm. MORE TO THE STORY: Getting Advice, Paying it Forward Instead, observation and experience helped Barnes develop his leadership […]
In Iceland, There’s No Place Like Drone
Consumers in Reykjavik, Iceland, will soon just have to walk out their back door to receive their packages. Drone technology company Flytrex, in partnership with Aha.is—Iceland’s largest online marketplace—launched 13 new routes for an autonomous on-demand urban drone delivery service to serve nearly half of Reykjavik. The upgraded service also includes an advanced “InAir” wire-drop […]
Good Question: What’s your best time-management tip?
The Eisenhower Box has had the largest impact on my time management. People have a tendency to put everything in the “urgent/important” bucket, which dilutes their focus. It has helped me more confi dently delegate or eliminate tasks altogether.
Will Airbnb for Warehouses Take Off?
On-demand services are becoming so much a part of our daily lives that millennials can’t imagine a world before Uber or Postmates. Now, on-demand service is becoming a reality in the logistics real estate sector. Technology platforms such as Flexe and Stord connect organizations that need warehousing space to those that have extra space on […]
Erik Snyder Keeps His Spirits Up
Erik Snyder is president of North America supply and procurement with Diageo, a leading premium spirits company and producer of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Smirnoff, and Guinness. Responsibilities: Oversee Diageo’s end-to-end supply chain and procurement operation in North America, including sourcing raw materials, distillation, manufacturing, packaging, planning, and customer service. Experience: Senior vice […]
Florida: Gateway to America, Pathway to Global Trade
For logistics and manufacturing companies, the Sunshine State is the place to grow.
IoT Clears the Air for Transportation Companies
The Internet of Things (IoT) is set to help transportation and logistics providers significantly reduce emissions, enabling compliance with clean air targets. It will also improve worker health and safety while maximizing resource efficiency and reducing expenses. That’s according to Inmarsat’s 2018 research project, which analyzes IoT adoption across the transportation and logistics sector. The […]
Returns in the E-Commerce Retail Supply Chain – MD Logistics
In recent years, a rise in e-commerce sales has led to an increase in the amount of items returned. This increase in returns creates a challenging situation for retailers and an opportunity for their 3PL providers. Q: How does the reverse logistics process work? A: 3PL providers engineer returns solutions that are specific to their […]
Know Your Product: How Blockchain Will Transform the Supply Chain
As consumers, we’re predisposed to trust the name-brand companies that form our commercial ecosystem. We believe, for the most part, that the products we buy are genuine. And for the products that aren’t, we have confidence that protocols exist to ensure that they never make it to market. It’s an optimistic point of view, but […]
Use Big Data to Improve Your Supply Chain – Transplace
The term "big data" has been one of the hottest buzzwords in recent years, which shouldn’t be a surprise. Statistical science and data analytics can help organizations acquire historical measurements and generate actionable information that improves supply chain visibility, drives operational efficiency, and supports growth. But knowing the importance of data is only the first […]
Europe Stays in the Loop
Virgin Hyperloop One will open a $500-million Advanced Technology Development and Testing Center in Spain, the company’s first European development facility. In return for this investment, Virgin Hyperloop One will receive 126 million euros in public aid through loans and grants to help establish the new center, advance its technology development and testing, and stimulate […]
Cross-Brand Collaborations: X Marks the Spot – SEKO Logistics
Cross-brand collaborations seem to be everywhere right now. But why the sudden explosion in collaborations? And why do brands do it? SEKO Logistics teamed up with digital e-commerce agency Red Hot Penny to analyze some likely reasons behind cross-brand collaborations to provide insight and inspiration. Open up new markets A collaboration of two brands in […]
How Using BI Can Transform Your Business
Many industries, such as transportation and logistics, have deployed enterprise software to help operate and manage work processes for decades now. And, as a result, companies and the solutions providers have collected a treasure trove of information, not only about an individual company, but about the industry as a whole. Until recently, with the advent […]
Getting More Strategic about Transportation Sourcing – Dupré Logistics
When faced with the logistical dilemma created by the truck driver shortage, increased traffic, and the increase from retail to e-commerce, challenges can’t be fixed by doing what’s always been done. At Dupré Logistics, we see many organizations continuing to source tactically, based on price or as needed on the brokerage market; changes to that […]
7 Ways to Integrate Demand and Supply
Companies can achieve cohesive demand and supply integration (DSI) by following seven fundamental rules, recommends a recent University of Tennessee Global Supply Chain Institute study. The paper, based on the work of Mark Moon, PhD, a UT professor and global supply expert, focuses on 18 companies in a range of sectors with successful DSI as […]
Overcoming Omni-channel Challenges in Retail – Crane Worldwide Logistics
Supply chains should allocate product across today’s complex omni-channel networks to fulfill customer demand.
Protecting Your Supply Chain
Do you sometimes feel like cushioning your facilities and workers with bubble wrap to keep them safe? Here are five ways to pop that problem.
Canada and the United States: A Resilient Relationship
The United States and its northern neighbor remain trading partners with staying power.
What Do the New UPS Surcharges Mean?
To help shippers understand UPS’s recent surcharge increases, Spend Management Experts, a supply chain spend management consultancy, outlines the carrier’s new fees and their potential impact. The Increases: Effective June 4, 2018: The fee for over maximum limits and the oversize pallet handling surcharge increased by $150 and a new shipping charge correction audit fee […]
Cold Chain Strategies That Beat the Summer Heat
Ensuring summer foods make it to consumers fresh and intact ain’t no picnic.
News & Trends Impacting the Oil & Gas Supply Chain
Automation Takes Center Stage Once considered to be merely on the horizon of the oil and gas industry, highly sophisticated technology is now front and center. Key advantages include: Monitoring capabilities. With automation, oil and gas companies can keep track of their pipes and networks with unprecedented oversight. Reduced operating costs. Effective use of digital […]
Integrated TMS Platform Provides Supply Chain Benefits – DLS Worldwide
Q: What are the benefits of IT integration for shippers and customers? A: Customers are looking for the fastest, most accurate, economical, and timely way to quote freight for their own customers. They want a system that is simple to use and doesn’t require making calls, visiting other websites, or getting inaccurate information. With an […]
The Three P’s of Sales & Operations Planning Success
The formula for business success varies greatly from industry to industry. However, most business leaders believe when you focus on the right areas and create a winning culture, success will follow. Marcus Lemonis, the star of The Profit, a CNBC reality show about saving small businesses, says the three keys to business success are people, […]
Footwear Chain Steps Up E-Commerce Efficiency
Browns Shoes makes great strides with a distributed order management system that gives inefficiencies the boot.
Product Spotlight: Materials Handling Innovations
inVia Picker: Picking items as small as a pack of gum or as bulky as a case of soda, this robot provides a solution for e-commerce fulfillment centers through a Robots-as-a-Service platform. Pickers operate as an automated storage and retrieval solution, picking totes, bins, and boxes weighing less than 40 pounds from warehouse shelves. The […]
A Consolidated Fulfillment Solution Enables True Global Visibility – SEKO Logistics
SEKO Logistics helped virtualization technology company Sphere 3D Corp. gain global visibility and reduce warehousing and logistics costs.
Providing a Custom Logistics Solution for a Shipbuilder – Crane Worldwide Logistics
The Challenge Crane Worldwide Logistics’ client is one of the largest shipbuilders in the world. The challenge centered around moving several extremely large parts around the world that were critical to their production process. The product needed to arrive timely, safely, and in OEM approved shipments. It was also a requirement they be delivered at […]
Chewing the VAT
“Filing VAT returns on time is crucial to your business,” warns Mohammed Fathy, general manager of Al Dhaheri Jones & Clark. “A delay can not only cause a huge amount of stress, but also threaten your entire business should you fail to comply.” Value-added tax (VAT) is a consumption tax that applies to all goods […]
DP World Extends Services to Europe with Unifeeder Acquisition
To expand its presence in Europe, Dubai port operator DP World acquired Danish logistics company Unifeeder from Nordic Capital Fund VIII and certain minority shareholders for $765 million. The aim is for DP World to boost its presence in the global supply chain and broaden its product offering to shipping firms and cargo operators, according […]
A Fresh Look at Intermodal
With driver shortage and capacity issues affecting trucking, once wary shippers are taking a different view of rail intermodal.
How to Reach the Pinnacle of Success
Last year, at age 29, Daniel Kaskinen, manager, strategic sourcing at Premier Inc., became the megawatt winner of the ISM®/Thomas™ 30 Under 30 Rising Supply Stars Recognition Program. He was recognized for his exceptional success at improving efficiencies and saving millions of dollars at his previous company, even at an early point in his career. […]
E-Commerce Supply Chains in 2018: Millennial Consumers Most Concerned With Speed and Affordability of Deliveries
For today’s millennial consumers, timeliness of deliveries ranks high on the list of requirements for customer satisfaction. In fact, in a study of 3,000 consumers in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, conducted by e-commerce company Radial, over one-third — 39.7% — of respondents ages 18 to 24 said that speed of delivery […]
How to Know if Your Freight Broker Is Legitimate
Freight brokers act as intermediaries in moving shipping and logistics forward, and in recent years, more brokerage operations have flooded the scene, making it easier to secure a partnership that is beneficial to your overall business. While having more options for freight brokers is beneficial in finding the best fit intermediary for the best price, […]
3PLs Put on the White Gloves
Logistics service providers reveal how they treat their customers like VIPs.
Automated Compliance: Allied’s Stock-in-Trade
Automating global trade compliance helps electronics component distributor Allied Electronics & Automation nail its screen test.
How to Prepare for Proposed China Tariffs
At the stroke of midnight July 6, 2018, tariffs against imports of tens of billions in yearly value of Chinese goods took effect for goods entered into or withdrawn from warehouses for consumption. Here’s what you should know: The 25-percent duties are based on country of origin, not country of export, and apply only to […]
Setting New Standards: Six Key Trends Reshaping Enterprise Software User Experience
Businesses are increasingly realizing that user experience (UX) correlates closely to user engagement. The implications of a successful UX make it way more than just a satisfaction ranking. Here are six key trends that I see reshaping enterprise software UX. Mobile is the new norm: The increased use of mobile devices has raised the bar […]
Straighten Up and Fly Right
A logistics maxim holds that "air freight is an ocean shipment gone bad," says Neel Jones Shah, senior vice president and head of global air freight for Flexport Inc., an air and ocean freight forwarder. Many shippers likely can relate: They planned to move their goods using a less expensive but slower transportation mode. Then, […]
Anatomy of Hospital Supply Chain Disruptions
The aftermath of Hurricane Irma, which hit Puerto Rico in September 2017, created a severe shortage of IV bags in the continental United States. The reason: Baxter International, one of the major suppliers, manufactures the products in the U.S. territory and was crippled by the loss of electricity to the island. As a result, many […]
U.S. Seaports Need Multimodal Funding
U.S. port authorities identify more than $20 billion in projected multimodal port and rail access needs over the next decade, while one-third cite pressing rail project needs costing at least $50 million for each of their ports, according to a new American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) survey, The State of Freight III. Funding and […]
Driverless Trucks: A Different Idea
I admire and respect the individuals and companies working on perfecting driverless trucks. However, I don’t believe driverless trucks are an innovative concept. In fact, I believe just the opposite: Designing driverless trucks is the wrong solution for transportation. There is so much effort and capital being directed at wanting to make trucks driverless that […]
Disruptive Technologies Shake Up Supply Chains
When efficiency is the primary focus in integrated supply chain management, every little bit that helps to tighten both front- and back-end processes helps. Increasingly, companies in a variety of verticals are achieving such efficiencies by leaning on disruptive technologies. These envelope-pushing solutions could take the form of artificial intelligence used in automation software, robotics, […]