Managing Domestic Supply Chains
How consumer goods manufacturers leverage domestic supply chains for fast cycle times that global outsourcing can’t match.
Temperature-Controlled Logistics: Provide or Perish
Whether shipping fruit, seafood, flowers, or any other perishable goods, transportation must be fresh, fast, and error-free.
Norbert Ore: The Creative Touch
When Norbert Ore looks back at his career, he recalls with special satisfaction a phase that started in 2001, when a job switch took him from Chesapeake Corp. to Georgia-Pacific (GP) LLC, Atlanta. His new position, the one he still holds today, was group director, strategic sourcing and procurement. Even for a supply chain veteran […]
Seeing the Value in ‘Seaworthy’ Packaging
Q: My company is a logistics service provider. We recently shipped a container of machine parts to Brazil under an arrangement that included the packing and stuffing of six crates. We received instructions from the customer that the packaging needed to be “seaworthy,” and we hired a subcontractor to perform the packaging and stuffing. When […]
Complex Technology Optimizes Basic Concepts
As supply chains continue to increase in scope and complexity, the technology powering those supply chains likewise becomes more complex, specific, and compartmentalized. Some companies, however, are realizing that in the quest for ultimate technology sophistication, they may be overlooking some very basic business concepts. Take working capital, for instance. A business can boast cutting-edge […]
Rock Around the Stock
Taking its cue from the Q system, Guitar Center’s forecasts and inventory allocation now make beautiful music together.
Negotiating Rail Contracts
Negotiating with rail carriers has moved beyond difficult. Demand for rail services is high, and capacity constraints have caused carriers to pursue yield over volume. As a result, some shippers are experiencing sticker shock, with transportation rates increasing between 20 and 30 percent. If your rail freight moves on mostly “closed” lanes (no rail competition […]
Real Estate, Logistics, and Politics Converge
Legendary baseball philosopher Yogi Berra once said, “90 percent of the game is half mental.” In the development world, 90 percent of real estate is half logistics. As shippers increasingly examine ways to make their global supply chains reliable and diversified, they look to infrastructure improvements to support their plans. Because globalization has added length […]
Squeaky Wheels Get Political ‘Oil’
In March 2007, I was fortunate to travel to Washington, D.C., as a delegation member of the Illinois Trucking Association. I spent several days discussing issues such as diesel prices, alternative energy, taxes, and toll roads with members of Congress. In every instance, these issues directly correlate with the financial well-being of the trucking industry. […]
Visibility: Seeing is Believing
Take a look at this list of avoidable logistics problems: Time wasted manually scheduling shipments and tracking products from channel to channel. Missed opportunities from not knowing the exact quantity of inventory in transit and stock availability. Strained relationships after shipments fail to make their destination on time. The common element is a lack of […]
Getting Government to Understand The New Science of Transportation
A freight transportation revolution has taken place in the past 25 years. Consumer demand, technology, expanding population centers, and vast global enterprises have combined to make intermodal the international standard for moving goods. Unfortunately, when it comes to U.S. government policy-making, ignorance of intermodal freight transportation is almost universal. The nation’s government agencies have not […]
Mid-Size 3PLs: What Does Not Kill You Makes You Stronger
Ah, conventional wisdom. Not long ago, observers of the third-party logistics segment predicted the demise of many Tier II and Tier III 3PLs. Smaller players could not keep up with the increasing complexity required to serve customer demands, they said. In addition, they predicted merger and acquisition activity would create a pool of large 3PLs […]
Bean There, Returned That
Building its business around high-quality outdoor equipment and clothing, L.L. Bean’s sales channels include seven retail stores, one dozen outlet stores, the Internet, and its nearly 100-year-old catalog. But it’s not just the product that Bean built its reputation on—it’s also the retailer’s 100-percent satisfaction guarantee. The roots of that guarantee trace back to 1912, […]
Welcome to The 3PL Zone
There is a dimension beyond that which is known. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between demand and supply, between strategy and tactics, and it lies somewhere between the pit of an enterprise’s fears and the summit of its visibility and knowledge.
Go Ahead…Pile It On!
Today’s outsourcers expect 3PLs to offer a wide range of value-added services. 3PLs respond.
Outsourced Logistics: 4Ward Momentum
What is the real role of today’s 4PLs? How do they differ from 3PLs? Who’s driving the growth of this outsourced logistics niche? Inbound Logistics picks up the lead and explores the changing dynamics of the 4PL/LLP market.
Inbound Logistics Market Insight Survey: 3PL Perspectives
IL’s annual 3PL Market Insight Survey offers a penetrating perspective into the market drivers governing 3PL growth strategies – in terms of operational scope, as well as the types of services and technologies logistics providers are investing in to meet outsourcers’ evolving needs.
Global Logistics Spotlight: Dubai Flying High
With constant new development, soaring air cargo growth, and a busy port system, Dubai is shaping up to be the crown jewel of logistics in the Middle East.
Hospitality Logistics: Supply Chains Made to Order
Welcome to hospitality logistics, where five-star supply chain management helps keep customers happy. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your stay.
Materials Handling Update: Pleasing to the Pallet
Before businesses begin tinkering with state-of-the-art conveyor networks and automated storage and retrieval systems, they might want to reconsider the role of the warehouse’s most underrated asset – the pallet.
Consigned Inventory Management: The Rx for Ailing Medical Profits
In matters of life and death, the last thing one should worry about is a supply chain. But when it comes to medical devices and healthcare services, supply chain headaches can change the abbreviation for Out-Of-Stock to RIP in a heartbeat. Like many other manufacturing industries, medical device makers face the need to streamline an […]
Expertise and Location – The Ideal Pair
To a high tech service provider, whether an OEM or a carrier, the device is a big part of everything. Without the device in the hands of its customer, they have no subscription fee. Without the subscription fee, they have no revenue. The world’s largest providers look to find supply chain solutions and distribution channels […]
Third Party Logistics Mergers and Acquisitions
With almost 600 reported deals representing more than $79 billion in aggregate transaction value since 2005, the transportation industry has seen significant mergers and acquisitions transaction activity. Third party logistics is one of the most active sectors within the transportation industry for private equity investment and strategic buyer acquisitions. Consolidation Although the third party logistics […]
Our Daily Mantra: Keep Those Containers Moving
Suppliers face many challenges as they work to fulfill the needs and interests of their customers. They have plenty to worry and wonder about until a job is completed. But there are two questions in particular that can cause sleepless nights if they don’t get the right answers: Where are my containers? When will I […]
3PL: Tactical Resource or Strategic Partner?
When it comes to choosing a 3PL provider, what do you look for? Beyond competitive pricing, is it breadth of service? Specialty transportation capabilities? Global reach? Whatever your selection criteria, price is a critical factor once the must-have capabilities have been confirmed – but is price really the issue, or is it cost? When it […]
Vimal Patel: Taking an Eagle’s-Eye View
When Vimal Patel speaks, everyone listens. As manager of merchandise flow at American Eagle (AE) Outfitters’ Warrendale, Pa., distribution center, his job is to make sure all departments – receiving, replenishment, packing, and shipping – pull together to achieve the facility’s goals. “Every department wants to do well individually, but they don’t always look at […]
RFID: A Tale of Two Cities
The current market for RFID supply chain applications reminds me of the opening line of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. According to RFID vendors, the market is poised for strong growth as active RFID solutions pick up speed, equipment prices begin to drop, and the industry continues to make progress adopting global standards. […]
Hassle-Free Electronic Invoicing: Now That’s Hot
HVACR wholesaler heats up efficiency with a cool electronic invoicing system.
Global Logistics-July 2007
Will inadequate transportation infrastructure and congestion negatively impact worldwide economic growth in the years ahead? One transportation leader believes so. “If our transport infrastructure can’t keep pace with the rate of growth, then big question marks hang over the continuation of the kind of economic prosperity that has been delivered this decade,” warned Ron Widdows, […]
Trends-July 2007
The biggest news of 2006 was what didn’t happen, not what did. A year of relative calm, however, isn’t giving way to complacency. Instead, businesses are proactively, if privately, tinkering with and tightening supply chains to streamline processes and build additional scalability into their networks, observed Rosalyn Wilson at the Council of Supply Chain Management […]
Getting Involved in Transloading
When executed correctly, transloading goods from one transport mode to another can help shippers increase flexibility and supply chain velocity, reduce cycle times, effectively plan distribution to meet market demands, and reduce shipping costs. But transloading can be a tricky practice, warns Dan Bourcier, deconsolidation manager for APL Logistics, a logistics provider based in Oakland, […]
Sourcing in a Seller’s Market
Rising commodity prices, growing global consumer demand, and increased political instability have put an end to the buyer’s market in procurement. Today, buyers are just as likely to be “fired” by their suppliers as they are to experience supply chain shortages or out-of-stock notices. So what is this new “seller’s market” like? And is the […]
Sailing Into the New World
The Spanish and Portuguese sailed into the New World half a millennium ago seeking fame and fortune. Today, a new breed of intrepid business explorers is finding safe anchorage in Latin America, targeting the area’s abundant potential for manufacturing and logistics activities in hopes of achieving fame and fortune of their own. Inbound Logistics first […]
Air Cargo Navigates Uncertain Skies
When it’s imperative that freight arrives overnight, or even sooner, shippers of time-critical goods including donor organs, emergency airplane parts, or critical legal or financial documents often turn to Aeropoint Delivery Services, an Atlanta-based time-critical delivery courier. That means Aeropoint is heavily impacted by air cargo trends: when a carrier downsizes a plane on a […]
Industry Outlook: Faring Well, Despite Challenges
Advances in safety and technology contend with stubborn tactical challenges.
Taking Responsibility For Responsible Care
Shippers and industry organizations help push carriers and 3PLs to become RC partners.
Shippers and Carriers Commit to Best Practices
Best practices keep chemical shippers and carriers thriving.
A Study in Terra
Four questions for Joe Giesler, senior v.p. of commercial operations for chemical company Terra Industries, Iowa.
Race To The Border: Catching Up With Latin American Logistics
MORE TO THE STORY: 3PLs Lead the Way With so much focus on the Far East and the West Coast, and to a lesser degree the Near East (Eastern Europe), U.S. consignees and shippers need only look due south to find one of the world’s emerging commercial and outsourced manufacturing and logistics markets. In terms […]
Career Solutions: Meet the Teachers
Who better to comment on the future of the supply chain than the people educating the next generation of logistics executives? Inbound Logistics profiles three dynamic professors on the front lines of logistics education.
Steve Lash: Loco Like A Fox
“A chicken is actually corn with feathers,” Steve Lash says. He should know. Lash is director of supply chain management for El Pollo Loco, a restaurant chain that built its success on citrus-marinated, flame-grilled, Mexican-style chicken. With more than 360 stores in seven states, and a 12-state expansion underway, El Pollo Loco (Spanish for The […]
Buying Insurance: Domestic or Foreign?
Q: I am a logistics operator who handles inbound and outbound shipments for partners around the world. I am currently reviewing insurance options to ensure that my cargo and company are protected against accidents or damages that may occur during transit. My broker recently sent a proposal that fits my needs, but I feel uncomfortable […]
What Are Your Tech Vendors Up To?
Twenty-five years after its initial launch, the annual Distribution Computer Expo is still an important event for previewing the latest in logistics and supply chain technology. The conference is a one-stop shop for catching up with the various providers that power supply chain technology. Here are highlights from my meetings with technology companies that attended […]
Box Ho! RFID Replaces Telescopes
Tired of playing hide and seek with its containers, CIMC finds a new RFID system to help locate product in its yards.
Global Logistics-June 2007
Port congestion remains a common concern for U.S. companies importing goods from overseas, and for good reason: one in nine of the world’s maritime containers are either bound for or coming from the United States, according to America’s Container Ports: Delivering the Goods, a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The report ranks […]
Trends-June 2007
Regardless of their political affiliations or opinions on the Iraq war, logistics and transportation professionals paid close attention to the compromise Iraqi war appropriations supplemental bill signed into law by President Bush in May. The bill contained two provisions impacting supply chain security: funding for port security measures, and further details on the hotly debated […]
Leaning Out Your Supply Chain
Moving toward a lean supply chain means eliminating waste in three ways: reducing working capital; enhancing operational productivity; and improving “build-in” quality and reliability (implementing quality controls on the front end of any process or procedure). Here are 10 ways to get lean, according to Ian Truesdale and Glen Clark of CEVA Logistics, a Jacksonville, […]
Site Selection: Think Globally, Act Locally
The globalization of commerce has created a new infrastructure that is fast becoming the backbone of our information economy. This change also affects worldwide logistics operations. Because of the global economy, companies have a greater need to operate their supply chains at maximum efficiency. To achieve these results, many Fortune 500 corporations—along with small and […]
Transportation as Corporate Change Agent
For many years, transportation was considered the backwater of the business world. Over the last decade, however, forward-thinking companies have identified transportation as a driving force for change. As a result, they realized increased profits and improved customer service throughout the supply chain. Wal-Mart, for example, uses its distribution savvy to dominate the retail field—and […]
Restricted Party Screening: Who Are You Doing Business With?
Exporters and financial institutions historically used Restricted Party Screening (RPS) solutions to determine whether the names and addresses of their consignees appeared on any “denied parties” lists. Today, companies recognize that they may not deal in any way with certain blacklisted parties. Since Sept. 11, 2001, regulatory agencies have made clear their expectations that companies […]
Forklift Fleet Cost Management: It’s a Question of Time and Savings
Abundant questions and costs surround forklift fleet management; finding the answers and controlling those costs can be illusive. Many forklift fleet managers have a difficult time providing accurate answers to the myriad questions that need to be addressed (see sidebar, below). But accurately answering these questions can mean the difference between saving tens of thousands […]
Customers Handle the Final Mile for Wal-Mart?
The first job of my post-college career included replenishing inventory at a large book distributor’s New York City warehouses. Like many urban warehouses, the multi-storied building took advantage of a vertical footprint, rather than the horizontal footprint of today’s warehouses. All inventory moved in and out via the dreaded “freight elevator.” Dim lights, no air, […]
Hello? I’d Like to Order a New Fulfillment System, Please
A new order fulfillment system keeps catalog retailer Redcats purring.
Designing the Perfect Warehouse
Designing the perfect warehouse is an area where even angels can fear to tread. The devil is in managing myriad details, complicated by the fact that a design made in heaven is never the same for any two facilities-even within the same organization. While the process is exhaustively detail-laden, fortunately it can be broken down […]
Warehouse Safety: It’s No Accident
Careful planning and a dedication to safety are top priorities for keeping warehouse workers injury-free. Here is your no-slip, no-trip, ergonomically correct guide to warehouse safety.
Navigating U.S. Site Selection
A regional guide to U.S. logistics and distribution hotspots.
Caribbean Logistics: Ports Poised for Growth
As the Caribbean islands cruise toward CSME implementation, and the new free flow of trade it brings, ports in the region are investing in new facilities, services, and security.
John Rickard: Logistics With a Human Touch
Try this logistics experiment: Drop packages of food from a helicopter onto a field filled with football and rugby players and see if anyone gets hurt. That’s the exercise John Rickard and his associates at the relief agency International Rescue Committee (IRC) conducted in 1999 while laying plans for a humanitarian mission in the mountains […]
3PLs and Carriers: Desperately Seeking Tech Solutions
Shippers are a demanding bunch. They want their goods picked up and delivered at the right time and to the right place—every time. They expect shipments to be transported without damage, while complying with security regulations and customer mandates. They need reporting capabilities, online access to data, and superior customer service. Oh, and they want […]
A Labor Management Tool For All Seasons
Raising the heat on worker productivity and efficiency was key for Four Seasons Temperature Control. A labor management system helped it achieve that—plus some cool savings.
Global Logistics-May 2007
To find proof that shopping is good for the economy—and for logistics providers—businesses need only look to Russia. Retailers in the former Soviet Union are expanding rapidly, and bringing active logistics development along with them, finds a new study from global consulting firm Capgemini. The study, which examines Russia’s logistics and infrastructure capabilities, reveals several […]
Automating Workflow Management
By automating supply chain workflow, private fleet operators, carriers, and third-party logistics providers can more easily gather and utilize information, and communicate with their suppliers and customers more effectively. It also helps them gain a leg up on the competition. Workflow management software systems (WfM) are helpful, but they can also be challenging to manage […]
TMS Shopping Made Simple
During my 15 years as a transportation technology professional, I have stood on both sides of the trade show aisle—shopping for and selling transportation management systems (TMS). Navigating the technology marketplace, as I have learned, is no easy task. It can make purchasing a TMS downright frustrating. If you are in the process of selecting […]
Easing the Pain of Product Proliferation
Product proliferation—the explosion in the number of individual stock-keeping units (SKUs) that has occurred over the past decade—poses a major challenge to supply chain managers and adds millions of dollars to logistics costs. In large part, product proliferation stems from the trend toward mass customization—providing consumers with custom-designed, personalized products at affordable prices. Other trends […]
IT’s Unexpected Benefits
When you invest in logistics IT, you expect to net the obvious results: implement a TMS and transportation operations run without a hitch; buy a WMS and goods flow smoothly in and out of the warehouse. But when shippers and logistics service providers adopt demand-driven ideas, and implement the technology and/or services to put that […]
J.Jill Arrives Fashionably Light
A new put-to-light system lets women’s clothing retailer J.Jill keep up with growing volume in style.
Defining Technology Trends
A look at five emerging technologies powering today’s supply chains.
IT Perspectives 2007: Logistics IT Market Insight Survey
IL’s exclusive research polls IT providers to gauge their perspectives on logistics IT challenges, solutions, and opportunities. Their answers provide an in-depth look at the state of the logistics IT market.
SMB Logistics: Small is the New Big
Small and mid-size businesses leverage new market offerings to level the playing field.
Truckers Get Connected
Boosting safety, productivity, and efficiency, sophisticated wireless technologies link vehicles, drivers, and shipping data to the world.
Debbie E. Jackson: Life at the End of the ERP Tunnel
Debbie Jackson is starting to get her life back. It has been on hold since late 2003, while she and her colleagues at Johns Hopkins University endured one of the truly harrowing ordeals of business life: a major ERP implementation. As supply chain procurement team lead for HopkinsOne—the initiative to move all the Johns Hopkins […]
Filing Claims: Time Is Not on Your Side
Q: My company imports ceramic products from around the world. One shipment arrived at our warehouse filled with crushed boxes – inside, the contents were completely shattered. It appeared that the container was mishandled and possibly dropped during transit. We took inventory of the damaged items and submitted a claim to the ocean carrier. We […]
Rumble in the IT Jungle: ERP vs. Best-of-Breed
If the logistics software world held a heavyweight championship fight, it would feature ERP systems such as Oracle, SAP, and Infor in one corner, versus best-of-breed providers – Manhattan Associates, i2, and HighJump – in the other. While ERP may be the reigning champ, best-of-breed is a serious challenger, and the fight would go quite […]
I Heard IT Through the Grapevine
When The Henry Wine Group uncorks a new logistics system, accurate inbound freight updates and improved communication pour out.
Trends-April 2007
As shippers know all too well, finding capacity to move goods throughout the United States is not always easy. To avoid over-the-road congestion, shippers may opt to use rail, but rail transportation comes with its own litany of challenges, including a lack of available track and a dearth of infrastructure improvements made over the years. […]
Improving Inventory Accuracy
Inventory accuracy is vitally important; the challenge lies in achieving it. Out-of-stock items cause profit loss, but paying for inventory storage and transportation also impacts the bottom line. To guide your company in the right direction, Mike Honious, vice president of engineering, Ozburn-Hessey Logistics, shares 10 practical ways to improve inventory accuracy. 1. Pick a […]
Inland Ports Make “Location” Matter More
It has become a tired axiom that the three most important success factors in real estate are location, location, and location. But this statement has never been more true, especially with global trade and transportation trends driving demand for large, exceptionally well-located distribution and logistics facilities. Consider the reality of U.S. global trade and transportation […]
Hitting the Asset-Tracking Trifecta: Bet on Visibility, ROI, and Safety
Throughout the transportation industry, losses due to cargo shrink (theft, damage, and spoilage) total an estimated $100 billion annually. Many companies have turned to RFID to help prevent cargo shrink, monitoring assets throughout the supply chain so they can identify when a particular asset enters or departs one facility or another. This method, however, doesn’t […]
Global Sourcing: The Path to High Performance
Leading organizations on the path to high performance are those that accelerate global sourcing strategies, drive aggressive cost reductions, and look to contract manufacturing to leverage and expand the value of their brand. Most significantly, these organizations plan to double their spend on low-cost country sourcing in the next three years. High-performance businesses are masters […]
Playing Politics with Homeland Security: 100-Percent Wrong
If you source or sell anything overseas, you are no doubt aware of Senator Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) efforts to mandate 100-percent scanning of inbound containers through an amendment to the SAFE Port Act. As part of the effort to get the amendment adopted, Schumer, along with eight other Democratic senators—Obama, Clinton, Menendez, Kerry, Kennedy, and […]
Aerial’s DC Makeover: It’s a Beautiful Thing
A beauty supply company gives its DC a makeover. Now productivity comes in permanent waves.
Global Supply Chain Networks: Eye for Design
To take advantage of global sourcing and manufacturing cost efficiencies—and to tap into burgeoning consumer markets overseas—companies must put as much effort into designing their global supply chain as they do in managing it. Old habits die hard, but forward-thinking companies are embracing a holistic approach to design.
CEE Change: Central & Eastern Europe Makes Waves
Nearly two decades removed from the fall of Communism, Central and Eastern Europe is transforming into a pivotal global logistics hub. Hungary for more information? Czech it out.
Furniture Logistics Finds its Legs
When a production shift from the Midwest to Asia rearranged the furniture industry, it did some interior design—polishing transport operations, dusting off collaboration efforts, and brushing up on new technology. Was this a competitive strategy that wood work?
Brent Shinall: Bursting with Energy
When Brent Shinall grew bored with his job as manufacturing engineer for hypersonic engine maker Pratt & Whitney, he started exploring new career opportunities. “I saw people in the purchasing department working with suppliers and negotiating contracts, and thought, ‘That looks like more fun,’” he recalls. So when the company’s purchasing manager needed an engineer […]
Global Technology Gets Hyperactive
Few people in this industry are better suited to wax poetic about globalization and technology than Supreet Manchanda, executive vice president/chief technology and corporate development officer for Brentwood, Tenn.-based 3PL Ozburn-Hessey Logistics. What Manchanda calls his “weird genealogy”—born in India, raised in Africa, educated in London, and a former resident of New York City, Silicon […]
IT Cleanup, Aisle 3
Migrating to a single technology platform and translating SAP transactions onto handheld terminals were high on Wawa’s IT shopping list. It checked off both with SAP.
Trends-Mar 2007
To prepare for the much hyped and debated Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program, the Department of Homeland Security has issued a final rule for rolling out the initiative. The TWIC program, expected to begin this month, attempts to enhance port security by checking the background of workers before they are granted unescorted access to […]
Global Logistics-March 2007
Across virtually all industries and geographic regions, manufacturers share one common goal: to increase profitability by reducing costs. A growing number of manufacturers, both in the United States and around the world, have embraced global sourcing as a fast-track method for achieving that goal. Global sourcing first took off in the 1980s and has increased […]
Improving Your Security Program
Security breaches in the United States cost industry tens of billions of dollars each year. If you manufacture, distribute, or ship high-value items, security within your company is at risk of being compromised. Preventing security breaches—in your facilities, and when your cargo is being loaded or unloaded for transit—is key. Here are 10 tips for […]
Driver-Shortage Issues: Carriers Get Creative
With trucking demand projected to exceed capacity for the next 15 years, and drivers retiring or leaving the business faster than they can be replaced, trucking companies and third-party logistics providers are scrambling to protect themselves from serious operating disruptions caused by driver-shortage issues. Shippers, in turn, feel the impact of the problem when contracting […]
To Hang On, Let Go of Antiquated Processes
In today’s brutally competitive environment, manufacturers are discovering that the only way they can hang on is to let go. They are realizing they must abandon antiquated business processes and take full advantage of the affordable and sophisticated technologies available to them that automate and enhance processes throughout the plant. Letting go is no easy […]
New Frontiers in Learning
Few logisticians and supply chain managers will dispute the value of practical, real-world, get-your-hands-dirty learning experiences. But the rapidity of global change, the proliferation of new supply chain networks and partnerships, and the velocity of logistics IT innovation challenges practitioners, such as you, to keep pace with the times. Improving your logistics skillset has an […]
Back to School? Start Your Search Here
Succeeding in the logistics field often requires an advanced degree. But finding the right school to attend sometimes comes with an advanced degree of aggravation. Inbound Logistics is here to help.
Change Drivers: Navigating the New Auto Supply Chain
Globalization, evolving supplier roles, and new network design models are driving change across the U.S. automotive industry. Logistics management is where the rubber meets the road.
Ivan Figueroa: A Man Who Plays Many Parts
Ivan Figueroa leads a double life. As global logistics manager for Radiant Systems in Alpharetta, Ga., he keeps distribution centers throughout the world supplied with spare parts for his company’s point-of-sale systems. In his other role as council member of the newly formed city of Johns Creek, Ga., he wrestles with zoning and planning questions […]
Shifted Contents, Shared Responsibility
Q: My warehouse often receives containers holding cargo that has shifted or collapsed against itself. Apart from any risk we face for cargo damage while unloading the containers, I feel this also presents a hazard to my workers. What can I do to protect my company and my employees? A: Unfortunately, containers often house improperly […]
Logistics in the Blogosphere
Say what you will about blogging—that it democratizes information dissemination, or, adversely, that it is killing well-edited, fact-checked journalism—logistics professionals have embraced it. Because of their low-tech, easy-to-use nature, blogs have exploded not only as forums to discuss celebrity and political goings-on, but as a resource tool for finding solutions to real business challenges. While […]
Burton Brings Vendors On Board
Snowboarding gear manufacturer Burton bails on its freestyle WIP reports and launches a visibility suite that sticks.