Breaking the Size Barrier in Global Logistics
The last three years have brought a whirlwind of activity to global sourcing, which eliminated many traditional manufacturing jobs in the United States. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the manufacturing workforce in the United States shrank by two million production jobs between 2000 and 2003. Headlines appear weekly with news of more outsourcing […]
Inventory Optimization: The Last Frontier
Two opposing forces are at work in business today: the need to reduce costs and the need to improve service levels. Bolstering one almost certainly causes the other to suffer. For example, lower your inventory to reduce costs and it becomes difficult to meet varying customer demand. Increase safety stock to meet peak demands and […]
C-TPAT: Staying Ahead of the Curve
John, the newly appointed Ohio Valley plant manager, arrived at his desk 6:30 a.m. Monday with a plan to organize the week. He was surprised when almost immediately the phone rang. It was a freight forwarder in Hong Kong wanting to speak with the plant’s logistics manager, Barbara. The forwarder told John that some electronics […]
The Politics of Fear
Media-amplified hysteria and politicization of homeland security in certain circles may be driving security policies toward unreality. Some believe that the only way to protect good people from bad people is to lock down the good people instead of aggressively sanctioning the bad. Are we over-emphasizing security at the expense of interdiction in the war […]
Delta Faucet Taps a Centralized Approach to Growth
A centralized, fully automated distribution center keeps Delta Faucet running.
Pier Pressure: Customers Call the Shots
Competitive pressure drives ocean carriers, ports and terminal operators to collaborate to improve efficiency and accommodate customers.
The New Frontier of Border Security
Are you committed to protecting the safety and security of goods in transit? Pretty soon, you’ll have to be. Here’s a look at the latest security initiatives affecting transportation and logistics, and what you need to know to comply.
A Walk on the Wireless Side
Are you ready to join the wireless revolution, but just not sure where to begin? With wireless technology rapidly making its way into the supply chain, the challenge for many companies is keeping up to speed on the latest offerings and solutions. Here’s a crash course on some of the many wireless applications gaining market share and a look at how some companies are applying what’s available to their own pain points.
Who’s Who in Wireless Technology
To help you get started in wireless technology, Inbound Logistics has compiled a list of some wireless providers in the segment. While this is by no means an all-inclusive listing of vendors, we hope it will help guide you in your preliminary search.
Kim Brown: Keeping the Home Fires Burning
When work goes well for Kim Brown, people stay warm. Brown’s company, Hearth and Home Technologies, manufactures stoves, fireplaces and related products for home heating. As materials manager at the Lake City, Minn., plant, she’s responsible for getting materials to the production line and transporting finished goods to distributors and direct customers. Like many supply […]
Inner City Direct-to-Store Delivery: Complex but Improving
Last month’s column dealt with the problems associated with transportation and logistics in an inner city environment. The staff and manager of a New York City supermarket, in their attempt to receive a shipment, were faced with numerous challenges such as parking restrictions and limited access to delivery doors. The problem of receiving, however, is […]
Menlo Worldwide Logistics: Serving Up Technology a la Carte
One 3PL offers software and technology services to companies that run their own supply chains.
Please Don’t Squeeze the 3PL
When is it practical to develop a cost-plus relationship? Many companies that outsource spend up to 60 percent of their logistics management time defining, selecting and negotiating the 3PL agreement yet do not fully realize the total benefits available from the outsourced relationship. The cost-plus agreement must allow the outsourcer to maximize the ROI from […]
Successful Global Data Synchronization
Data synchronization is a crucial component of e-commerce. As companies increasingly communicate via computer, organizing and synchronizing data with all trading partners poses a greater challenge. Here are 10 tips to undertaking a successful data synchronization initiative, from Craig Bednarovsky, global retail marketing manager, Global Exchange Services. 1. Get educated. Understand the standard bodies relevant […]
The What, Not the Where, of Site Selection
While much has been written about site selection from the real estate and cost reduction perspective, little has focused on the supply chain management perspective. What’s the difference? To start with, true SCM focuses on adding value to the customer and sharing that gain with all the component links in the supply chain. Rather than […]
Easing the Impact of HOS Regulations
With the new Hours of Service (HOS) regulations now in effect for transportation providers, transportation management systems (TMS) are coming to the aid of shippers. The systems help shippers assess the impact of the new guidelines, incorporate the regulations into automated processes, and identify areas of improvement to minimize the financial impact of the regulations […]
Forging Industry-Academia Partnerships
Economic pressure derived from reduced state and federal funding has fueled escalating tuition costs. As a result, government, taxpayers, parents, and business practitioners are paying closer attention to the activities of business faculty. Critics contend that higher business education is breaking down, that the system is churning out irrelevant academic research and training students to […]
Who is the Typical IL Reader?
Who are the typical Inbound Logistics readers? They are the unusual mixture of the practical and theoretical. Straining their brains to solve the seemingly unsolvable, yet not afraid to get dirt under their fingernails to get the job done. They understand the complex algorithm that helps rationalize the unpredictability of future demand, yet they are […]
Smart Moves: Managing Your Logistics Career
Winning the corporate game requires careful planning and strategic career moves. Learn from these logistics pros who describe the steps they took get ahead.
The Soft Side of Career Development
The path up the ladder of success is not as easy as it used to be. It takes a good logistics plan to coordinate all the elements of your training and experience. Yes, logistical planning is not only the definition of what you do, it is critical in shaping your career as well. After all, […]
Rob James: The Pepsi Challenge–Taking Charge of Inbound
Promoted to logistics manager at PepsiAmericas’ St. Louis plant, Rob James had a revelation. The operation was giving money away. Instead of managing its inbound freight, the plant relied on vendors to book loads and pass on the charges—whatever they happened to be. Research showed there was plenty of room for improvement. “I quickly found […]
Complying with the Bioterrorism Act: What If Something Goes Wrong?
Q: The Food and Drug Administration issued new regulations requiring the receipt of prior notice when perishable goods are imported to the United States. What specific obligations are imposed on importers and logistics providers and what are the potential consequences? Will my insurance policy cover me if something goes wrong? A: On June 12, 2002, […]
Direct-to-Store Deliveries: Not Always Easy
Some software providers see their goal as offering a fully automated supply chain. It is a great goal and one that can have significant bottom-line results. Between the striving for that goal and the reality of achieving it, however, some setbacks can occur. These problems are the consequence of the reality within which we live. […]
QRS: Getting in the Electronic Trading Game
Using Web Forms, no player is too small for electronic commerce.
Pulling the Profit Lever of Spare Parts Logistics
Like many supply chain professionals, you probably rarely, if ever, consider the world of spare parts logistics. After all, why should you? How could you know that strategic logistics planning of your spare parts inventories will increase revenues, reduce costs, improve profitability, and have a direct impact on both the top and bottom line, while […]
Choosing A Warehouse Racking System
A racking system can make or break your warehouse or distribution center. Even if you plan to make some changes and reclaim space in an existing facility, you must consider physical constraints and unique operating requirements before selecting a rack system. Here, Bill Hillebrenner, director of consulting services, CEI Logistics, demystifies the rack selection process. […]
Rail Intermodal: One Arrow in Your Quiver
At a time when demanding investors are closely scrutinizing your company’s bottom line, finding solutions to reduce distribution and other operating costs seems a natural place for executive focus. Companies are also feeling an even greater sense of urgency to manage expenses due to the new Hours of Service changes. In addition, some retail companies […]
Seven Deadly Supply Chain Sins
If there is one IT system that provides the greatest immediate benefits to a company, yet also poses the greatest challenges to implement, it has to be supply chain management. It is also the most risky to work with because failure and success are so visible to your trading partners. Supply chain management (SCM) has […]
The Full Cost of Cargo Losses
All too often, supply chain managers do not properly calculate all the elements of cargo loss. As a result, they minimize the full impact on their bottom line. Most look only at cargo theft or damage to determine the financial impact on their company. Many other factors, however, need to be considered when calculating the […]
Cross-Border Stewardship
A new cross-border compliance initiative helps smaller shippers become more proficient supply chain partners.
Scale-Ability
Can being proficient in supply chain practices position you to benefit when the economy picks up and your sales take off? Matching demand signals to your supply line will help you save money, but it’s only half the story. It is a very big half, considering our never-ending quest to be cost effective or to […]
Belk: Consolidation to the Max
For Belk department stores, consolidation was the path to modernization
Blueprint for Excellence: Complex Logistics Made Simple
It doesn’t matter whether your company is large or small, when you undertake dramatic supply chain reengineering projects you need a blueprint. See how leading companies set plans to successfully implement complex logistics change.
Family Dollar’s Blueprint for Expansion
Streamlining transportation operations and implementing inbound logistics practices supports phenomenal growth and makes sense for Family Dollar.
Fila Thinks Global, Acts Local
Fila boots old logistics practices and implements a world-class decentralized supply chain system to sneak up on the competition.
Food Lion Gets Ready to Roar
Improved layout and warehouse operations are the main reasons Food Lion DCs increase productivity from four to six percent
InFocus Sharpens Logistics Strategy
To implement the logistics changes needed to bring inventory more in focus with sales flow, InFocus’ president empowers his team to partner with a 3PL.
International Truck Integrates Inbound
An integrated inbound logistics program helps International Truck streamline its supply base by bringing many supply chains into one. Result? World-class trucks and engines produced at competitive prices.
REHAU: From Empty Shell to Functioning DC in Two Months
How would you like it if you had two months to transform a slab into a world-class distribution center? Could you do it? REHAU did.
Taking an MRI of Toshiba’s MRO
Toshiba turns its supply chain inside out to make sure its MRIs and CTs are up and running 24-7.
Driving Efficiencies in Automotive Logistics
Automotive manufacturers find the key to squeezing operations costs: establishing strong partnerships with their 3PLs.
The Evolution of the Paperless Railroad
The same goals that railroads hoped to achieve in 1883 by transitioning to Standard Time—accountability, reliability, better customer service—are now coming full circle as today’s smaller railroads are integrating with Class I’s and shippers to provide time-definite services and seamless supply chain visibility. “Real time” rather than “Railroad Time” is driving freight railroads into the new century.
Competitor or Co-Pilot: Air Carriers Work Together to Fill Gaps
With airlines limiting lift in most areas and shippers demanding more, major airlines and cargo carriers survive by combining forces. Goal? To provide worldwide seamless service by managing capacity across carriers to better match the demand.
Trust Me! The Human Side of Collaboration
How business partners can conquer their fears of intimacy by learning to collaborate, share forecasts and plans, and build the kind of trust that supports successful supply chain operations.
Closing the Supply Chain Loop: Reverse Logistics and the SCOR Model
With product returns on the rise, many companies strive to formalize the reverse logistics process.
Washington Briefing 2004: Enemies at the Gate
The practical implications of the 24-Hour Rule and C-TPAT will reverberate in 2004. Here’s an update to help you meet the requirements and responsibilities of being a logistics partner in Homeland Defense.
Todd Horne: Master of Disaster
Every logistics professional handles the occasional crisis. But for Todd Horne, crisis is the core of the job. As a disaster logistics officer with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Horne moves relief supplies such as food, blankets, plastic sheeting and water purification kits to help victims of war and natural disaster. Horne […]
The Lights Are On But Is Anybody Home?
If we make a comment such as “the supply chain is as strong as its weakest link,” we may well be accused of stating the obvious. Well, it may need saying again: the supply chain is as strong, as or as weak, as its weakest link. A company’s supply chain has one major objective: creating […]
TradeBeam: Cracking the Global Code
TradeBeam takes a well-rounded approach to international trade.
Becoming Truly Global: 3PLs Face New Challenges
The challenge of heading a global 3PL must be influenced by both an understanding of North American logistics and by a personal desire to help define the role of logistics. The future of freight forwarding depends on the partnerships and collaboration that can only be delivered by third-party logistics providers who have the capability to […]
Adapting to Hours of Service Rules
On Jan. 4, 2004, the Hours of Service (HOS) rules, adopted in 1939, are changing. The idea behind the changes is to permit commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers more time and opportunities for quality rest and restorative sleep, and to reduce the number of crashes caused by drowsy, tired, or fatigued CMV drivers. Dave Bouchard, […]
Preparing for the New Hours of Service Rules
Jan. 4, 2004, marks the beginning of a huge wake-up call for the entire transportation industry. No segment of the industry is immune from some element of the change in the Department of Transportation’s revised Hours-of-Service (HOS) ruling. How great an impact the change will have remains to be seen. Those who have successfully planned […]
Where’s My Stuff?
Supply chain managers responding to a recent Aberdeen Group survey highlight the following items as their top three supply chain challenges: Identifying shipping delays, errors, and exceptions. Providing shipment visibility for supply chain partners. Integrating with other units and processes of the enterprise. These challenges mirror the growing complexity of today’s supply chains. Networks of […]
Integrating Multi-Channel Retail Systems
Many multi-channel retailers didn’t start out that way. As new channels grow, it becomes necessary to integrate them to provide a unified customer experience. Unfortunately, this integration effort often encounters organizational, technological, and process problems that are the result of single-channel-focused solutions, or companies never imagining that they would serve more than one channel. Most […]
Selling Wholesale on Rail
Florida East Coast Railways leverages its intermodal assets to provide a tailored solution for BJ’s Wholesale Club
Making a List
Shippers/consignees, forwarders, NVOs, carriers and 3PLs BEWARE : “persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are prohibited from engaging in economic transactions with persons/organizations on these lists.” What list? The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has compiled a list of more than 8,000 “persons or organizations” that those under U.S. jurisdiction are forbidden to trade with. […]
Hitting the Mark: Supply Chain Best Practices
A look back at 2003, when companies took aim at improving supply chain systems and security, cutting costs, and providing excellent customer service.
Forward Thinking: Forecasting Logistics for the Year Ahead
The ever-present logistical challenges of matching supply to demand, meeting customer service levels, and combating pricing pressures continue to plague logistics service providers as they plan their business strategy for 2004. Add a troubled economy and the complexity of an increasingly global marketplace, and it is easy to see why the past year has presented […]
Mark Davis: Logistics at the Speed of Flight
Like many logistics professionals, Mark Davis spends nearly every day racing the clock. At Tracer Corporation, his department rushes aircraft parts to meet airlines’ just-in-time requirements, or to get grounded planes back in the air. Along with time, though, Davis’ department faces another sort of pressure: they have to maintain precise records on every part […]
Are Your Goods in Transit Safeguarded?
Q: The supply chain in the United States can be long and involve a number of carriers, railheads, truck depots and container yards. How can I reduce the risk of disruption to my goods during transit? Which criteria do you suggest I use in checking my suppliers’ facilities along the supply chain? A: Transit delays […]
Collaborating for Optimum Supply Chain Management
At the core of the supply chain there has to be mutual trust among parties. This trust must be based on agreed-upon methods and technology to assure maximum cost savings and increased profits for all parties. Normally this trust starts with supply chain management planning and collaboration. Planning constitutes the strategic aspect of the supply […]
EMJ Extracts Execution Excellence
Transportation system aims to turn plans into profitable reality for flatbed shippers
Managing Truckload Transportation
To successfully manage truckload transportation, transport buyers must begin thinking of transportation procurement as a tactical planning process consistent with their supply chain strategy and not as an operational detail, says Bob Belshaw, vice president of INSIGHT Inc., a supply chain planning and transportation solutions vendor. Here, he offers 10 tips on managing truckload to […]
Reducing the Risk of Damage, Loss and Claims
The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, especially when it comes to inbound logistics. Even the best plans of smart shippers can be undermined by the great gadfly of shipping—damage, loss, and claims. Not only do damage, loss, and claims increase your overall transportation costs, they can also drive a wedge […]
Are You Ready to Ride the RFID Tidal Wave?
For the last 30 years, bar codes have been the accepted standard for product identification. Current technological advances, however, make radio-frequency identification (RFID) a promising alternative to bar codes in many applications. Now is the time for businesses to acquaint themselves with this technology, and to decide on a strategy for participating in this revolution. […]
Finding the Real Silver Bullet for Cargo Security
Cargo security is becoming a commonly used term defined and discussed differently depending on group or audience. But what is the real “silver bullet” needed to secure cargo? One answer rests in the capability to ensure the integrity of each container’s contents. With more than six million containers entering U.S. seaports annually, aboard more than […]
OshKosh B’Gosh: An Overall Inbound Success
OshKosh B’Gosh tries on a 3PL partner to better manage its global inbound flow.
Pushing Back the Last Mile
There was plenty of activity at the American Trucking Associations meeting and trade show in October, especially at booths exhibiting wireless technology and systems to empower carriers—technology transforming transportation. Here’s a look at some of the solutions exhibited at the ATA conference: MobileCast by UPS Logistics Technologies and Tripmaster’s Intelligent Delivery System offer a fleet […]
American Textile: Room to Grow
A new super-sized DC was just the ticket to keep one textile company growing.
Deck the Hauls: Getting the Holiday Rush
Planning, technology help Santa’s helpers make it a jolly holiday season
Revving Up Returns
Optimizing reverse logistics can result in cost reductions and service level improvements of up to 50 percent.
John Henderson: A Man of Parts
Over the past few years, John Henderson has pulled off a double logistics coup. He led an effort that cut $20 million out of Gerber Technology’s service parts inventory, and he did it while boosting next-day customer service delivery from 40 percent into the high 80s. A division of Gerber Scientific International, Gerber Technology sells […]
Using HighJump for Low Cost
Supply chain execution software is a critical application for today’s enterprises as they operate in a dynamic world of change. It’s a world where the ability to respond to that change, cost effectively, can make or break their business. One supplier of supply chain execution software is Eden Prairie, Minn.-based HighJump Software. The company’s strategy […]
Silvon: The Incredible Shrinking Safety Stock
New software helps companies systematically match inventory to fluctuating customer demand.
Retailers Take Outsourcing to the Next Level
As the economy creeps forward, retailers must focus on taking control of their supply chain functions. This sounds like a no-brainer to those of us who work day in and day out on tightening the supply chain. But the fact is, many retail organizations are simply not set up to get a good view of […]
Shipping Temperature-Sensitive Products
Moving temperature-sensitive products can be a hassle. Delays and shipping snafus can wreak havoc on your bottom line. Jim Snider, vice president and general manager of FedEx Custom Critical White Glove Services, knows how crucial it is to guarantee that product arrives cool to the customer. Here are his 10 tips for shipping temperature-sensitive products. […]
Untying the Import/Export Knot
In late 333 B.C., Alexander the Great and his army arrived in the Asian city of Gordium to spend the winter. Alexander was told of the legend that surrounded the town’s famous Gordian Knot. The legend said that anyone who could untie the exceptionally complex knot would become the king of Asia. So far, no […]
Is it Time to Return to the Rails?
Shipping by rail can be unsettling for those unfamiliar with the nuances of interacting with the railroads. In fact, some companies avoid even considering rail as a viable transportation option because of the fear of the unknown, or based on negative experiences with the railroads from years past. Railroads are commonly accused of being slow […]
Evaluating the True Cost of Overseas Manufacturing
United States manufacturing continues to decline. Since 1970, manufacturing employment has dropped 22 percent—nearly nine percent of that drop in the last 10 years alone. Low-cost labor from Asia and Latin America has created extreme price pressure, and manufacturers are especially hard hit, experiencing brand erosion due to private label growth of major retailers. Many […]
Passion Play
Most readers I meet are reserved, practical, low-key, disciplined, taking a considered approach to the task of managing many variables as they strive to match their supply stream to their demand. That’s why I was a little surprised to hear the following at this year’s CLM Conference in Chicago. “As logisticians, we’re steadfast in our […]
Managing Imports: From Docs to Docks
Technology and third-party providers can help streamline the importing process and speed cycle time while complying with increased regulatory requirements.
Understanding Incoterms
Here’s a handy guide to Incoterms, a set of international rules for the interpretation of the most commonly used trade terms. Applying Incoterms to sale and purchase contracts makes global trade easier and helps partners in different countries understand one another.
Sandy Chavis: To the Line, Just in Time
In 1995, Sandy Chavis took on a new challenge: creating a logistics department at Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing (TIEM). Until then, purchasing staff who procured parts, raw materials, and supplies for the forklift truck manufacturer also handled the transportation of those goods. But as TIEM started buying more parts in the United States instead of […]
Mind Your Own Business: Supply Chain Integration and Feedback
In the 20th century, the process of control was formalized by Norbert Wiener who, through his concept of cybernetics, analyzed and applied the idea of feedback. Although he saw feedback as useful primarily to engineers, the idea has taken wing and come into all our lives. For example, consider the delivery of steady heat through […]
CombineNet: Moving Beyond Reverse Auctions
Using combinatorial optimization, DuPont finds further ways to save on transportation.
Six Ways to Grow in a Down Economy
In the 1990s, it looked like we could do no wrong. The economy was growing. The stock market was rising. Venture capital was plentiful. Young people became instant millionaires in the dot.com world. Then came the new millennium and somehow that all changed. The economy started to shrink and layoffs became commonplace. The stock market […]
Selecting Forwarders and NVOCs
Receiving and shipping goods from overseas can be confusing. But receiving and sending the goods is only half the battle. It’s actually the selection of the right forwarder or NVOC (Non-Vessel-Operating Carrier) that is the most important task, but one that can cause you the most headache, especially if you make the wrong choice. To […]
Finding Efficiencies in the Yard Just Outside
Today’s dynamic business environment provides supply chain professionals with increasingly complex pressures from a variety of business fronts. Customers request reductions in cycle times, time-to-market, and operating costs in addition to increased order accuracy and service. Yet in the face of these challenges, many companies focus only on maximizing efficiency within the four walls of […]
Getting a Grip on Service Parts Operations
Companies have been under tremendous price and volume pressure in the finished goods business for quite some time, but services and parts is the logical next opportunity to improve revenue, boost profits, and directly impact customer satisfaction. In fact, Piper Jaffrey U.S. Bancorp estimates that spare parts represent $700 billion in spending and eight percent […]
Yellow/Roadway: Changing Directions
Every September, Inbound Logistics offers readers a review of the trucking segment. The big news this year is Yellow Freight buying its competitor, Roadway. This unexpected move was driven by economic, competitive, and strategic reasons. As we saw with Consolidated Freightways’ demise, size alone is not a reliable indicator of stability. Good management, aggressiveness, and […]
Avnet: Focus on Perfection
Avnet’s Arizona distribution center is one of the company’s best sales tools.
Green Light for Yellow-Roadway
What the acquisition means for customers of the $6-billion newly formed transportation provider.
Wheels of Fortune: Truckers Deliver a Wealth of Services
Motor carriers help companies optimize their core competencies by providing value-added services.
Military Logistics Shapes Up
As the need for efficiency in military operations grows, streamlining the supply chain becomes imperative.
Richard Jackson: Purchasing Power
From cancer cultures to special valves to dual-engine aircraft, Richard Jackson stood ready to find and deliver almost anything. As manager of export purchasing for chemical company ICI Americas (later Zeneca and AstraZeneca) until his retirement in 1993, Jackson tapped U.S. suppliers for materials and equipment his company’s overseas facilities couldn’t find in their own […]
SEKO Moves Forward into IT
The supply chain offers too much and delivers too little. This argument has been leveled for years against ERP software applications and the complexity of their implementation. The counter-argument is that companies who use supply chain management successfully—such as Wal-Mart and Dell—have made it an essential part of their business success. These companies don’t just […]
What’s Next in Outsourcing’s Evolution?
Regardless of the complexities of Darwinian theory, it is easy to find similarities between the evolution of man and outsourcing supply chain functions. After all, there was a time in my career when “postponement strategies” seemed as foreign a phrase as “australopithecines” (an extinct humanlike primate). What was once fancy speak now seems no more […]
Creating Effective Routing Guides
A s companies seek to streamline their supply chains and logistics processes, their transportation routing guides have never been more important. Getting vendor and carrier compliance depends how the routing guide is put together. It must be easy to read, simple to use, and flexible. Shawn Masters, group logistics manager for Ryder Systems, offers these […]
The WMS Quandary: Where’s My Savings?
Several times a year I get a call that goes something like this: “Albert, we automated our distribution centers with a new WMS and we haven’t seen the savings. In fact, our costs are higher! We did our due diligence in selecting the best package. We did the training and wrote interfaces. We toured sites […]