Commentary
Inside Job: Embedding Risk Protection Where Freight Decisions Happen
For decades, cargo insurance has been an afterthought in freight operations, an administrative box to tick after rates are negotiated and the load is on the move. That separation made sense when every policy required phone calls, paperwork, and manual underwriting. But in a digital, data-driven supply chain, risk protection can no longer live outside the workflow. It belongs inside it.
WHAT’S THE WORD: The Language of Logistics
From refreshers to recently coined terms and emerging concepts (should we be concerned about shadow AI?), here are some quick definitions to add to your logistics dictionary.
Real-Time Sales Data: The Missing Link
Despite progress in supply chain digitization, automation, and AI, one gap undermines sales efficiency: real-time sales data sharing between retailers and suppliers. This disconnect creates forecasting challenges, burdens inventory systems, and slows responsiveness at a time when speed and agility are critical for competitiveness.
Case Studies
Yard Management: Grounds for Improvement
Depending on the amount of attention companies pay them, the yards outside warehouses and manufacturing plants can either be models of efficiency or a source of delays. A supportive yard management system (YMS) can make all the difference as Westrock Coffee Company has learned. Having gained a YMS during its acquisition of another company, Westrock continues to unlock impressive gains in efficiency, real-time visibility and operational control.
Lush Gets a Store-Level Inventory Control Makeover
Lush, the cosmetics company known for its fresh and handmade products, has experienced tremendous growth. Across the globe, it boasts more than 850 store locations, including more than 250 in North America.
Mastering the Last Mile of Premium, Perishable Food
For the past decade, Crowd Cow has partnered with ethical farms, fisheries and other food producers from around the world to source sustainable, quality beef, seafood, pork, and other items. By sourcing from small farms and managing the processing, Crowd Cow can bring its products to many consumers who otherwise might not have access to them. At the same time, Crowd Cow offers many of its suppliers a customer base they might struggle to reach.
How-To
10 Tips for Improving Yard Visibility
Transportation and warehouse activities may be well tracked, but once a trailer enters the yard, visibility breaks down. Improving visibility is not a data problem but an operating model problem, requiring a system governing how work is planned, executed, measured, and improved—making visibility actionable rather than merely descriptive.
10 Tips for Deploying AI in Your Supply Chain
Artificial intelligence can transform the supply chain. Because the infrastructure already exists, adoption can be quick—though it can be challenging to know where to start.
10 Tips for Improving Carrier Collaboration
In an era of constant disruption, businesses face unprecedented logistics challenges. To navigate these complexities, companies must strengthen collaboration with carriers.