Commentary
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.
Follow This Roadmap To a Lean, Sustainable Supply Chain
Few companies realize that, when implemented in the supply chain, Lean and Green are not contradictory but can be mutually beneficial. This is a good reason for firms to adopt an integrated Lean and Green strategy.
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.