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Random Stow or the Disorganized Warehouse?
Random Stow is a warehouse putaway method driven by an algorithm developed by Coupang, an ecommerce monster and formidable Amazon competitor. For the Korean market, Coupang uses this counterintuitive warehouse management method, which stores items wherever there is open shelf space, rather than grouping similar SKUs together. The warehouse might look disorganized. But it is […]
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Riding the 2026 Wave
While doom-scrolling through Facebook late one night, I saw a painting by a friend that captured something I hadn’t quite been able to put into words—so much so that I reached out and asked if we could use it for our January cover. It perfectly reflects a good way to look at the year ahead. […]
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5 Supply Chain Developments That Defined 2025
As we closed our last edition of 2025, I looked back at reader emails and conversations and saw a clear pattern: This was a year of fundamental transformation. Evolving technology, geopolitical events, and demanding customers created constant pressure on your supply chains and drove five strategic developments. 1. Tariffs redefine the cost and complexity of […]
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Somewhere Henry Ford is Smiling
Henry Ford revolutionized car manufacturing by inventing the moving assembly line. Besides saving time and money, that new process made the Model T affordable and ubiquitous. Today, thousands of vehicle plants around the world still use that method. Using Ford’s method, modern vehicle assembly lines are a moving and sequential process where a car’s frame—called […]
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Shining a Light on Dark Factories
A manufacturing revolution is underway in factories around the world. “Lights-out” manufacturing is finally being realized in a few highly automated and roboticized locations. This dramatic shift—also known as the “dark factory”—is the ultimate objective of industrial automation: a factory so automated that it requires little or no human presence. Humans need the lights, machines […]
Read MoreSelf-Healing Inventory?
Self-healing inventory is a phrase that is being used more and more these days. It’s a take-off on the concept of a self-healing supply chain, where inventory comes alive and knows where it has to be without you always lending a guiding hand.
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Trucking Needs Government Actions Now
The precipitous fall-off in trucking capacity needs to be remedied by government actions at the state, local, and national levels. Yes, I know some people say the ebb and flow of market conditions will level-set what’s needed. I disagree and here’s why. Traditional economic cycles sometimes fall off and shipment levels drop. Smart truckers prepare […]
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Pick a 3PL That Evolves
Growth in 3PL solutions is influenced by your demands. Data shared by more than 200 3PLs and thousands of their customers for this year’s 3PL Perspectives survey offers the following key takeaways that can guide demand-driven enterprises as they seek to align with new partners. 3PLs go hybrid. The percentage of pure-play asset-based 3PLs has […]
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Walmart Bets Big on Drones
Walmart is banking on drone deliveries to continue dominating both the last-mile delivery sector and the broader retail industry. This drone strategy is long-term and based on Walmart’s research showing that younger consumers (ages 18-35) are the most likely to use drone delivery services. Younger consumers, accustomed to organizing their lives around iPhones and apps, […]
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Supply Chain Pocket Change?
As a company’s supply chain network evolves over time, information needed for adaptive efficiency becomes isolated in hard-to-find data pockets. In those instances, data required to drive modern efficient operations is isolated and not instantly accessible—usually housed on old world siloed spreadsheets. Do you have supply chain data points in hidden pockets? Modernized business operations […]
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Generation AI?
Generative AI, or Gen AI, refers to a type of artificial intelligence that can create new content. But I am hijacking the term. In the way that Gen Z, Gen X, and Gen Y refer to different generations of Americans, I’m redefining Gen AI as the generation who are conversant in artificial intelligence and applying […]
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Transportation Spend: Waste, Fraud, and Abuse?
Even if you are not a news junkie, there is no escaping all the coverage of waste, fraud, and abuse in government spending; there is no DOGEing it. But what about U.S. spend on transportation infrastructure? Transportation for America, an advocacy group of leaders concerned about the importance of our transportation network, recently took a shot […]
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The Logistics Leader of the Southeast
If your company is thinking about opening up or expanding operations in the Southeast, I’ve got interesting news. The demographic shift of consumers and businesses, particularly manufacturing, is driving an uptick in logistics and supply chain activity across the South. That uptick is reflected in the phenomenal increase in logistics infrastructure investment, with one state […]
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Supply Chain Trump Cards?
Our publisher, Keith Biondo, shares his thoughts on how to turn supply chain disruption challenges into opportunities.
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Can Uber Help Truck Drivers and Shippers?
The convergence of three groundbreaking technologies—AI, Starlink, and robotics—will revolutionize the practice of transportation, logistics, and supply chain management, as I wrote last month. Another convergent trend that benefits logistics management is on the rise: The mashup of consumer technology woven into business operations. Just about anyone who drives uses Google Maps and Waze. There’s […]
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When Robotics, Starlink, and AI Converge: What’s Next?
The maturation and convergence of three technologies—robotics, Starlink, and artificial intelligence—will revolutionize the practice of supply chain management across the globe. I know you have heard that before, but this time it is not hyperbole. When these three technologies converge, much of how we manage logistics today will be legacy, a fading memory in a […]
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AI Power Drives Supply Chain Gymnastics
If you’re reading Inbound Logistics, you already drank the supply chain Kool-Aid. But many others in our audience are tasting the inbound logistics brew for the first time. “Inbound logistics makes sense,” they say as they sip. “But it’s a lot more complicated than just letting my vendors and logistics partners control my inbound flow. I just don’t think I can handle that.” It tastes great, […]
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How ESG Policy Impacts Truckers
How do ESG mandates impact trucking? Let’s take a look at some examples. Leading global transportation and logistics player DSV, with headquarters in Denmark, just ordered 300 electric vehicles from Volvo Trucks. If those trucks get the job done, DSV plans to order 2,000 more, making those EVs 10% of the 20,000 total DSV fleet […]
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The New Retail Equation: Better, Not Bigger?
In this new retail landscape, companies that innovate and adapt by refining their operational models to be more agile and responsive will be best positioned to thrive.
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Is Your Enterprise Flexible Enough To Scale?
Scalability is important. In this annual Third-Party Logistics edition, you will find partners and resources to ensure your enterprise is flexible enough to scale.
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