Articles
Checking In
Now They Know
Some search categories on the Inbound Logistics platform are up more than 108%. What are companies looking for? Logistics solutions, such as more carrier lift in certain areas, fulfillment help, warehouse solutions, transportation management technology, and 3PL solutions, to name a few. The scramble for logistics solutions and expertise is on. Everyone needs what you […]
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Flexing Muscle on China Trade Compliance
The Trump administration is using a novel approach—e-commerce shipment enforcement—to ensure that China complies with Phase 1 of the U.S.-China trade deal signed in January 2020. Trade compliance intersects with billions of dollars of e-commerce shipments in Operation Mega Flex, which the Department of Homeland Security outlined in late February 2020. Mega Flex targets what […]
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Robot Return Ratios
More robots are on the way to Walmart, says John Crecelius, the retailer’s vice president in charge of in-store innovations. Walmart will add shelf-scanning Bossa Nova robots to 650 more U.S. stores in 2020, for a total of 1,000 or more by the fall. Either Bossa Nova or Simbe robots will be in “the majority” […]
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Ten Minutes From Now—Do You Have a Plan?
While the publisher is focused on planning for a far-off future, I’m focused on providing practical information that you can use in the here and now. Leaf through this edition for the next 10 minutes, and you’ll find plenty of practical examples to help you navigate 2020. The content we provide is specialized because the […]
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Ten Years From Now—Do You Have a Plan?
It’s a new decade and time to project and plan for the next one. Ten years from today, what will your market look like? What kind of customers will you have and where will they be located? What will they buy? How will they buy? And how will you adapt your supply chain operations to […]
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What’s the Word?
We asked the experts in our audience for the hot supply chain words or phrases you and your colleagues will be talking about next year. Here goes. Door to floor. Given e-commerce deliveries of larger consumer products, door to floor is a thing, explains Bob Hitt, industry go to market manager for Salesforce. Some call […]
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The Death of Your Profession?
In a few short years you won’t be employed. That’s right, if you work in the supply chain management field, and have a decade or so until you retire, it’s time to dust off your resume and consider other career paths. That’s according to commentary authors Allan Lyall, Pierre Mercier, and Stefan Gstettner in a […]
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Take the Current When It Serves
I recently participated in a summit of supply chain and business leaders who shared the many ways they are successfully navigating the turbulent waters of global trade. Despite the headwinds, they were determined to find new supply lines and expanded market opportunities. Determined and, yes, even optimistic about their economic future. It reminds me of […]
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I Was a Shipment at Disney
On a recent trip to Disney World with my family, I felt like one of the shipments you manage. I experienced firsthand the recent technological magic Disney has invested in. The impact of that technology investment starts before you hit the park—advance planning, if you will. Disney encourages everyone seeking information about park attractions to […]
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3PL Growth Spurt. Why?
The managed logistics sector thrives both in times of positive change and in times of uncertainty. We’ve recently had plenty of both. In today’s bipolar economy, it’s no wonder that U.S. 3PLs had their best-ever year in 2018. Forty percent of 3PLs report top-line sales growth of 20% or better in our annual 3PL Perspectives […]
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Conflicted
As a culture, are we really committed to sustainability? Yes and no. Conventional wisdom can be contradictory. For example, some of you are reading this on paper. BAD! Yet studies show that fast-growth carbon capturing recyclable paper is much more sustainable than the gigawatts of energy and massive server farms needed to deliver Inbound Logistics […]
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Help From Your Warehouse
Your warehouse and fulfillment operations—and the people, partners, and processes that make them run—have just gotten monumentally more important, because a series of convergent events are raising national supply chain costs at every touch. Let’s unpack the why. In the industrial and manufacturing sectors, added costs on materials and products impacted by ongoing trade friction […]
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Singularity: Shape-Shifting Self-Aware Supply Chains?
Recent AI advances indicate that self-aware, or cognitive supply chains, may be closer than we think.
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Global Trade Resilience
Global trade analysts predicted the sky was falling, but that is not currently the case. How did they get the projections so wrong?
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Knowledge is Power
There are 13,000 unfilled supply chain positions nationwide, according to recent labor surveys. I think there are more. A lot more. To fill those positions, we need young professionals who possess the knowledge and skills necessary to manage the supply chains of the future. Schools and universities are doing their part to develop curriculums that […]
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When Worlds Combine
Inbound Logistics continues to provide actionable content to help drive supply chain change.
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When Worlds Collide
In retail there are two worlds or approaches: online and traditional. It appears the online retailers have been winning in the market with all types of consumers, even in manufacturing and industrial products. But don’t count the traditional retail world out yet. Good supply chain management practices, along with blended approaches to serving the customer, […]
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A Lot to Learn
In the not-so-distant past, logistics and supply chain practitioners had just a few ways to boost their skillsets and keep current on the latest best practices. The options were mostly limited to on-the-job training, or required an unrealistic investment in time. Today, a world of resources is available to help even the busiest logistics professionals […]
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Post Office Dings E-Commerce?
Two recent and important developments will impact domestic and international e-commerce shipments. The first one concerns the U.S. Postal Service’s relationship with Amazon. Let me set the stage. The Postal Service lost $2.7 billion in 2017. U.S. taxpayers guarantee the perennially stressed postal worker retirement fund. And first-class mail receipts are off by $1.8 billion […]
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Talent Gap or Training Gap?
In the past, workforce training and development for blue- and gray-collar jobs took a back seat at many businesses and academic institutions. Schools often steered students toward white-collar career paths, while businesses put cutting costs, staying globally competitive, and turning a profit above training workers—a short-sighted focus on the next quarter rather than the next […]
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