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6 Reasons You Should Control Inbound Logistics
If the pandemic has taught us anything it’s this—supply chains are brittle. If raw materials or parts don’t get to where they need to be on time, manufacturing plants grind to a halt, orders are not fulfilled, customers are unhappy, and the bottom line suffers. A pandemic—and its knock-on effects of shortages—is not something companies […]
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What’s the most challenging time-critical shipment you ever pulled off? How?
I worked for a 3PL in Holland that distributed surgical products. A Luxembourg hospital contacted us after hours, after realizing they did not have the right-size heart valve for a patient needing immediate surgery. One of our employees delivered the valve there in his car, saving the patient’s life.
Read MoreThe Role of IoT in Keeping Vaccines Safe
The pandemic made clear the need for equity in access to vaccines. In fact, G7 leaders met earlier this year to discuss just that. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “leaders recognized that no country can be safe until every country committed to develop and distribute effective tests, treatments, and vaccines around the world.” […]
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Pulling Levers and Finding Value in Transportation
Value is not always easy to measure. It’s the same when discussing transportation costs. Lowest cost is not always the best, as poor quality can cost you much more. Corporate supply chain managers need to understand which levers to pull so they can get the best value for every transportation dollar spent.
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Is the Healthcare Supply Chain Ready for the Netflix Effect?
Have you ever marveled at how Netflix seems to know what you want to watch, when you want to watch it, and sets expectations with a high percentage of likelihood that you’ll enjoy their recommendation? What if we could apply that same degree of accuracy to the healthcare supply chain? Armed with the right information, we could know who needs which supplies and when, down to the patient level. The result would be a more resilient supply chain and better patient outcomes.
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Unleash Short Sea?
The ports around the Great Lakes would love to help offset some of the pain of the horror show called the "shipping crisis." Guess what. They can’t by law. Thank the Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF), a well-intended policy perfect for the 1980s, along with related regulations, for sidelining port capacity around the Great Lakes. The […]
Read MoreSurvival of Companies Depends Entirely on Managing Supply Chain’s 5 V’s
They include: visibility, volatility, velocity, vulnerability, and viability.
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Best Practices to Protect Supply Chains
With the rapid adoption of cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT), the supply chain has many new entry points and attack surfaces for cybercriminals to infiltrate. Implementing these best practices help manufacturers continue to innovate, create new products and services, and increase profitability, while maintaining a competitive edge.
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Unlock Potential With Buy Anywhere, Deliver Anywhere
E-commerce sales have surged as a result of the pandemic, forever changing the way consumers shop and receive orders. As a result, shoppers demand faster and more convenient delivery options that get their orders in their hands, when and where they want them.
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Powerful Ways Employee Ownership Can Impact Your Business
With labor shortages continuing to rise across the country, the driver shortage in the freight industry looms larger than ever and at Long Haul Trucking we struggle to find high-quality drivers as well. However, we have a silver bullet in that struggle that I want to share with you—employee ownership. Our status as a 100% […]
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Twinning Your Supply Chain from Google
Google once again is helping to democratize business solutions that were previously available only to the Fortune 1000. Its two new supply chain management solutions—Supply Chain Twin and Supply Chain Pulse—provide a powerful business tool for small and mid-size enterprises. “Siloed and incomplete data is limiting the visibility companies have into their supply chains,” says […]
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Supply-Side Accuracy and Timeliness in Volatile Times
While improved demand accuracy in your supply chain is critical, it is equally important to have supply-side accuracy and timeliness, especially now. The disruption the pandemic caused for global supply chains is getting worse, creating shortages of consumer products and making it more expensive for companies to ship goods where they’re needed.
Read More4 Supply Chain and Logistics Trends to Watch in 2022
It’s been a historic and challenging couple years in supply chain and logistics. As we approach 2022, we’re still facing extraordinary demand, fleets are doing the best they can short-handed, and the current infrastructure is backed up, leading to delays and rising prices. I wish I could say we’ll round the corner once we get […]
Read MoreWhen Every Product Tells a Story
What makes Amazon so successful? How has the company turned retail (and logistics, for that matter) on its head? The answer is intelligence. Thanks to digital technology and an expansive network infrastructure, Amazon knows more about the demand chain it’s built between brands and consumers than most traditional companies can possibly grasp. But that’s changing. […]
Read MoreHow to Optimize Your Supply Chain Before the Holidays
As the holidays quickly approach, retailers are feeling the strain brought on by global supply chain issues. Between port closures, labor shortages, and delayed shipping times, it is more important than ever that retailers optimize their supply chains before going into the busiest time of the year. Especially since customers expect (and demand) positive experiences […]
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3 Ways AI Can Reap Benefits
Set to generate more than $550 billion in revenue by 2024, arguably no sector in the technology world is growing more rapidly than artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). And while AI may be experiencing well-known impacts on industries such as healthcare and retail, it’s also quietly affecting logistics and shipping, particularly freight procurement.
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Efficiency Lives Where Technology and Human Intelligence Intersect
Technology can make a difference in every aspect of the supply chain when used correctly. The combination of quality talent, technology, and the human touch quickly brings about improved efficiency, increased transparency, and limited freight damage.
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Preparing for the Next Big Disruption
Supply chains are rarely at the forefront of everyday discourse—until a problem arises. Empty shelves that normally hold ample supplies of toilet paper, cleaning products, or even meat and poultry, provide just a glimpse of the massive impact the pandemic had on international supply chains.
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Dollar Tree—Winning Through Logistics
What can a great logistics operation do for a company in this economy? Lots more than move boxes around, as it turns out. Take the logistics team at Dollar Tree as an example. Over the years, the discount variety store has invested in the kind of logistics operations associates who keep the company financially sound […]
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