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Throw Off Your Chains, Take Up Nets
Driving business these days is the production of increased profit to the enterprise. Other drivers—globalization, outsourcing, customer satisfaction, RFID—pale in comparison to a positive profit picture. So, how can we look at the supply chain from a profit perspective? First, we must ask ourselves, where is the profit in the supply chain? This sounds like […]
Read MoreStreamlining Truck Visits at the DC
While the full impact of the Hours of Service (HOS) ruling is yet to be determined, it is obvious that truck drivers need to manage their time more carefully to minimize any loss to productivity. Under the new regulations, a driver’s idle time counts toward the maximum allowed 14 hours on duty. Shippers can mitigate […]
Read MoreDoes Your 3PL Have an Effective Hazmat Program? Here’s Why it Should
Safe handling and management of hazardous materials has come a long way since logistics providers crossed their fingers and hoped that an incident involving hazmat wouldn’t happen. And if it did, they hoped that the carrier would do a good job of handling it. Gone are the days when simply complying with a dizzying array […]
Read MoreSomeone is After Your Job…
And they want it to relocate it—no, not to Mumbai or China, but right here in the United States. Cities, states, and regions are increasingly competing to attract logistics and transportation jobs. Why? Because U.S. manufacturing jobs, and more recently, service sector jobs, continue to migrate to lower wage, lower tax, lower liability, lower regulation […]
Read MoreProspective RFID Users Face Supply Chain Challenges
Although radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is not new to logistics or the supply chain, interest—and the need for interest in it—has skyrocketed. Alarms set off by the Department of Defense and Wal-Mart, among others, has many a supply chain manager in a tizzy. The DoD and Wal-Mart now mandate that all cases and pallets […]
Read MoreKnowing What and When to Outsource
Anyone who has visited Kansas City to savor down-home cooking and fried chicken will recognize the tag line, “We Choke Our Own Chickens” as belonging to Stroud’s restaurant. Marketers say that you have to be on the edge to cut through all the clutter, and I think you will agree that Stroud’s slogan has done […]
Read MoreCreating Competitive Advantage With Service Parts Logistics
After-sale customer service operations are a strategic part of every business. Not only is service a key differentiator, the difference between revenue contribution of service operations and total revenue can be as large as 40 to 60 percent. Many companies today are even willing to pay more for high levels of service. While most companies […]
Read MoreWhy Motor Carriers are Turning To Pallet Position Pricing
Here are two scenarios that involve the same freight market. In the first instance, a truckload carrier looks for freight to fill out a three-quarter load from Los Angeles to Atlanta. If the carrier can add a quarter load, the revenue on the load suddenly jumps to a highly profitable level. But there may not […]
Read MoreIT Does Matter
Arguably the most important development impacting transportation, except for the invention of the wheel, has been the application of information technology. Yes, I know, the nationwide rail network, the excellent interstate highway system, the containerization concept, the Panama Canal … But the reason I think logistics IT is preeminently important is because it impacts everyone […]
Read More8 Steps to Lower Insurance Premiums
Q: I have experienced big increases in my insurance premiums. Why has this happened and what can I do about it? A: Like all commodities, insurance is subject to the laws of supply and demand. Its cost is determined by the amount of capacity available in the world’s markets. In the 1990s the world experienced […]
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