Articles
Commentary
Consolidating Reverse Logistics and Warehousing Yields Greater Returns
While 3PLs have been tuned in to the retail industry’s returns management dilemma, manufacturers are also struggling with similar problems. In addition to traditional consumer returns, manufacturers are also charged with managing overstocks, seasonality, stockouts, shelf damage, obsolescence, and sales trends. As a result, it’s crucial to get valuable inventory assets returned back through the […]
Read MoreTechnology Is Not a Cure-All
It isn’t always about technology. That sounds a bit heretical to modern ears. Technology has done so much to alter our world, make our lives easier, and provide answers to decades-old business problems. We have come to depend so heavily on the value of technology that our first response to most business problems is investing […]
Read MoreAll Across the Angry Seas
We’ve heard for the last two decades that the world is getting smaller. Not anymore. Distances across angry seas are greater than those across peaceful seas. Cultural differences, political differences, and security concerns have raised formidable impediments to the trade and tranquility that bind the world together. And so we struggle to secure our homeland. […]
Read MoreLorantec: Cargo Gets Smart
In this era of smart machines, smart cards, smart motors, and smart sensors, it’s about time we had smart cargo—specifically, smart cargo containers. The ability to know where and in what condition a shipment is becomes a major supply chain consideration and the primary goal of better process visibility. Lorantec of Sunnyvale, Calif., is building […]
Read MoreShifting Gears from Inventory to Motor Freight Costs
The nation’s motor carrier freight bill for 2001 was $494 billion—more than 50 percent of total U.S. business logistics costs ($970 billion) and 82 percent of total U.S. business transportation costs ($605 billion), according to Robert Delaney’s annual State of Logistics Report released in June 2002. The implication for the nation’s shippers and receivers is […]
Read MoreCRM and the Danger of Dirty Data
Time doesn’t stand still. Neither do your customers. Face it. We are a nation on the move, and rapidly growing as well. In 2000, businesses filed 2.6 million change-of-address orders. There are a mind-boggling 140 million deliverable addresses in the United States, and the number is growing by nearly two million annually. If you are […]
Read MorePackaging Automation Delivers What Customers Demand
“The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment,” writes author Warren G. Bennis. Well, not quite. But automation is certainly the watchword as today’s manufacturers face […]
Read MoreSilo’s Legacy
In last month’s Reader Profile, Brittain Ladd offers some great advice to people starting out in logistics: “Educate yourself. The best logistics managers are those individuals who are great communicators and who understand the importance of mastering the supply chain, as well as mastering relationships with customers and suppliers.” Besides repeating, that sentiment bears expanding. […]
Read MoreEIS: Practice Makes Perfect
Based in Downers Grove, Ill., Enterprise Information Solutions Inc. (EIS) is devoted to systems integration and open systems, open source computer engineering. The company’ s transportation practice focuses on transportation and logistics solutions. Marc Mitchell, one of EIS’ s founders, holds the intriguing title of Transportation Practice Director. “When we founded EIS, we decided to […]
Read MoreContingency Planning: Get Ahead of the Game NOW
It comes with the territory. Those of us who make our living in the fiercely competitive world of transportation, logistics, and supply chain management have developed an intense focus on consistently meeting and exceeding customer needs. Although most of us already operate under the credo “we need to do our work better tomorrow than we […]
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