Articles
Commentary
Producing the January Issue: Making Planners
While the publisher is thinking about making waves, I am busy editing and producing this Logistics Planner issue. It’s what I look forward to most each year. I guess I love pain, because I am writing this—the last page to go to the printer—in the office late Sunday afternoon. But it’s worth the effort. My […]
Read MoreHow Logistics Shaped Our Nation: Making Waves
New York, it turns out, achieved its “Empire State” status, at least in part, because of the canals that linked New York City to the Midwest and the west. That point was made in a recent PBS special on New York State and the integral role transportation played. Products, people and ambition flowed west. Raw […]
Read MoreWeb Portal Delivers Ocean Freight Connectivity
Despite some wavering in the e-commerce industry, web portals are not only here to stay, they have great potential to be a B2B growth area, and for good reason. Portals allow companies to take advantage of immediate, online access to trading partners, suppliers, and service providers. This access can lead to greater levels of collaboration, […]
Read MoreCreating a High-Velocity Supply Chain
Performance improvement over the past 10 years has been largely based on internally focused enterprise systems that integrate functional processes and promote internal efficiencies. With ERP and various flavors of supply chain planning and transportation management tools, manufacturers and distributors have been successful at achieving a first level of benefit, but often at the expense […]
Read MoreDrilling Down to Core Competencies
With increased competition in a sluggish economy, many companies are getting back to basics by re-focusing on critical operational elements and recommitting themselves to the principles on which their businesses were built. Have you taken a step back to examine your company and determine what truly makes it better than the competition? Not in terms […]
Read MoreA 2001 Supply Chain Odyssey
Had science-fiction guru Stanley Kubrick been a logistician, even he would have been hard-pressed to envision or even script an odyssey as surreal and unimaginable as 2001. Californians spent the beginning of the year in the dark—literally—as gas and oil prices skyrocketed and fuel surcharges became an added burden. If ever there was a doubt […]
Read MoreEnsuring Security Through Visibility
We have all become more security conscious in the last few months. Keeping tabs on processes has never been a bad idea, but under today’s circumstances better visibility, closer attention to procedures, and tight recordkeeping make the flow of information about personnel and goods all the more useful within the supply chain. Supply chain video […]
Read MoreWhen Should You Outsource Transportation?
Outsourcing non-core competencies has now become a widely accepted practice across many industries. One company may outsource IT hosting capabilities while another outsources customer service and yet another fulfillment needs. Consider the many retailers who have outsourced their fulfillment to third-party logistics (3PL) providers the past few years. A retailer’s strength is in selling directly […]
Read MorePaying Attention to the Whole Logistics Package
Lance Armstrong doesn’t know it, but when he won the Tour de France this year, he provided a powerful business parable for our times. His come-from-behind victory demonstrated an important, but often overlooked, competitive concept: No matter how impressive your start, you must have a strong finish to win the race. Nowhere is this more […]
Read MorePorts Play Role in Homeland Defense
Rizak Amid Farid was arrested in Italy on Oct. 18 after police found him hiding in a container bound for Canada. The container was equipped with a satellite phone, two cell phones, a laptop, a bed, a bathroom, and enough food for an extended trip. Farid carried falsified passports, and documents identifying him as an […]
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