Articles
Commentary
5 Ways to Attain Resilience
The pandemic caused unprecedented demand disruptions as lockdowns swept the globe. What could we have done better to prepare for a scenario as unexpected as the one created by COVID-19?
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Traditional Retail Supply Chains Tackle Omni Challenges
Distribution centers (DCs) traditionally shipped orders in bulk to retailers or wholesalers. In the early days of e-commerce, most retailers used a small area in an existing DC to fulfill online orders or outsourced the process to a third party. As online demand grew, many retailers opened fulfillment centers dedicated to picking and packing individual orders shipped to individual end users. DCs and fulfillment centers have much different types of operations and cost structures.
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Four Behaviors of Design Thinking
The pace of change inside an organization should be faster than the pace outside. This can be especially difficult in the supply chain, where it seems like keeping up with customer demand is next to impossible. Your solutions need to drive faster, more efficient production and delivery, and your competitors are just as hungry to meet that demand as you.
Read MoreHow Small to Mid-Sized Businesses Can Recover Faster
In addition to surging e-commerce demand, small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) are facing increased shipping costs, logistical challenges from decreased plane traffic and closed borders, and extended shipping times. Many SMBs have struggled to rapidly adapt their shipping operations to fit this new landscape. Here are a few things you can do to recover from […]
Read MoreHow to Make Supply Chains “Antifragile”
Cost savings has been the number one priority for heads of procurement and finance across industries. Unfortunately, there is a common misconception that this must be achieved through lean, just-in-time processes and a focus on limited inventory. COVID-19 exposed just how quickly this can create shortages in critical industries like food and manufacturing — in […]
Read MoreYard Automation Addresses Three Weak Spots to Build Supply Chain Resilience
While there aren’t many quick fixes when it comes to mitigating global supply chain disruption, supply chain leaders will turn to solutions that directly address the biggest weaknesses throughout the supply chain that have been highlighted as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak: demand, labor, and energy. Automation brings resiliency and velocity to areas of […]
Read More3 Ways Retailers Can Get on the Fast Track to Digital Transformation
Retailers can use these three practical tips to successfully execute their digital transformation: Make digital moves your strategy centerpiece: Develop a mobile and web commerce initiative right away. Assume people are using your app or web commerce interface for the first time. This is because the number of new users is vastly increasing as a […]
Read MoreFive Keys for Turning Challenge into Opportunity
To capitalize on what they’ve learned, transform, and thrive in a post-COVID world, supply chain leaders should focus on the five core pillars: People. Leaders must reassure, clarify, protect, encourage, motivate, recognize, and reward people they manage. Each of these actions can make a fundamental difference in a successful post-COVID-19 transformation. When the crisis hit, […]
Read MoreCrying Over Spilled Milk: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Waste
What the food supply chain community learned from the COVID-19 pandemic crisis was that having the right technologies implemented was the difference between days or weeks to reroute, reschedule, repack, and reorganize goods to ensure delivery at a pre-COVID-19 standard.
Read MoreReopening Fulfillment and Distribution Centers in the Wake of COVID-19
The chaos and disruption from the COVID-19 outbreak is slowly moving toward recovery for businesses. Like most enterprises, fulfillment and distribution centers will not be able to simply “flip a switch” and return to normal operations. The complexity is even greater for networks that span multiple states or countries. Reopening will require a rigorous methodology […]
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