Articles

Commentary

Matt Engle
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Using Tunnel Scanning to Meet
E-commerce Challenges

The recent increase in the number of consolidation warehouses operated by e-commerce companies that receive orders from many different suppliers in relatively small quantities creates challenges from an ID reading perspective. The small size of their typical order means that consolidation warehouses usually do not have the leverage over their suppliers that would enable them […]

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Keith Biondo
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Working at People Speed

Elon Musk describes the manufacturing operation for the new Tesla as so complex that no humans will participate in building the car. "You really can’t have people in the production line," says Musk. "Otherwise, you’ll automatically drop to people speed." Drop to people speed? Will supply chain impatience—a term I coined to define an inexorable […]

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GOOD QUESTION | Has supply chain impatience gotten out of hand?
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GOOD QUESTION | Has supply chain impatience gotten out of hand?

Absolutely. While it is nice that consumers can get more things faster and cheaper than ever before, it puts tremendous pressure on retailers to keep profits up. Retailers start moving up sales for each season: back to school, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. It’s getting so bad that I predict the Christmas 2018 season will be […]

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Cyrus Hadavi PhD
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Self-Improving Supply Chains Have Arrived

Imagine a world where supply chain planning systems can mold themselves into their environment, adapt, and improve as the business changes. Imagine systems that can monitor user behavior as well as customer and supplier anomalies, and advise accordingly. These are self-repairing supply chains. Imagine no more. With advances in processor speed and abundance of memory, […]

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Lamar Johnson
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How to Attract the Best Supply Chain Talent

Everyone in the supply chain management field feels the crunch for frontline, technical, and management talent. Today, leading companies are expanding their talent search from traditional technical sources, such as engineering programs, to include a new area: business schools. The demand for technically oriented people who understand business and possess soft skills such as communication, […]

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Melanie Nuce
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Black Swan Events: Planning for Supply Chain Resiliency

Major supply chain disruptions, commonly referred to as "Black Swan" events, are high-impact, low-likelihood occurrences that are typically not on your everyday radar. But knowing exactly where your product is in the supply chain is never more important than during these instances. The effects of a hurricane, flood, fluctuating oil prices, political unrest, and port […]

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ML Peck
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E-Learning Boosts Supply Chain Management Expertise

The rapid pace of business requires all of us to invest in our teams while quickly learning new skills and taking on new responsibilities. The supply management sector is becoming increasingly more strategic, requiring its professionals to develop new competencies while they are in the midst of busy careers. Procurement professionals must continually sharpen their […]

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Chuck Hieronymi
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Optimizing Freight Rail Supply Chain Visibility

Freight rail has become an integral part of many global supply chains, driving the need for complete visibility across modes and giving rise to a new suite of technologies. Shippers, third-party logistics service providers, and railcar owners and lessors who have the knowledge to make effective use of these technologies gain an advantage. For example, […]

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Bruce Salter
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Five Keys to Selecting the Right Transportation Consultant

Many companies utilize the services of an outside consulting firm to assist in the management of specific transportation projects. This is a good practice, particularly for shippers that do not currently have employees with the existing experience, knowledge, and expertise to effectively manage these transportation projects in-house. However, choosing the right transportation consultant can become […]

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Michael Elmgreen
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B2B Commerce Technology Improves Fulfillment Times and Supply Management

For manufacturers and distributors, order delivery speed and product availability have never been more important. As their B2B buyers face the pressures of today’s on-demand economy, fulfillment times and availability can mean the difference between keeping a customer or not. To ensure customer satisfaction, many companies look for workflow improvements in their warehouses and distribution […]

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Keith Biondo
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Still Pushing Your Customers Around?

Inbound Logistics published its first healthcare logistics article back in 1994. That article revealed several important reasons for companies to move to demand-driven logistics, even those not in the healthcare value chain. Hillarycare was introduced the year before that article ran. My opinion then was, “Fine, look at Hillarycare, but first cut costs and boost […]

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Felecia Stratton
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6 Cool Things I Learned Editing This Issue

This summer is a scorcher here in New York. Luckily, this issue is chock full of cool things. Here are a few of my favorites: We asked logistics and supply chain professionals to explain what they do in terms a five-year-old would appreciate. You’ll find their way-cool answers here. Like baseball, logistics is a game […]

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Jamie Overley
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How to Stand Out From the Crowd

The changing needs of today’s manufacturers, coupled with the intense challenges third-party logistics (3PL) providers face—from greater reliance on just-in-time inventory and the increasing role of technology, to port congestion and the truck driver shortage—have led to a landscape ripe with competition. Arguably more diversified and sophisticated than ever, the 3PL sector is seeing an […]

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Jerry Levy (pictured) and Gary Barker
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How to Be Fashionably Green

The retail industry’s tectonic shift toward sustainability is real, with a renewed focus on clothing made from raw, organic materials, and nontoxic dyes or bleaches, with low water usage, and produced under socially responsible conditions. Yet this shift is only part of the story of how the retail and fashion industry is becoming greener. Other […]

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