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Feature Stories
Innovation: From Vision to Execution
Innovation is in. Just ask Bill Ford, star of the Ford Motor Company commercials touting the company’s “new mission—innovation.” Innovation is also at the core of IBM, which invests billions of dollars in research and development every year and has been the leading patent-generating company in the United States for more than a decade. “Innovation […]
Read MoreInnovation: Igniting New Ideas
Transforming a supply chain through innovation and ingenuity starts with understanding what you’re trying to accomplish. “Setting clear, aggressive goals in a collaborative way is the best thing organizations can do to foster innovation,” says Judith Anderson, partner and founder of consulting firm Anderson & Rust, Allendale, N.J. Critical success factors that enable companies to […]
Read MoreInnovation: The 3PL Connection/The Creativity Factor
Third-party logistics providers (3PLs) are often powerful enablers of logistics and supply chain innovation. “Due to their exposure to ample transportation and fulfillment challenges, 3PLs have developed creative ways to get product to the shelf,” says Accenture’s Bill Read. “3PLs have multiple customers with problems and opportunities across industry verticals, and can provide insight into […]
Read MoreInnovation: Insider Insights
In April 2005, at a Princeton, N.J., conference of trucking technology suppliers and users, Alain Kornhauser declared the just-in-time era dead. “Just-in-time logistics is inherently deterministic,” said Kornhauser, a Princeton University professor, and founder and chairman of mobile transportation solutions provider ALK Technologies. He then held up a mobile phone. “This is the new paradigm,” […]
Read MoreBalancing on the Rim
Like gravity, the lure of Asia’s rock-bottom costs and abundant labor force has a powerful pull. But companies need to closely examine potential pitfalls of sourcing halfway around the globe. Taking that first step into the Pacific Rim means walking a tightrope between the benefits and risks.
Read MoreSupply Chain Security: Tapping Into C-TPAT
Many companies embrace C-TPAT in the fight against supply chain security threats, but just as many shun it. What is C-TPAT? How does it work? What benefits—if any—does it bring shippers and carriers? Here’s a closer look.
Read MoreCarrier Partnerships: A Matter of Trust
Building trusting relationships with your transportation partners makes the best sort of business sense.
Read MoreBulk Logistics: Hefty Freight, Hefty Issues
As transportation costs, congestion, and capacity threaten to derail global supply chains, bulk freight shippers are collaborating with their logistics partners to streamline plant operations and rethink how they align stateside distribution networks to better match supply to demand.
Read MoreMatchmaking
MORE TO THE STORY: The Load Matcher’s Little Black Book Scoping Out Potential Shippers, like love-scorned romantics, are willing to try almost anything to find a bigger pool of suitors and more capacity. Carriers, by contrast, are continually looking for ways to get the most out of their freight dates while avoiding costly deadhead rendezvous. […]
Read MoreMexico on the Move: Building New Opportunities
New investments in Mexican transportation and logistics infrastructure create opportunities for U.S. manufacturers and logistics companies.
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