Articles
IT Matters: Logistics & Supply Chain Technology
Why IoT is Not the Answer
Global supply chain disruption is not caused by a lack of data—more than 10 billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices deployed worldwide add more data every second to already overflowing data stores, yet disruption persists. More IoT is not the answer. The real challenge is creating effective connections between numerous stakeholders performing a range of functions, across multiple enterprise platforms and in different jurisdictions.
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Real-time Data Isn’t the Only Thing Supply Chains Are Missing
Before the polar vortex in Texas, the biggest logjams at the Port of LA, and the start of the Great Resignation, McKinsey found that major production disruptions were estimated to occur every 3.7 years. In the months since, it has become clear these incidents are far too common to be referred to as black swan […]
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How Strong Trading Relationships Help Win and Retain Customers
The most effective supply chains are built on a firm foundation of cooperation between suppliers and distributors. Strong trading relationships have a significant impact on just about every measure of performance: customer service, transportation and storage costs, risk, forecasting, lead times, and even product development. The best way to ensure that your supply chain is […]
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5 Phases of Disruption Response
While supply chain problems appeared at first to be temporary ramifications of the pandemic, research now suggests that restoring previous supply chain functioning will take more than time. New solutions will have to be developed, and innovation in the tech space will have to be part of these solutions. In a recent presentation, Palash Barandwaj, […]
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Designing a Soft Goods Supply Chain
Forecasting demand for soft goods can be difficult because demand changes due to fashion trends, weather patterns, and other factors. But artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies are changing the way soft goods manufacturers and retailers manage their supply chains.
Read MoreUsing Actionable Real-Time Visibility to Impact the Consumer Experience
Across the globe, the hot topic in boardrooms has been improving supply chains and getting products into the hands of consumers. Utilizing technology has become vitally important to improving both last-mile delivery and the end consumer’s experience with a brand. There are important costs for a brand to consider associated with a bad last-mile delivery […]
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Using Digitalization to Navigate Through Disruptions
Industry 4.0 is a revolution in manufacturing and holds promise for improving supply chain efficiency and flexibility. The convergence of technology disruptions—automation, analytics, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality—drives this revolution. Why is digitization important and what key technologies are fueling the shift? Intelligent supply chains. Intelligent technologies, such as automation, remote fleet management, and cargo […]
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Digital Transformation: The Experience is King
A survey among supply chain leaders reveals that two-thirds of staff struggle to find the information they need to do their job. Alarmingly, 73% waste up to eight hours each week just trying to find data—leading to delays (46%), errors (28%), and bad customer experience (24%).
Read MoreWhy Should Distributors Move to the Cloud in 2022?
Many distributors are pondering the question: To cloud or not to cloud? Is the disruption of moving my ERP and other tools worth the benefits and rewards? As we look back at the past few years, it is not difficult to find compelling reasons why a cloud move is beneficial. Let’s look at some of […]
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TMS Evolution: A Provider’s Perspective
Shippers have numerous Transportation Management System (TMS) options, but they are farther from feature and price parity than you may imagine. While many TMS core tenants are now commodities, there are significant gaps, strengths, and weaknesses across the main players.
Read MoreGirding for Supply Chain Turmoil in 2022
Despite the expectation that this year will be a difficult one regarding supply chain management, strategies exist to ease the burden. Companies can minimize disruption by implementing specific tools and best practices that will enable clearing logistical, transportation, and technological hurdles. Those include modernizing your business’s supply chain management processes—adopting artificial intelligence, for instance—enhancing visibility […]
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Is the Healthcare Supply Chain Ready for the Netflix Effect?
Have you ever marveled at how Netflix seems to know what you want to watch, when you want to watch it, and sets expectations with a high percentage of likelihood that you’ll enjoy their recommendation? What if we could apply that same degree of accuracy to the healthcare supply chain? Armed with the right information, we could know who needs which supplies and when, down to the patient level. The result would be a more resilient supply chain and better patient outcomes.
Read MoreWhen Every Product Tells a Story
What makes Amazon so successful? How has the company turned retail (and logistics, for that matter) on its head? The answer is intelligence. Thanks to digital technology and an expansive network infrastructure, Amazon knows more about the demand chain it’s built between brands and consumers than most traditional companies can possibly grasp. But that’s changing. […]
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3 Ways AI Can Reap Benefits
Set to generate more than $550 billion in revenue by 2024, arguably no sector in the technology world is growing more rapidly than artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). And while AI may be experiencing well-known impacts on industries such as healthcare and retail, it’s also quietly affecting logistics and shipping, particularly freight procurement.
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There’s No Easy Button for AI and ML
It’s easy to get excited about using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to transform supply chain and logistics operations. Take a bunch of data, run it through a model, and uncover the hidden answers that take your business to the next level.
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Solving the Global Data Dilemma
For as much time and effort spent trying to perfect the systems and technologies we rely on for global logistics, it seems the industry has lost sight of how people actually get work done.
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Technology Must Be a Theme in 2021
The supply chain sector has always been one of tradition. Unfortunately, that has often meant that it has been slow to adopt the technology evolving around it. With a fear of the unknown, the supply chain and logistics sector has stuck to the status quo for too long, slowing the ability to evolve and reach true potential.
Read MoreAgility Over Forecasting: Three Steps to a More Agile Supply Chain
For years, forecasting has been a staple of supply chain management, especially within the consumer packaged goods industry. As 2020 has taught us, however, there are events that forecasting cannot even remotely prepare for. Planners have felt the pain during COVID-19, when they’ve had to scrap forecasting models day after day due to the constant, […]
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Building Coherent Enterprise Architecture
During the past few years, in order to stay competitive, many companies turned to so-called “control towers” and shiny new objects like artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and blockchain as the answer to modernization and competitive edge.
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Blockchain Brings Value to Touchless Supply Chains
With supply chains forced to operate on thinner margins, digital transformation is leapfrogging business priorities. The time to act is now. But onboarding proven technology to confront COVID-19-related challenges can feel as daunting as the pandemic itself.
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