Articles
IT Matters: Logistics & Supply Chain Technology
E-Commerce Tools Can Speed Ocean Trade
In the days before e-commerce, the only way to orchestrate an ocean container shipment was to call and fax every party to the shipment. This world still exists, but it’s fast being superseded by e-commerce tools that free shippers to manage supply chain risk and efficiently serve customers instead of chasing down details and coping […]
Read MoreGTM Technology: Why Not?
Global trade management (GTM) software simplifies trade compliance, provides visibility across the supply chain, and offers effective manufacturing cost sourcing. Yet the international supply chains of large companies are 50 percent automated at best, according to Aberdeen Group. This statistic begs the question: Why aren’t more companies investing in GTM software? Some businesses develop their […]
Read MoreImproving Fleet Management Performance
The nation’s trucks hauled 10.7 billion tons of freight in 2005, according to the American Trucking Associations’ truck tonnage index. This figure represents nearly 70 percent of tonnage, including manufactured and retail goods, carried by all domestic freight transportation modes. Yet many in the trucking industry have been slow to recognize the strategic importance of […]
Read MoreSelecting the Right Warehouse Management System
The typical warehouse buzzes with activity every day. Products arrive at the loading docks, forklift drivers shift pallets around the floor, automated retrieval systems pull goods for shipment. Warehouse management systems (WMS) provide tools for keeping track of all that action. Today, dozens of technology vendors – from well-established to relatively new – offer warehouse […]
Read MoreLocation-Based Services Put Efficiency on the Map
Enhanced productivity. Cost savings. Revenue increases. Improved customer relations. These are among the most important – and most widely acknowledged – benefits of deploying location-based service (LBS) tools such as geographic positioning systems (GPS) and street-level routing (SLR). Add one more benefit of emerging importance that will have significant impact over time: reduced emissions. Corporations, […]
Read MoreWith SaaS, You Make the Rules
Most companies spend 40 to 80 percent of their annual transportation budget on moving inbound shipments from suppliers. Despite these whopping costs, businesses boast relatively little control over their selection of inbound carriers or their service levels. Instead, most depend on suppliers to correctly assign carriers, then provide tracking information to the buying organization. This […]
Read MoreTracing the Genealogy of a Food Recall
Anyone who has ever tried to trace their roots back more than a few generations knows how challenging that task can be. Unless you’re of royal lineage, the path back through history tends to be lined with false leads and dead ends. If you do find any information, it’s often on handwritten notes that you […]
Read MoreThe Case for a Global Trading Partner Network
America’s appetite for imports continues to grow—in 2006, the United States imported a record $1.6 trillion of goods, according to U.S. Customs. But today’s global trade practices are highly fragmented. A typical overseas purchase, for example, requires the various parties in the logistics process to trade more than 60 different documents across partners, countries, languages, […]
Read MoreTechnology Collaboration Enables Visibility and Security
Complete Document and Shipment Visibility (CDSV) is a concept that enables trading partners to have 100-percent visibility to the condition, status, and location of international shipments in a paperless environment. The concept allows shipment stakeholders to know the exact status of inventory and finished goods in the pipeline. CDSV also contributes to eliminating supply chain […]
Read MoreWeb Services Add Sizzle to Shipper-LSP Integration
Emerging Web services promise to revolutionize the way companies and logistics service providers (LSPs) integrate. I am not talking about accessing a Web site using a browser, but secure system-to-system service requests sent over the Internet that can link enterprises, allowing a company to utilize third-party Web services as a seamless part of its own […]
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