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Postal Operators Deliver on E-Commerce
Parcels and cross-border e-commerce take precedence over traditional services, such as mail, for postal operators, according to Escher’s Future of Posts 2020 report. Operators also say they need to continuously manage growing postal e-commerce traffic, with a greater emphasis on the last mile and supporting retailers. The survey results also indicate: Postal networks adapted during […]
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DHL Debuts Retail Store
DHL Express opened a new 1,500-square-foot ServicePoint retail store in Southern Florida. The facility is the first exclusive DHL-branded retail store in the United States. The international shipping service plans to open additional stores in other U.S. locations as international trade rebounds. "For years, Miami has been the up-and-coming gateway city to Latin America as […]
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Flexibility for the Win
A majority (73%) of retailers say that artificial intelligence and machine learning can add significant value to their demand forecasting processes, and more than half say it will improve other critical supply chain capabilities, finds a global supply chain study from LLamasoft. In contrast, underperforming retailers have not moved away from strategies designed to find […]
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Master Class in ROI
Large companies invested $153.4 million on average to transform their supply chain in the past three years, but only 10% of leaders became "masters" in achieving a profitable customer experience, according to a survey from Accenture. Successful companies took the following steps, according to the study: Customer-first approach. They base their supply chain strategy on […]
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Cold Storage Heats Up
Booming e-commerce and online grocery sales during the COVID-19 pandemic increased the demand for cold storage warehousing space in North America, but developers are not building fast enough to meet demand, says a new report from commercial real estate services firm Savills. Keeping up with demand: Developers are not building fast enough to meet demand, […]
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Home for the Holidays
To reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19, consumers plan to do their holiday shopping earlier this year, a Voxware survey reports, which may bring significant challenges for distribution centers. Key survey findings include: 51% of consumers expect to start holiday shopping earlier than normal in 2020. 57% plan to have more gifts shipped directly […]
Read MoreNOTED: The Supply Chain in Brief-Aug 2020
Good Works Qatar Airways Cargo is offering free service to charities for transporting medical equipment, humanitarian relief, and essential products through December 2020 to help deliver goods where they are needed most. The airline also donated 2.2 million pounds of freight to select customers to give to charities of their choice. Penske Logistics donated trucking […]
Read MoreIN BRIEF: New Services & Solutions-August 2020
Products Safe Load Testing Technologies’ new Tilt Testing Tool evaluates load stability for over-the-road transportation. Detachable for easy handling, the tool lets shippers validate a load’s stability by tilting it. Shippers who want to remove lithium-ion powered recorders and trackers from their loads due to safety concerns have a new option with the Tive Solo 5G Non Lithium-Ion […]
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Vertical Focus: Home Goods
Furniture Polish During March 2020, online browsing for furniture increased by more than 200% as illustrated by a 242% increase in online browsing for desks, a 260% increase for outdoor furniture, and a 205% increase for home decor, finds a new V12 survey on how consumer shopping behavior is changing in response to the COVID-19 […]
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How Will the Future Unfold?
As the coronavirus continues to disrupt global supply chains, Gartner developed three scenarios to help chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) prepare for recovery and make preemptive decisions to set up their organizations for success. Gartner polled 833 IT and IT/business professionals and found that 84% of organizations are facing varying forms of disruption—from slight disruptions […]
Read MoreTipping the Scales on International Trade
Several key events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. presidential election, and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) implementation, can directly impact international trade in 2020, according to DHL’s survey of U.S. small and mid-sized businesses. DHL’s key findings include: Pullback on international business outlook: 49% of respondents say COVID-19 has caused them to take a […]
Read MoreUpdated Hours-of-Service Rules Drive Flexibility, Maintain Safety
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration updated the hours-of-service rules to provide professional drivers with more flexibility without sacrificing safety. The changes include: Bringing the short-haul on-duty period in line with the rest of the industry, while increasing the air-mile radius of short-haul trucking to 150 air miles. Allowing drivers, under […]
Read MoreNOTED: The Supply Chain in Brief-July 2020
Good Works CenterPoint Properties provided warehouse space to help Houston Food Bank distribute food in 18 Texas counties. The food bank uses the 124,000-square-foot facility to receive shipments from the Texas Department of Emergency Management as part of its COVID-19 relief efforts. The Houston Food Bank distributed nearly 23 million pounds of food in April […]
Read MoreIN BRIEF: New Services & Solutions-July 2020
Products Enabling the real-time monitoring of shipment and container openings, Kizy’s embedded sensitive light sensor can provide information on changes of light and dark in the tracker’s surrounding environment. By collecting this information, the Kizy K-2 Tracker can mark events in the supply chain, from the opening of parcels and containers to the unpacking of goods. The […]
Read MoreMore Companies Seek Sustainability Data
An uptick of 24% more companies are asking their suppliers to report environmental data in 2020 through nonprofit CDP Global, with a 34% surge of growth in North America. Suppliers report data on their impacts, risks, opportunities, and strategies related to climate change, deforestation, and/or water security through CDP’s platform. Companies then use the data […]
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Vertical Focus: Renewable Energy
Lighting Up Renewable Hydrogen A coalition of major European electricity groups has urged the European Commission to prioritize renewable hydrogen in its COVID-19 pandemic recovery plan. Hydrogen powered by 100% renewable electricity has zero greenhouse gas emissions and should be Europe’s top priority when supporting a clean hydrogen supply chain, the coalition says. Wind and […]
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Manufacturers Remain Optimistic
Despite continued impacts across industries (see chart), approximately 91% of manufacturers believe that North American manufacturing can recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey by Thomas Insights. The report also highlights the following key findings: A significant jump in COVID-19-related impacts occurred—89% of manufacturers surveyed say they felt impacts from COVID-19 in April […]
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Make a New Plan, Stan
More than half of surveyed industry professionals say their supply chain planning process is only “somewhat effective,” regardless of the technology used, finds new research by AIMMS. A combined 28% state that their planning process is “very effective” or “extremely effective,” while 15% say their process is “not so effective,” and 2% say it is […]
Read MoreSorting Out Retail Priorities
Retailers and logistics service providers shift their risk management and digitization priorities in response to pandemic-related challenges, says a report from Blue Yonder and Reuters Events Supply Chain. Highlights from the report reveal: Reconsidering Risk Management Retailers/manufacturers are hesitant to pursue nearshoring and onshoring plans, with only 29% making an investment. 63% of retailers/manufacturers favor […]
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