Articles
News
Trends—January 2014
Getting Demand Forecasting in Hand In the demand-driven logistics domain, forecasting is king. Companies that are best able to predict sputters and spikes, then react and execute against those signals, will gain a competitive advantage. But given today’s market uncertainty—the economy, consumer purchasing power and appetite for new products, sliding holiday seasonality, and emerging omni-channel […]
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Global Logistics—January 2014
Supplier Risk Threatens Expansion Nearly seven out of 10 business leaders believe supplier risk analysis will become more complex as they expand into new global markets, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit report Strategies for Managing Customer and Supplier Risks, sponsored by Dun & Bradstreet. Adverse events associated with suppliers are becoming more frequent and […]
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Global Logistics—December 2013
Can India Overcome Supply Chain Obstacles? Supply chain management, the regulatory environment, rural markets, and e-commerce remain India’s obstacles to growth, according to Rick Blasgen, president and CEO of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). "India could accomplish more if it had better infrastructure and the ability to scale up to get products […]
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Trends—December 2013
Predictive Analytics: A Sure Thing Here’s a forecast you can count on: Cloud-based predictive analytics offerings are increasingly available to more companies of all sizes. More than 90 percent of the 350 companies polled in a new survey conducted by California-based research firm Decision Management Solutions say they expect to deploy predictive analytics functionalities within […]
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Trends—November 2013
Healthcare Execs Target Logistics Pain Points Regulatory compliance is the chief supply chain challenge facing global healthcare logistics executives, closely followed by product security and cost management, according to UPS’s annual survey of the top supply chain and business challenges and investment plans of global healthcare logistics executives in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device […]
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Global Logistics—November 2013
Aviation Climate Emissions Agreement Flies Forward The October 2013 agreement by 191 countries at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) general assembly in Montreal, which will develop a global market-based measure for aviation emissions by 2020, is a major breakthrough in the development of global standards for the industry. Under terms of the resolution, governments […]
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Trends—October 2013
Warehousing 2018: Rise of the Adaptive DC As supply chains shift their moorings and settle into new realities—the permanence of e-commerce, sustainability, risk management, total landed cost sensitivity, and demand-driven strategies—distribution centers are evolving in kind. Stock characterizations of warehousing are falling to the wayside. DCs are becoming more complex and sophisticated; so are their […]
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Global Logistics—October 2013
Sub-Saharan Africa Targets U.S. for Growth With constantly changing regulations, poor transportation infrastructure, and unstable governments, one might think cross-border trade with Sub-Saharan Africa is just too difficult to pursue. DHL Express doesn’t see it that way. The express courier company, which has been operating in Sub-Saharan Africa for 35 years, recently invited Inbound Logistics […]
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Trends—September 2013
Hours-of-Service: A Question of Time Trying to wrap your head around the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Hours-of-Service (HOS) regulations that went into effect July 1, 2013, is a numbers game. Put simply: "You almost have to be a math major to understand the new Hours-of-Service rules," says Don Jerrell, associate vice president, risk […]
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Global Logistics—September 2013
Brown Sees Red UPS‘s recent announcement that it will expand its presence in China with the addition of two new contract logistics facilities in Chengdu and Shanghai is indicative of the country’s growing consumer base. The two centers will provide distribution and warehousing solutions to shippers who want to reach customers within China. The expansions […]
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Trends—August 2013
The Government is ‘Helping’ Again… Transportation and logistics companies have a hard enough time navigating the twists and turns in today’s economic landscape without facing inertia from the executive branch. But states are strapped for cash, and lawmakers are trapped by special interests. Many are acting on impulse, then ducking for cover. The Minnesota State […]
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Global Logistics—August 2013
America’s Global Image: Taking a Closer View Yahoo! News paints a pretty grim picture of how outsiders perceive the United States: "Who loves ya, baby? If you’re the United States of America, the answer is fewer and fewer people around the world," according to a recent blog by the online news aggregator. Yahoo! might consider […]
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Trends—July 2013
The 24th Annual State of Logistics Report: ‘Business Unusual’ Defines New Normal A long and winding path toward recovery has arrived at a seminal question: "Is this the new normal?" That was the topic and title of the annual State of Logistics presentation at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in June 2013. That […]
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Global Logistics—July 2013
Brazilian Shippers Safer by Sea Poor road infrastructure and rampant larceny are forcing some Brazilian shippers to consider unconventional transport options. Case in point: Paranapanema, the country’s largest refined copper producer, has shifted domestic shipments from trucks to slow-moving ocean freighters, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. Although the mode shift nearly triples transport times, it cuts […]
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Global Logistics—June 2013
ASEAN Countries Attracting Attention As Europe’s economy copes with a sweeping debt crisis, and its Asian trade partners absorb the impact of declining exports and rising inflation, Southeast Asia is quickly becoming a center of attention—and transportation and logistics investment. Malaysia, for example, is looking to become a key transportation and logistics hub for the […]
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Trends—June 2013
Is American-Made on the Mend? Rumors abound that U.S. manufacturing is making a comeback. The promise of cheaper domestic energy sources—and rising labor costs elsewhere around the world—are tipping the total landed cost balance off its Far Eastern axis. Does this portend a domestic manufacturing renaissance? A recent report by AlixPartners suggests companies are open […]
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Trends—May 2013
Garden State Gets Greener New Jersey and sustainable development are perfect together. Industrial real estate developer Prologis recently broke ground on a new, 880,000-square-foot distribution facility on the Hackensack River in Jersey City, N.J. The Prologis Pulaski Distribution Center, a 50-acre former landfill, is located four miles from the Port of Elizabeth and three miles […]
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Global Logistics—May 2013
Did Hong Kong Strike Out? While Hong Kong’s season of labor discontent may augur an unsettling trend as Asia’s middle class continues to grow—along with discord concerning workers’ rights and compensation—the near-term implications serve as yet another reminder of the daily vagaries threatening supply chains. A lingering, month-long dockworker strike (as of press time) over […]
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Global Logistics—April 2013
Russia Rushes to Develop Trans-Siberian Rail Line Things are heating up in the Orient—and Russia, for once, is lighting a spark. The country is in a favorable position as domestic consumption continues to grow, Europe struggles, and Asia’s economies grow apace. Spanning two continents, Russia has long sought to develop and expand infrastructure across Siberia […]
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