Articles

Viewpoint: Logistics & Supply Chain Analysis

Joe White

How the Driver Shortage Impacts Capacity

It is likely that a driver shortage is coming, due to pressures such as an aging driver workforce, the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Compliance Safety Accountability program, and the anticipated DOT-mandated reduction in driving hours. Yet many supply chain professionals have yet to grasp how a driver shortage impacts capacity. Simply put, a driver shortage […]

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Strengthening Your China Operations

The consumer goods industry has been hurt by the economic chill on both sides of the Pacific. In the United States, declining sales, inventory cutbacks, and limited credit are affecting demand. In China, the decline in exports has caused significant instability, widespread factory closures, and growing unrest among a labor force that has lost millions […]

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Kate Vitasek

Why You Should Vest With Your Outsourcing Partners, Now!

We hear and read constantly about the critical need for lean, green, transparent, collaborative, efficient, and cost-effective supply chains and logistics partners. But how have your partnerships fared lately? How have things progressed over the past three or four years? Are your outsourcing and logistics contracts living up to their initial promises and premises? Do […]

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Chip Smith

Building Better 3PL Relationships

Third-party logistics (3PL) providers are tremendously popular with shippers for surface transportation in North America. Freight brokers, forwarders, and intermodal marketing companies offer capacity, expertise, technology, and buying power on a scale no shipper can replicate on its own. Not all 3PLs are the same, however. Here are a few tips to help you get […]

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Mick Mountz

Using Distribution and Fulfillment as Strategic Weapons

Distribution center (DC) assets in the supply chain are often relegated to cost center, necessary evil, or even non-value-added status. But focusing only on costs overlooks distribution and fulfillment’s value to the corporation. In Web retailing, for example, price comparison shopping has neutralized cost advantages to the point where consumers make online buying decisions based […]

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