Articles

Viewpoint: Logistics & Supply Chain Analysis

Getting Government to Understand The New Science of Transportation

A freight transportation revolution has taken place in the past 25 years. Consumer demand, technology, expanding population centers, and vast global enterprises have combined to make intermodal the international standard for moving goods. Unfortunately, when it comes to U.S. government policy-making, ignorance of intermodal freight transportation is almost universal. The nation’s government agencies have not […]

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Sourcing in a Seller’s Market

Rising commodity prices, growing global consumer demand, and increased political instability have put an end to the buyer’s market in procurement. Today, buyers are just as likely to be “fired” by their suppliers as they are to experience supply chain shortages or out-of-stock notices. So what is this new “seller’s market” like? And is the […]

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Forklift Fleet Cost Management: It’s a Question of Time and Savings

Abundant questions and costs surround forklift fleet management; finding the answers and controlling those costs can be illusive. Many forklift fleet managers have a difficult time providing accurate answers to the myriad questions that need to be addressed (see sidebar, below). But accurately answering these questions can mean the difference between saving tens of thousands […]

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Easing the Pain of Product Proliferation

Product proliferation—the explosion in the number of individual stock-keeping units (SKUs) that has occurred over the past decade—poses a major challenge to supply chain managers and adds millions of dollars to logistics costs. In large part, product proliferation stems from the trend toward mass customization—providing consumers with custom-designed, personalized products at affordable prices. Other trends […]

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Global Sourcing: The Path to High Performance

Leading organizations on the path to high performance are those that accelerate global sourcing strategies, drive aggressive cost reductions, and look to contract manufacturing to leverage and expand the value of their brand. Most significantly, these organizations plan to double their spend on low-cost country sourcing in the next three years. High-performance businesses are masters […]

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How Do You Spell Transportation Budget Relief? TSM

The increasingly complicated nature of global shipping, coupled with a shift in transportation budgeting from basic transportation costs to a base plus accessorial charges billing standard, has made managing transportation budgets extremely challenging. The good news? This cloud has a silver lining—it is called Transportation Spend Management (TSM). TSM is the practice of targeting specific […]

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The Six Hidden Costs of Reverse Logistics

Due to both human nature and training, logistics professionals tend to be forward focused. They are learning, however, that their companies can realize dramatic cost savings by applying forward-focused processes and automation to optimize reverse logistics operations. Reverse logistics is no small matter in the supply chain. Industrial equipment return rates are approximately 4 percent […]

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U.S. Manufacturers: Have Logistics, Will Prosper

For generations, small and medium-sized manufacturers have been vital to the innovation and productivity of America’s economy. These manufacturers—defined by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) as those with fewer than 500 employees and fewer than 2,500 employees, respectively—underpin our nation’s success in international markets, and play a critical role in the future of America’s […]

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