Articles

Viewpoint: Logistics & Supply Chain Analysis

Reducing the Cost of Cross-Border Compliance

In a global economy, the cost, speed, and certainty of crossing borders are all vital to maintaining competitiveness. Falling tariff rates and vanishing trade barriers create the illusion that customs compliance is now simpler. In reality, complex procedures, innumerable conditions set by free trade agreements, stringent security regulations and stricter enforcement, among other issues, result […]

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Easing Your LTL Carrier’s Burden

Managing transportation costs is more important today than ever before. With the new Hours-of-Service rules, shippers will likely look to LTL carriers to play an increasing role in their supply chains, particularly handling a portion of their previously truckload multi-stop shipments. These volume shifts will likely lead to LTL capacity issues, and shippers may find […]

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C-TPAT: Staying Ahead of the Curve

John, the newly appointed Ohio Valley plant manager, arrived at his desk 6:30 a.m. Monday with a plan to organize the week. He was surprised when almost immediately the phone rang. It was a freight forwarder in Hong Kong wanting to speak with the plant’s logistics manager, Barbara. The forwarder told John that some electronics […]

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Forging Industry-Academia Partnerships

Economic pressure derived from reduced state and federal funding has fueled escalating tuition costs. As a result, government, taxpayers, parents, and business practitioners are paying closer attention to the activities of business faculty. Critics contend that higher business education is breaking down, that the system is churning out irrelevant academic research and training students to […]

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The Full Cost of Cargo Losses

All too often, supply chain managers do not properly calculate all the elements of cargo loss. As a result, they minimize the full impact on their bottom line. Most look only at cargo theft or damage to determine the financial impact on their company. Many other factors, however, need to be considered when calculating the […]

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Integrating Multi-Channel Retail Systems

Many multi-channel retailers didn’t start out that way. As new channels grow, it becomes necessary to integrate them to provide a unified customer experience. Unfortunately, this integration effort often encounters organizational, technological, and process problems that are the result of single-channel-focused solutions, or companies never imagining that they would serve more than one channel. Most […]

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