Feeling Full: More is More

When choosing the mix of articles, and setting their length, for our annual Logistics Planner issue, I have more freedom than usual. As an editor, I normally face tremendous pressure to keep things brief in recognition of, or perhaps in surrender to, today’s quick reading habits.

Each issue, I struggle with a brevity bias, as do most editors, trying to provide the right amount of usable information to readers as you struggle with more work, less staff, and the impact of the web. As a voracious reader of magazines myself, I’m sometimes left hungry for more information when I read brief articles that typically raise more questions than they answer. The size of this issue, however, gives me a chance to provide you with in-depth coverage of important issues in all the fullness that the topics require.

Having 450 pages to work with gives me lots of room to explore issues important to your job. You’ll find 10 features, along with our usual mix of columns and departments. There’s even some fiction. I hope this issue hits your magazine reading sweet spot.

You certainly won’t be hungering for more after digesting The Nature of Change. You’ll see how companies such as Nabisco, Nortel and AutoZone balance constant change in their operations while maintaining supply chain excellence.

A Global Logistics special report reveals how your peers deal with new security and compliance issues when clearing customs.

Even if you think you do a good managing inventory, you may be leaving money on the table. There’s a great deal of untapped savings and efficiencies found in managing slow-moving inventory.

Zero Hour takes you inside a fictional supply chain catastrophe where product never arrives. See how everyday people like you seek to reconnect the dots when disaster strikes.

The way people source and use logistics IT solutions has changed dramatically in the past two years. Add to that the new innovations and solutions hitting the market and you’ll see why we included five articles on different aspects of logistics and supply chain technology.

And then there are the Planner Profiles, where you’ll find practical information on market leaders who understand your mission and seek to tailor their solutions to make your job easier.

Of course, I didn’t build this super-sized issue alone. You helped through our conversations, meetings, research, and letters. For example, Mary Bowles, freight coordinator, Precision Parts, says she really likes the “practical details” in IL, like you’ll find in our Ten Tips column. Many readers, such as Gene Ahlstrom, v.p. and logistics supervisor, Construction Services Corp., say they like feature stories with a strategic view. You’ll find a prime example in Six Sigma Success.

Providing a mix of the practical and theoretical has always been our mission. And it’s a mission that would be impossible without the dedicated IL team who devoted many late nights and weekends to get this issue in your hands.

What’s your take on it? Is more more? Let me know.