Articles
Distribution
Reading the Room
Annette Danek-Akey is executive vice president of supply chain at multinational publishing company Penguin Random House. Responsibilities: Manage distribution, transportation, customer service, fulfillment, reverse logistics, and remainder sales. Oversee 1,700 employees in three distribution centers that ship 1.5 million books per day. Experience: EVP and SVP, supply chain, Penguin Random House; SVP and VP, fulfillment, […]
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Improving Visibility: And Sew It Goes
Family-owned Tacony Corporation offers sewing and home and commercial floor care products in more than 100 countries. Because of the number of products it sells and the geographic span of its operations, supply chain visibility and efficiency are key. At the same time, providing timely, accurate deliveries has become ever more critical, given rising customer expectations.
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Traffic Control
At some point, urban congestion will again be an issue. To get ready, cities and shippers are exploring options such as alternative vehicles, apps, pricing solutions, and a range of distribution centers.
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Becoming the Next Leading Logistics Hub
More and more consumers turned to e-commerce and online grocery sales for their purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding pressure on the supply chain and making the location of distribution and fulfillment centers even more important.
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Robotics-as-a-Service Automates Order Fulfillment
THE CUSTOMER Ecentria is a technology-enabled e-business platform and the corporate parent of OpticsPlanet, CampSaver, and USIQ—purveyors of high-performance and technical gear and leading destinations for enthusiast customers of the greater outdoor, sporting goods, and tactical consumer markets. THE PROVIDER inVia Robotics is aSouthern Californiarobotics company founded in 2015 that provides next-generation warehouse automation solutions. […]
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Home for the Holidays
To reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19, consumers plan to do their holiday shopping earlier this year, a Voxware survey reports, which may bring significant challenges for distribution centers. Key survey findings include: 51% of consumers expect to start holiday shopping earlier than normal in 2020. 57% plan to have more gifts shipped directly […]
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True Manufacturing Embraces More Efficient, Visual Load Building
By turning to MagicLogic Optimization and integrating Cube-IQ, its load planning optimization software solution, True Manufacturing reduced work hours and increased efficiency.
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Traditional Retail Supply Chains Tackle Omni Challenges
Distribution centers (DCs) traditionally shipped orders in bulk to retailers or wholesalers. In the early days of e-commerce, most retailers used a small area in an existing DC to fulfill online orders or outsourced the process to a third party. As online demand grew, many retailers opened fulfillment centers dedicated to picking and packing individual orders shipped to individual end users. DCs and fulfillment centers have much different types of operations and cost structures.
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Building a Supply Chain in One Week
When their client pivoted to make a low-cost, readily available bed to quickly serve those on the front lines, SEKO Logistics rapidly set up distribution operations to meet urgent demand.
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Sustaining Operational Excellence
TA Services’ transportation management solutions helped MRC Global, a distributor of pipe, infrastructure products, and valves and fittings, improve visibility and enhance service levels.
Read MoreReopening Fulfillment and Distribution Centers in the Wake of COVID-19
The chaos and disruption from the COVID-19 outbreak is slowly moving toward recovery for businesses. Like most enterprises, fulfillment and distribution centers will not be able to simply “flip a switch” and return to normal operations. The complexity is even greater for networks that span multiple states or countries. Reopening will require a rigorous methodology […]
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Formulating Solutions for Chemical Shippers
With exacting specifications and transportation challenges heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, shippers are turning to these partners to move chemicals safely and optimize supply chains.
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NACD Program Ensures Seamless Partnerships
Warehouses and carriers are critical elements of the supply chain for the U.S. chemical distribution industry, which has a total economic impact of nearly $20 billion and provides more than 80,000 jobs across all 50 states. Chemical products are used in nearly every industry sector in the U.S. economy, and chemical distributors play an important […]
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Efficiencies and Revenues Skyrocket for Distributor with Digital Order and Logistics Management
MPO’s cloud platform for order and logistics management allowed an agricultural spare parts distributor to streamline fulfillment, obtain full order visibility, and reduce shipping costs for customers.
Read MoreDistributors, Shippers Eye Surcharging to Stay Afloat Amid COVID-19 Outbreak
Logistics is one of the many sectors currently grappling with the impacts of COVID-19 on the bottom line. The need for seamless supply chains is paramount, with much of the world looking to the industry to feed families, maintain infrastructure, and even deliver essential medical equipment to front-line healthcare workers. Although the industry is among […]
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GOOD QUESTION | What Supply Chain Terms Do People Sometimes Confuse?
Carrier vs. broker or 3PL. Shippers often don’t recognize the value difference—and motivations—of an asset owner versus a non-asset player. We’re measured the same, but when the rubber meets the road, it’s the asset provider who has to deliver. The key is to understand where a broker brings value. Greg Orr President, CFI Savings vs. […]
Read MoreNoted: The Supply Chain in Brief-2020
Good Works Truck drivers and other employees at Averitt Express, a transportation and supply chain management company, raised $1 million in 2019 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital through its Averitt Cares for Kids charity program. The donation is the largest-ever employee contribution to the hospital. Up the Chain H&M chief operating officer Helena Helmersson […]
Read MoreDHL Gives Mio Better Inbound Logistics Control
DHL International Supply Chain has developed a purchase order (PO) management and visibility solution for the Swedish home furnishings retailer Mio. The solution provides Mio more control over inbound orders from eight countries to reduce detention and demurrage costs while improving intake planning for distribution centers. DHL will provide PO management and visibility for […]
Read MoreFostering a Data-Centric Culture in Fulfillment Operations
With more customers shopping from their couches, there’s never been a greater need for distribution center efficiency. Items are flying off the shelves, and both pickers and management are feeling the pinch. It’s no surprise, then, that technologies designed to help unlock and leverage data are rising in importance. According to Zebra Technologies, 61 percent […]
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Optimizing Coca-Cola Consolidated’s Post-Expansion Distribution Network
Red Classic created a complex regional transportation solution to optimize Coca-Cola Consolidated’s distribution network following a multi-year expansion effort.
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