Articles
Global Economy

6 Global Supply Chain Challenges To Ignore at Your Own Risk
Along with the many benefits that come from sourcing outside the United States, such as low-cost manufacturing, several issues must be properly managed to ensure a successful supply chain. Finding a rock-bottom price in China or India is not the problem, but landing great costs while avoiding distance, timing, quality, and language problems can be […]
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Global Logistics-June 2015
GCC States Warm to Regional Collaboration Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states —Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain—have long been hamstrung by independent-minded sovereigns who prefer to think and act unilaterally. Despite the formation of the trade bloc in 1981, collaboration, especially around transportation and logistics, often goes wanting. It’s why […]
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A Supply Chain World Tour
Demand-driven logistics spans the world…in practice and in print. For a host of reasons, U.S. shippers and consignees are taking control of how they pull—and push—global product to market. Shifting demand dynamics, geopolitical volatility, currency fluctuations, government interference, lengthening and deepening supply networks, and cost reduction directives have conflated to consternate even the best supply […]
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Rethinking the Global Supply Chain
Shifting global dynamics and internal business process changes are compelling manufacturers and retailers to challenge the status quo and reinvent their supply chains.
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Global Logistics—August 2014
Only the Good Drive Young With all the talk about the U.S. driver shortage, it’s easy to forget that similar labor constraints exist elsewhere around the world. For example, recruiting younger people into the trucking industry has become a challenge in the United Kingdom, according to Barriers to Youth Employment in the Freight Transport Sector, […]
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Oil, Gas, and Energy: Down Goes the Boom
Volatility in the oil, gas and energy business is forcing producers and industry to confront a legacy of poor logistics execution.
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The Kings of ACE
When it came time to face the ACE, HW St. John bet on an automated solution that streamlines processes and deals customers a winning hand.
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Eelco de Graaf: Four-Continent Career
Eelco de Graaf is vice president, supply chain operations at Lewis-Goetz and Company’s corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh. He has held this position since August 2014. Responsibilities: Purchasing, shipping, manufacturing, and operational excellence. Experience: Management trainee, Fortis Financial Group; distribution channel manager, Fortis Investments; key account manager, Fortis ASR; assistant to chairman, executive board of directors, […]
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Global Logistics—January 2015
Uber Hails Hong Kong Cargo Pilot While analysts continue to speculate about how the "Uber model" will translate to parcel and small shipment movements, especially in densely populated areas, the San Francisco-based taxi/technology company has begun testing its platform in Hong Kong. Its latest incarnation, UberCARGO, promises to deliver the same cashless convenience that has […]
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How to Close the Supply Chain Talent Gap
A career in logistics is a career working at the heart of world trade. Most of us could not get through a single day of our lives without relying on some aspect of the supply chain. Products move between manufacturers and retailers, or growers and consumers, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 […]
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Global Ports: A Boatload of Opportunity
Facing a number of challenges and constraints, the global port industry is addressing concerns and capitalizing on new opportunities.
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Global Logistics—November 2014
Middle East Airfreight Ascent: Mecca or Mirage? It wasn’t long ago that media and markets alike were ready to anoint the Middle East as the world’s next airfreight hub. Gulf carriers and airports, once the exclusive backdrop for oil business, have experienced their own boom over the past several years thanks to continued investment in […]
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Global Logistics—June 2014
Light at the End Of the Chunnel UK and continental shippers can expect a price reprieve after Eurotunnel announced plans to reduce freight rates through the Channel tunnel. The move comes after the European Commission began legal action to reduce charges and increase traffic. Paris-based Eurotunnel, which operates trains through the tunnel, will cut tariffs […]
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Global Logistics—April 2014
U.S. Creates ‘Single Window’ for Import/Export Data Transmission The U.S. government has always been light years behind the private sector in technology innovation and implementation. So President Barack Obama’s executive order to streamline U.S. import and export documentation shines a ray of light on the trade community as the government emerges from the Dark Ages […]
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Panama Canal Expansion: Changing the Channel
A wider and deeper passage may encourage shippers to consider alternate sourcing and routing options.
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To Rebuild America’s Economy, Keep Products at Home
Despite anecdotal evidence of a comeback brewing in domestic industry, wide-ranging new data repeatedly point to major—even mounting—manufacturing woes, including flatlining growth and record trade deficits. More importantly, advanced domestic manufacturing keeps failing a crucial competitive test: holding onto markets in its own enormous American backyard. Imports continue to gain at the expense of U.S. […]
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Emerging Markets Break Through
To tap the potential of emerging markets, shippers and their service providers spring forward with new logistics tactics and strategies.
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Southeast Asia: Region on the Rise
With an average annual economic growth rate of more than five percent, the countries that comprise this dynamic region represent a thriving trade and economic hub, despite infrastructure and regulatory challenges.
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As the World Turns, Supply Chains Spin
Continental instability, national volatility, and economic vulnerability force shippers to confront their own global challenges.
Read MoreLean on Me
Analyzing economic forecasts is like untangling spaghetti. But one thing is certain—recent economic trends are putting more pressure on supply chains.
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