Articles
Labor Management
Find and Fight Forced Labor
The following strategies can help shippers reduce their risk of unknowingly using forced labor in their supply chain, says Danny Shields, vice president of industry relations at risk management company Avetta: Warning signs: Determine if forced labor is part of your supply chain—at any level. Social media can help monitor what people say about your […]
Read MoreMeet Your Match
Supply chain management is increasingly recognized as critical to an organization’s success. As a result, it’s harder to come by top-tier talent through traditional methods. Enter SCTalentMatch, a new service launched by veteran supply chain recruiters Don Jacobson and Adam Lenhart that anonymously connects supply chain professionals with employers. Candidates who are actively seeking jobs […]
Read MorePreparing for the Rough Road Ahead: Taking a Long-Term Look at How the Driver Shortage Is Affecting LTL
According to the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the industry expected a driver shortage of more than 50,000 at the end of 2017. Unfortunately, it’s projected to only get worse. By the ATA’s projections, the shortage could extend to more than 174,000 drivers by 2026. Here are some of the leading factors affecting the shortage and […]
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Truck Driver Health Should Drive Business Decisions
Truck drivers are vital to the flow of the supply chain yet this key resource is being drained at an alarming rate. The average life expectancy for long-haul truck drivers is 61 years. As the current truck driver workforce ages and with fewer young people choosing a career as a truck driver, it leaves the […]
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Is Your Warehouse Ready for Black Friday? Start Preparing This Summer
The world of a distribution center manager is changing rapidly. Whether you’re in a B2C or B2B world, it’s no longer about just keeping up with orders, it’s about establishing and maintaining a competitive advantage to deliver both profitably and seamlessly in response to your customer’s demands. And those are getting tougher by the day. […]
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Trends—April 2016
What Will Smart Cities Mean For the Supply Chain? One decade ago, we were still getting used to the idea that our mobile phones were smarter than us. Today, thanks to an Internet of Things that links all our computerized devices, we have smart watches, smart toothbrushes, smart cars, smart factories, and countless other interconnected […]
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The Perfect Order Has Evolved—Has Your Workforce Management Strategy?
If you’re like most shippers, maximizing customer satisfaction and loyalty is at the top of your list of business goals. To accomplish these objectives, your organization must be dedicated to the pursuit of the “perfect order.” The question remains: What really is a perfect order? The perception of the perfect order continues to evolve and […]
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Gamification: A New Way of Tracking and Improving KPIs
Harnessing and optimizing new technology has always been a cornerstone of the logistics sector. Dating back to 1781, when James Watt patented the first continuously rotating steam combustion engine, logistics has evolved by capitalizing on technological breakthroughs and innovations. So, perhaps it is only appropriate that an industry initially built on the back of the […]
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7 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Incentive Program
Incentive pay programs are becoming an increasingly popular supply chain initiatives to increase productivity without the need for large capital improvements. These programs motivate employees to perform to the best of their ability every day, even during stretches of long workdays and difficult tasks. The problem is that an incentive program can hold an adverse […]
Read MoreSupporting a Multilingual Workforce
As today’s workforce becomes increasingly multilingual and diverse, employers are focusing on ways to effectively communicate with their staff. Open lines of communication are key to avoiding confusion, mistakes, and accidents. While it is not necessary for managers to be fluent in every language the staff speaks, it is important to take steps to make […]
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Accommodating Disabled Colleagues in Your Workforce
Michael J. Fox has had Parkinson’s disease now for more than 20 years. Look at his successes and failures in that time, and the way society has accepted him. Would you do the same for someone on your staff? Would you embrace them with the kindness, courtesy, and respect that they deserve? Five months ago, a […]
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Filling the Manufacturing Skills Gap With Technology
Small and medium businesses (SMBs) are growing at an accelerated rate. This is all good news for manufacturers as they are seeing an increase in orders. But along with the growth, there’s the reality that manufacturers are dealing with a skills gap. Its tough to attract and retain the kind of talent they need to […]
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Trends—September 2014
HCS Updates: Asked and Answered The Occupational Safety and Health Administration‘s (OSHA) 2012 Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) is sure to elicit a supply chain reaction from chemical manufacturers, distributors, and end users. The updates to HCS 1994, OSHA’s previous convention, feature some cosmetic changes—"material safety data sheets" are now referred to as "safety data sheets"— […]
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Boost Your Workforce’s Value Through Training and Mentoring
Q: What is a company’s most important and most often neglected resource? A: People are the number one resource a company has. Too often they are also the most neglected when it comes to improvements. Companies spend significant resources on trucks, trailers, and technology, but sometimes invest very little in their human capital. Keep your […]
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How to Create a Forklift Safety Culture
You’re going to remember the time when you thought it wouldn’t happen to you. One of your industry contacts was telling you how they paid substantial OSHA fines for allowing operators to use forklifts even after the operators completed pre-use operational compliance checklists that showed the forklifts were non-compliant. The individual said he didn’t know […]
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Ax Torres: Plowing Ahead
Ax Torres is outbound shipping supervisor at AGCO Corporation, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of agricultural machinery. Based at the AGCO Parts Division in Batavia, Ill., he has worked in this position since 2013. Responsibilities: Supervise outbound processing and shipping of parts; monitor warehouse functions and supervise materials handling operators; work with carrier procurement […]
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5 Steps for Improving Your Logistics Training
Training is often viewed as an employee benefit, rather than an investment in the business. That’s why in difficult economic times, training and employee development are among the first budget items to go. To avoid these cuts, you must align educational programs with your company’s business objectives, and position them to drive results. Here are […]
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Global—February 2014
Serving Returning Customers In a fickle economy, retailers want consumers to be less discreet about their discretionary spending. One way they can encourage that is to make it easier for customers to return impulse buys or unwanted holiday gifts. But returns can add significant costs, especially when it involves cross-border business. Take, for example, online […]
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Materials Handling Meets Big Data
By studying warehouse equipment and labor performance data, you can help your operations achieve top marks for productivity, safety, and equipment utilization.
Read MoreHow to Deploy a Successful Improvement Program
Think the $30 million APL Logistics has saved through continuous improvement initiatives is unusual? Think again. According to the company’s foremost Lean/Six Sigma/JDI professional, with the right resources and level of commitment, many companies can make these disciplines work equally well. Here, the company offers hints to help your organization deploy a successful improvement program—and […]
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