Articles
Logistics
Career Solutions: Talent Search
Experience-based education programs seek out, woo, and train the next generation of supply chain talent.
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Better Routing Takes Root
By switching from a manual to an automated routing and scheduling system, flowering plant seller Weatherford Farms puts the petals to the medal.
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CX in the Era of Supply Chain Impatience
Whether your customer is the end consumer or B2B buyer, supply chain and customer service performance expectations are converging. Providing an excellent customer experience (CX) requires super-expedited and sometimes free delivery. E-commerce customers increasingly choose to pay for same-day delivery, according to a DHL survey. Here at Inbound Logistics, we call that supply chain impatience […]
Read MoreGOOD QUESTION | What’s the difference between supply chain visibility and transparency?
Supply chain visibility is what you actually know; transparency is what you are willing to share with your partners. Don’t assume a supplier or customer is deliberately obscuring information when, in fact, they don’t have that information in the first place. Amy David Clinical Assistant Professor of Management Purdue University Krannert School of Management It’s […]
Read MoreOptimizing Route Planning to Cut Costs
With consumers expecting more delivery options and the return of rising fuel prices, supply chain managers are finding ways to run leaner. For instance, ensuring transportation operations are making the most efficient use of vehicles, fuel, and drivers is a high priority. William Salter, CEO and president of Paragon Software Systems, offers these route planning […]
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From Top Waffle to Top Rhino
MORE TO THE STORY: Racing to Make A Difference Kevin Nolan fell in love with the excitement of the freight brokerage floor the day he walked into a C.H. Robinson office, as a college senior, to interview for a job. “I loved the energy, the camaraderie among teammates,” he says. Having played lots of team […]
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Billy Duty: Formulating a World-Class Supply Chain
Billy Duty is is head of North American supply chain with BYK USA Inc., a division of Altana, a specialty chemicals company. He has held this position since January 2016. Responsibilities: Production and replenishment planning, forecasting, customer service, warehousing, and logistics. Experience: Director, supply chain center of excellence, director, SIOP, Momentive; global supply chain manager, […]
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K Line, Agunsa Drive KAR
To leverage rising automotive import traffic in Latin America, particularly in Chile, multinational logistics agency Agunsa has partnered with Japanese shipping firm “K” Line to create a dedicated automotive logistics company. The new company, KAR Logistics, offers integrated transportation services as well as warehousing, customization, pre-delivery inspection, and spare parts services. Its target is automotive […]
Read MoreCan Your Supply Chain Keep Up With Technology?
New technology has rapidly impacted our everyday lives. Consumer technology advances are having a profound impact on the art of supply chain management, requiring constant evolution and rethinking of the way products are marketed, sold, produced, and delivered. The Tesla Effect In the automotive industry, customers will soon expect to be able to configure their […]
Read MoreDo Buy, Says Dubai
E-commerce is booming and everyone wants a piece of the pie, including Dubai . The country recently announced its first free trade zone dedicated to e-commerce in the MENA region: Dubai CommerCity, a multi-million-dollar, 2.1-million-square-foot complex that is a joint venture between Dafza and Wasl Asset Management Group. The project is designed to promote Dubai’s […]
Read MoreAddressing Expedited Delivery Expectations
Amazon and other large retailers set customer expectations by offering expedited delivery at low or no cost. Retailers of all sizes must compete on the same turf, yet lack the negotiating power that could net meaningful discounts with commercial carriers. And private carriers often assess charges such as delivering to a residential address, penalties for […]
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Assessing U.S. Shipments and Spend
A tighter truck market, increase in national shipments, and accelerated factory output are among the highlights of the Q3 2017 U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index, which measures quantitative changes in shipment and spend activity (see chart) based on data from transactions the company processes. Highlights include: An 8.3-percent jump in U.S. Bank’s national spend index, […]
Read MoreIndustrial Companies Map Data Gap
Eighty-four percent of industrial companies face a disconnect between data from connected devices and strategic decision making and operations, limiting the Internet of Thing’s (IoT) digital transformation potential, according to a research study conducted by IFS, a global enterprise applications company. Only 16 percent of survey respondents consume IoT data in enterprise resource planning (ERP) […]
Read MoreA Resurgence in Trucking Investments Presents Opportunities for Shippers
Economic indicators and data reports suggest the economy is strengthening, which should continue to promote business confidence through the remainder of 2017. The second quarter 2017 U.S. GDP report indicated that expenditures grew by 3.3 percent, led by an 8.9-percent gain in durable goods spending. With increasing expenditures for durable and non-durable goods, manufacturers, retailers, […]
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Young Professionals and Supply Chain: So Happy Together
The opportunity for interesting work, as well as development and advancement, top the list of requirements for young professionals, according to the 2018 CSCMP/Penske Young Professionals Survey of 300 supply chain professionals younger than 30. The average young professional responding to the survey has worked in the supply chain sector for about three years and […]
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6 Strategies for Finding the Right 3PL Partner
RFP season is upon us. It’s the time of year when shippers request bids and plan their optimal logistics strategy for 2018. Shippers are increasingly involving 3PLs in the request for proposal (RFP) process for access to tens of thousands of pre-qualified carriers, industry expertise, and advanced logistics technology that provides supply chain visibility and […]
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Supply Chain Commentary: How to Reduce Supplier Inventory Costs
Managing supplier goods can be a complex process with multiple stakeholders. You have planning that drives forecast and production scheduling, and procurement that purchases materials based on forecasts. Operations oversees the flow of incoming goods and warehouse management receives inbound shipments. While the titles and roles may vary among organizations, the basic supplier workflow is […]
Read MoreChina Ups Delivery Service to the U.S.
Two leading express companies are joining forces to leverage their complementary networks, service portfolios, technologies, and logistics expertise. China’s Ministry of Commerce approved a planned joint venture between UPS and SF Holding, the parent company of SF Express. The agreement allows UPS and SF to collaborate on developing and providing international delivery services from, initially, […]
Read MoreHow AR Can Take the Sting Out of Seasonal Surge Training Costs
Every holiday season, warehouses expand their workforces two times or more to handle peak retail demand that can make or break the entire year. Time spent training and upskilling temporary employees is typically under two weeks for 90 days of work, while many warehousing organizations rehire a good portion of the same seasonal workforce year […]
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