Articles

Logistics

Retail Collaboration: It’s All in the Jeans

Retail Collaboration: It’s All in the Jeans

When Lucky Brand Jeans was sold to a private equity firm, and had to separate from the supply chain of former parent company Fifth & Pacific Companies, the apparel business needed to quickly establish its own, standalone distribution center (DC). The company marshalled help from a third-party logistics (3PL) provider, a technology firm, and a […]

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Joe Bellini

Inventory Replenishment: Why Push When You Can Pull?

Today‘s supply chains are undergoing significant pressures to become more demand-driven. Retailers, distributors, and manufacturers must choose the approach they hope will make the most profit. Should you produce goods according to demand forecasts, or by reacting to what consumers already bought? Companies are investing in a new generation of cloud technologies that enable the […]

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G75: Inbound Logistics’ 75 Green Supply Chain Partners

G75: Inbound Logistics’ 75 Green Supply Chain Partners

If you want your carbon footprint to be as small as possible, and your business to be sustainable, then make sure you are doing business with supply chain partners who feel the same way. Inbound Logistics’ annual 75 Green Supply Chain Partners (G75) focuses on showcasing companies that demonstrate green best practices in their supply chain, […]

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Cutting Costs While Delighting Customers

North American companies increasingly are seeking data-driven supply chain strategies to lower costs while improving customer satisfaction. Robust technologies and advanced analytics drive the business insight needed to streamline processes and reduce costs from raw materials to end delivery. Sophie Dabbs, vice president of client solutions for third-party logistics provider Transportation Insight, discusses the art […]

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Kelvin Miller: Home Away From Home for the Troops

Kelvin Miller: Home Away From Home for the Troops

Kelvin Miller is an equipment and mobility readiness spare parts allocation supervisor with military contractor DynCorp International, in Dohar, Qatar. He has held this position since 2013. Responsibilities: Managing and shipping equipment to the field to support Air Force deployments in the Middle East. Experience: Section chief, materiel distribution, U.S. Air Force. Education: A.A., psychology, […]

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Global Logistics-June 2015

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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Trends—June 2015

Trends—June 2015

Highway Trust Funding: Déjà vu All Over Again? News that U.S. Congress and President Obama are about to finalize a two-month extension to the lame duck Highway Trust Fund has elicited mixed reaction from industry. Some are optimistic because legislators were able to push through a bill without undue delay, especially as summer construction work […]

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Paul A. Myerson

How to Cut Seven Non-Traditional Wastes

In my first column for Inbound Logistics in 2012, I covered the seven traditional wastes identified in Lean thinking: Transportation, inventory, motion, waiting, overproduction, over-processing, and defects, more commonly known by the acronym TIM WOOD. But there are other wastes to consider in your supply chain and logistics functions. Let’s examine the following seven non-traditional […]

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John Costanzo

It’s Time for an Automotive Aftermarket Logistics Tuneup

In automotive repair shops across the country, demand for older model parts is matching demand for newer model regular maintenance parts. This is because the average vehicle on the road today is 11.4 years old, and expected to reach 11.7 years by 2019. The result has transformed the aftermarket industry. Aftermarket SKUs are estimated in […]

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Kristen Celecki

Ditch the Spreadsheet and Grow Your Business with Quality Data

To optimize logistics execution, shippers must gain visibility by adopting new technologies that provide high-quality data. But at many companies, separate freight procurement and logistics management functions leave managers struggling to optimize processes beyond freight rates, producing results that may have a large financial impact and damage customer satisfaction. Even today, many companies manage information […]

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Doug Waggoner

Benefits of Partial Truckload Shipping

Q: What is partial truckload? A: You hear a lot about less-than-truckload (LTL) and full truckload, but an often overlooked mode is partial truckload, or volume LTL. This mode has benefits shippers should consider when looking for faster transit times, less handling, and a more cost-effective solution. Logistics professionals begin to look at partial truckload […]

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Jeremy Boudinet

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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Felecia Stratton

When the Walls Come Tumbling Down

It might sound like two things I did this month—traveling to Phoenix for ISM’s annual conference and working on this Warehousing issue—have nothing in common. Ah, but they do. What happens in the warehouse, the orchestration of products coming in and going out to where they need to be, hinges on the convergence of many […]

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Improving Shipper/Carrier Relationships

From shippers, receivers, and purchasing agents to carriers and third-party logistics companies, everyone has an opinion on how to reduce trucking costs. But they all agree that to help save money, shippers should build strong relationships with their less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers. Mark Hamblin, vice president of sales, west, for LTL carrier Saia, offers some advice […]

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