Articles
Manufacturing
Diving into Data: A Lean Six Sigma Journey
Six Sigma helps electronic products company Jabil run like a lean, green manufacturing machine.
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Medical Devices: A Tale of Two Countries
It was the worst of times for U.S./Mexico healthcare. Can demand-driven logistics make it the best of times?
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U.S. Manufacturing: All Systems Grow
North America’s manufacturing sector is on an upward trajectory. But, will a shortage of young talent, compounded by baby boomers’ negative perceptions about millennials, impact continued expansion? ThomasNet’s latest Industry Market Barometer research provides the answer.
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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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Five LED Lighting Myths Debunked
In an effort to run greener and leaner, many companies have considered making the switch to LED lighting in their industrial and hazardous facilities. In fact, interest in and adoption rate of LED for both new construction and retrofit has been growing rapidly in many applications, including light industrial, such as warehousing, packaging, shipping, and […]
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From the Outside In: Supply Chain as Strategic Advantage
Even non-supply chain executives appreciate the value of flexible and agile operations.
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Automation That’s Worth the Weight
When dietary supplement company Nature’s Way wanted to trim down excess distribution space, it embarked on a design and technology regime. Get the skinny here.
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Chet Mullen: Material Guy
Chet Mullen is director of materials planning and logistics at Raymond Corporation, a manufacturer of materials handling equipment and systems, in Greene, N.Y. Raymond is a division of Toyota Industries. Mullen has held his position there since 2010. Responsibilities: Sales operations planning (materials planning, master scheduling, configuration management and order entry); material control (internal warehousing, […]
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Managing SKU Proliferation in the Beverage Industry
Q: What is SKU proliferation, and what drives it? A: Competition is driving beverage makers to expand their portfolios to provide a wider array of product, flavor, package, and beverage choices. All these choices generate new stockkeeping units (SKUs). SKU proliferation, in turn, drives the need for smarter use of labor, distribution networks, warehousing space, […]
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Trends—June 2014
Panama Canal Countdown: Port of Los Angeles Goes Big With the completion of the Panama Canal project just around the corner, conjecture about how the expansion will affect shipping patterns continues. East Coast ports and players are bullish. Elsewhere, opinions are more muted. The Panama Canal is making a loud impact, however, on the Port […]
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Bob Kalland Knows the Drill
Bob Kalland is inventory and logistics manager for Atlas Copco Mining and Rock (MR) Excavation, located in Commerce City, Colo. The company is a unit of Atlas Copco, a Swedish manufacturer of industrial tooling and equipment. He has held this position since 2011. Responsibilities: Managing all inventory and logistics for the MR business. Experience: Inventory […]
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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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Site Selection: Follow the Signs to Competitive Advantage
The ideal combination of logistics and business assets points manufacturing and distribution site selection decisions in the right direction.
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Cross-Border Trade: Made in Mexico
Got the nearshoring bug? Here are the challenges, benefits, and secrets to success for manufacturing south of the border.
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Automotive Logistics: The Upside of Resiliency
Assembling supply chains that are both lean and resilient helps carmakers steer through risks and disruptions without taking a hit.
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Aerospace Logistics: Building for Growth
Supply chain improvements, and specialized service providers, keep the aerospace industry flying high.
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Heroic Logistics Saves the Day for DC Comics
The DC Comics team leaps into action to create special 3D covers for 52 titles, fighting evil production setbacks along the way.
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Maximize Nearshoring Value to Minimize Supply Chain Complexity
Latin America—particularly Mexico—continues to gain favor as a sourcing hotspot. Its close proximity to the U.S. border has always been a draw, but recent developments have shifted the global trade landscape in favor of the Western hemisphere. Nearsourcing may never entirely replace production in Asia, but trading partners in the Americas should be an essential […]
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Nearshoring in Mexico: The Benefits of Shared Borders
Offshore manufacturing has been synonymous with the Pacific Rim for decades, and it’s still often the best option for saving a line of business that might otherwise decline because of rising labor costs. As the offshoring trend has progressed, however, the drawbacks of moving production far from demand have become more obvious. For example, the […]
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Feeding the Line
When you make materials or components for other companies, their production rhythms become just as important as your own.
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