Articles
Supply Chain Management

Forecasting Seasonal Surges Keeps Products on the Shelf
During busy retail periods, news of retail imports and spot transportation rates tends to grab all the attention. Less prominent, but more interesting, is the constant seasonal and promotional flux in domestic consumer packaged goods (CPG), and how manufacturers manage the resulting transportation surge. For CPG companies, seasonal volume typically represents one-third of annual shipments, […]
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Rolling Back the Walmart Way
As Walmart continues to evolve from five-and-dime regional retailer to global powerhouse, Kevin X. Jones stays focused on supply chain best practices that guarantee the consumer everyday low pricing.
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The Mechanics of 3PL Partnerships
How do you keep a shipper-3PL relationship running smoothly? Learn the tools of the trade.
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Market Research: 3PL Perspectives 2014
Inbound Logistics’ 10th annual research report looks under the hood of the 3PL sector to see what makes the market tick.
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Readers’ Choice Top 10 3PL Excellence Awards 2014
MORE TO THE STORY: About the Survey Respondents In Their Own Words: A Sampling of Reader Comments 3PLs to Watch When a company’s supply chain operations are firing on all cylinders, product flows through the distribution center without a hitch, shipments arrive on time, and customer satisfaction abounds. Such a finely tuned machine doesn’t occur […]
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Forecasting the Unexpected: Home Improvement Retailers and Emergency Response
During the calm before the storm, home improvement stores stock up on the products consumers will need to repair damage and rebuild after an extreme weather event.
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Supplier Compliance: Ask the Experts
Need to gain control of inbound transportation? Then get on the same page as your suppliers. Inbound Logistics picks the brains of seven industry experts for their advice.
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Inbound Logistics’ Summer Reading Guide 2014
Before you hit the beach, make sure you have all your gear. Sunglasses? Check. Sunscreen? Check. Reading material to help streamline supply chain operations? Check. These books give you the information you need to improve operations, brush up on existing skills, or gain new ones.
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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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Trends—May 2014
TOTO Plumbs the Benefits of Green To gain favor among ethically conscious customers, retailers and manufacturers continue to put a marketing spin on sustainability. Greenwashing has many shades. Often it surfaces in buzzwords such as eco-friendly and recycled. Sometimes it reveals itself as trust in a brand, or the type of ingredients found in a […]
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Supply Chain Relationship Management
In a world where trucking capacity becomes constrained, relationships matter. Managing those relationships strategically versus tactically can make a huge difference in the viability and reliability of each company’s supply chain. The first ingredient to successful supply chain relationship management is having the ability to measure a supply chain partner’s performance. The next is possessing […]
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Inbound Logistics: A Grassroots Revolution
Q: Many companies neglect their inbound supply chain operations in favor of their outbound supply chain. Why is that? A: Senior executives are more attuned to customer needs, and, in turn, the outbound, customer-facing supply chain. Its gravity naturally pulls their attention, and, as a result, policies and tactics abound for outbound material flow. This […]
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Leading Change and Innovation in Transportation and Logistics
Online retailer Amazon.com has been experimenting with small, unmanned aircraft for package delivery for implementation perhaps as early as 2015. Amazon is not alone in evaluating drones as a means to improve its transportation and logistics. The German Deutsche Post is also currently conducting tests. Time will tell whether or not drones will join other […]
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The Power of Demand-Driven
The inbound logistics concept has a lot of pull in today’s marketplace—and for good reason. Consignees want control. Having visibility to product and processes at different supply chain touch points empowers you to make smart decisions about positioning and moving inventory. Companies embrace this enthusiasm for demand-driven practices in countless ways. For example, some importers […]
Read MoreTapping Social Media to Power Your Supply Chain
Social media provides a platform for companies to share knowledge and opinions, and broadcast information to an audience of followers. It also generates valuable data about how your customers think, shop, vote, and spend their leisure time. Many companies have jumped into social media to improve supply chain operations. Cindi Hane, vice president of technical […]
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Trends—April 2014
Shopping for Retail Trends The National Retail Federation (NRF) drew a record 30,000-plus attendees to its January 2014 BIG Apple Conference to "touch and feel" the latest hot trends and innovations in the retail industry. For some attendees, like Mark Ledbetter, global vice president for SAP Retail, the reality is even more compelling. Ledbetter, who […]
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Streamlining Inventory Through SKU Rationalization
While supply chain and logistics managers pursuing Lean operations generally seek to eliminate excess inventory, sales and marketing programs often lead companies to increase the volume of products they keep in stock. During the past few decades, the number of stockkeeping units (SKUs) retailers offer has soared. For example, in 1970, the average grocery store […]
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The Fundamentals of Successful Value Chain Partnerships
Q: How can value chain partners cooperate to create and share efficiencies? A: With an unprecedented global reach, access to new markets, increased regulation, and huge advances in technology, today’s supply chain environment is more complex than ever. Coupled with increasing customer demands for speed, flexibility, cost efficiency, quality, and customization, it is very difficult […]
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Shipment Monitoring Technology: Picking Up the Signals
From basic to complex, tracking devices give shippers the power to locate and secure cargo at any point in the supply chain.
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Heading North: Navigating Alaska’s Supply Chain
The road to success in the Last Frontier is paved with logistics demands and challenges.
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