Articles
Supply Chain Management

How Non-Traditional Service Offerings Are Enhancing Supply Chains
Q: How do non-traditional supply chains differ from traditional supply chains? A: Traditionally, 3PL providers offered a specialized set of services focused around warehousing, order fulfillment, transportation and supply chain logistics. Today, several factors have driven 3PLs to non-traditional services that spread their influence further into the supply chain. Non-traditional supply chain services include various […]
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A Fresh Route for Latin American Produce
More than 21 million metric tons of fruits and vegetables were imported into the United States in 2013, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Approximately 35 percent of that produce comes from Central and South America. While Latin American perishable exports have grown dramatically in recent years, some logistical shortcomings prevent maximum cold […]
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Procurement and Purchasing: Buying into Lean
While supply chain costs, primarily procurement and transportation, can range from 50 to 70 percent of sales, some companies place too much emphasis on the traditional focus of reducing material costs in supply processes. Applying Lean principles to procurement and purchasing processes can identify non-traditional sources of waste, in some cases creating a paradigm shift […]
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Channeling the Brick and Click Dilemma
As e-commerce continues to transform consumer behavior, retailers explore hybrid omni-channel supply chain models that deliver the best that online and in-store have to offer.
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Getting Packaging Costs Down to Size
Shippers find nested savings by eliminating packaging waste.
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8 Ways to File Effective Freight Claims
No matter how much you try to prevent cargo loss and damage, well…stuff happens. Follow these eight steps to help recoup your losses.
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Growing Efficiency and Weeding Out Waste
With millions of dollars in annual waste bogging it down, Bell Nursery struggled to grow. But today, a new inventory management system helps business blossom.
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Reducing Supply Chain Risk by Outsourcing Technology
Supply chain risk management is a major concern for many companies. Risk management data would influence board-level decisions for 70 percent of respondents to a Gartner IT Risk Management Survey, up from just 46 percent a year earlier. While data loss and the threat of cyber-attacks are the most well-known security issues, there are three […]
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Retail Collaboration: It’s All in the Jeans
Work with a team of service providers to get a new retail distribution center up and running in only six months? We should all be so lucky.
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Turning Back the Pages: 20 Years of Top 100 3PLs
Where were you in 1996? Working your way up the transportation ladder? Starting a career in the logistics field? On the outside looking in? Still in high school? Grade school? Every once in a while it’s fun to throw it back—to an earlier time and reflect on where we come from, where we’ve been, cause […]
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