Articles

Supply Chain

NOTED: The Supply Chain in Brief-Sep 2020

Good Works Transfesa Logistics transported 60 shipments of humanitarian aid in July 2020, delivering 66 tons of medical equipment and necessities to vulnerable populations. The Spain-based logistics company also donated respirator masks and ozone equipment to help clean and disinfect public service vehicles. Logistics service provider Deutsche Post DHL Group provided volunteer support for the […]

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Kraig Foreman

Return-to-School Period Will Test Retailers and 3PLs

Retailers and their logistics partners are having to find ways to navigate through uncertainty in a way that they can take advantage of whatever demand there is while keeping costs down, all at a time when the pandemic is already placing significant strain on their operations and sales. In many ways, the return-to-school shopping period […]

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NOTED: The Supply Chain in Brief-Aug 2020

Good Works Qatar Airways Cargo is offering free service to charities for transporting medical equipment, humanitarian relief, and essential products through December 2020 to help deliver goods where they are needed most. The airline also donated 2.2 million pounds of freight to select customers to give to charities of their choice. Penske Logistics donated trucking […]

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NOTED: The Supply Chain in Brief-July 2020

Good Works CenterPoint Properties provided warehouse space to help Houston Food Bank distribute food in 18 Texas counties. The food bank uses the 124,000-square-foot facility to receive shipments from the Texas Department of Emergency Management as part of its COVID-19 relief efforts. The Houston Food Bank distributed nearly 23 million pounds of food in April […]

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IN BRIEF: New Services & Solutions-July 2020

Products Enabling the real-time monitoring of shipment and container openings, Kizy’s embedded sensitive light sensor can provide information on changes of light and dark in the tracker’s surrounding environment. By collecting this information, the Kizy K-2 Tracker can mark events in the supply chain, from the opening of parcels and containers to the unpacking of goods. The […]

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Keith Biondo

In Defense of You

You’ve failed at logistics. So says David Segal in his recent article entitled "What Happened to the Great American Logistics Machine?" in The New York Times. Here are the article’s punchlines: The virus is "winning at the logistics game," and "let us acknowledge the obvious: The country is flunking a curriculum that it basically wrote." […]

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What’s the most unexpectedly good advice you’ve received about the supply chain?

Speed is not always the solution. Breaking shipments into inventory replenishment and just-in-time SKUs allows price and transit time optimization. Asia-to-U.S.-East-Coast transit through the Panama Canal versus the Suez Canal differs by 7 to 13 days. Pushing inventory cargo to the slower/lower-cost options provides free warehousing on the water while reducing overall landed cost. —Alan […]

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Noted: The Supply Chain in Brief-June 2020

Sealed Deals Beauty and personal care brand Shiseido Company selected XPO Logistics to provide omnichannel logistics services throughout the United Kingdom. XPO will handle business-to-business replenishment of bareMinerals, NARS, Laura Mercier, Shiseido, Serge Lutens, Dolce&Gabbana Beauty, and other products, as well as U.K. and Ireland e-commerce fulfillment for the NARS, Shiseido, and bareMinerals brands. XPO […]

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Logistics Lexicon for the Times (Part 2)

BODFC Buy-online-deliver-from-curb model used for e-commerce fulfillment to minimize contact between consumer and retail employee. Demand distortion Significant, short-term change in product demand due to drastically different consumer behavior. Floating storage Using containerships to store product while weathering demand disturbances. Pivot Quickly execute a sharp move away from normal manufacturing or logistics operations to address […]

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IN BRIEF: New Services & Solutions-June 2020

Products Air cargo can be safely transported in airplane cabins designed for passengers with the use of cargo seat bags from insulated air cargo cover maker Trip & Co. Produced in collaboration with engineering company SII Netherlands, the bags are watertight, chemical and UV resistant, and able to transfer products in a range of temperatures. Toyota Material […]

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Digital Health Tools Can Keep Workers Safe and Preserve Privacy

Digital Health Tools Can Keep Workers Safe and Preserve Privacy

Digital tools that confirm a person’s health status can create safe work environments while also protecting personal privacy as businesses and supply chains recover from the COVID-19 disruption, according to MIT professor Alex “Sandy” Pentland, who is working on this issue with the United Nations and Club de Madrid, a consortium of former democratic presidents […]

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What Is a Continuous Delivery Experience and How Has COVID-19 Increased Its Importance in the Supply Chain?

As the country and global economy begin to recover, the question on everyone’s minds, is “what will re-entry into the business world look like?” More specifically, how do companies fortify their supply chain, fulfillment functions and relationships with logistics providers to bring everyone back online smoothly? It’s difficult to imagine going back to business as […]

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How Machine Learning Solves the COVID-19 Supplier Discovery Dilemma

Machine learning, in addition to a large amount of data, is a critical tool that can help manufacturers and supply chain professionals find, qualify, and use new suppliers for personal protective equipment (PPE) and raw materials during the COVID-19 pandemic. As stated in a recent Inbound Logistics article, “Companies need to first quickly develop transparency […]

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Grape Expectations: Wine Quality Control

Grape Expectations: Wine Quality Control

The global wine industry is complex and interconnected, but lacks the tools to properly optimize its supply chain. To improve transparency for producers, distributors, retailers, and consumers, IBM and eProvenance released VinAssure, a blockchain solution that tracks wines as they move from the vineyard to the end-consumer. By encouraging transparency, accountability, and rapid data exchange, […]

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