Articles

Supply Chain

GREEN SHOOTS: How to Implement GSCM

Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) can be integrated into almost any industrial business. The key to implementing this concept is to identify areas where sustainable practices can be applied to an existing supply chain. These areas include: Cleaner material sourcing. For retailers, this may involve partnering with companies to redesign packaging using recyclable or biodegradable […]

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Kicking the Tires on an IoT Solution

Kicking the Tires on an IoT Solution

Tire manufacturer Michelin is a shipper with a massive global footprint and complex demands. With headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand, France, Michelin operates 121 production facilities in 17 countries; those facilities produced approximately 190 million tires in 2017. With a presence in 170 countries, distributing products across the globe is a challenging and sophisticated operation.

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VERTICAL FOCUS | Metals

VERTICAL FOCUS | Metals

Steel and Aluminum Tariffs: What’s Happened So Far To help make sense of the confusion around current steel and aluminum tariffs, IHS Markit offers this timeline. March 23, 2018: President Donald Trump imposes import tariffs on steel and aluminum. June 1: Significant–and supposedly final– changes are imposed. June 15: President Trump approves tariffs on Chinese […]

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Driving the Efficiency of the U.S. Supply Chain

The recent surge of domestic manufacturing and the overall growth of the U.S. economy has required suppliers and carriers to re-examine and seek out new ways to streamline their operations. As the economy has continued to grow over the past decade, the American truck driver has become one of the most important facets in the […]

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Eleke Ukpabi

Leveraging System Design and Optimization for Supply Chain 4.0

Supply Chain 4.0 is an integrative approach to operational digitization, where existing and nascent technology applications are leveraged to transform the supply chain ecosystem. This is seen as an essential response to evolving business requirements and the gradational manifestation of industry 4.0 evolution. Q: How should companies prepare for the potential change to their business? […]

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Paul A. Myerson

The View From the Control Tower

As discussed in my last column, Integrated Business Planning (IBP) is a process that uses “outside-in” thinking by integrating demand forecasts, supply plans, inventory projections, and financial plans into one medium-term strategic model. That’s a great starting point. But the leading-edge way to manage your short- to mid-term global supply chain in real time (or […]

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JetBlue Ups Its Cargo Game

JetBlue Ups Its Cargo Game

As part of its plan to gradually expand cargo operations, JetBlue will partner with Miami-based consultancy Aeronex Cargo. Initially, JetBlue will utilize flights to and from Fort Lauderdale to interline cargo moving through Miami International Airport. Aeronex will organize the Miami to Fort Lauderdale road-feeder transportation. Prior to 2018, the low-cost carrier did not transport […]

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Derek Browning

Choosing a 3PL: How to Make a Mature Decision

Relationships between shippers and third-party logistics (3PL) providers commonly focus more on tactical and operational elements rather than strategic elements. When sourcing to 3PLs, the shipper’s RFP often focuses on lane costs rather than strategic elements such as systems integration, real-time visibility, and total-cost performance. The transactional lane-focused relationship is appropriate for companies looking for […]

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Carriers Cough Up Hiring Fee

Carriers Cough Up Hiring Fee

As part of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) new Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse rule, trucking companies soon will be required to pay the agency a fee prior to hiring each driver—in addition to an annual fee for currently employed drivers. Starting Jan. 6, 2020, carriers will be mandated to query an FMCSA database […]

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Supply Chain Skills of the Future and How Organizations Can Prepare

A recent CEO survey by Gartner1 cited “lack of appropriate talent and capability” as the top most inhibitor to a company’s digital progress. Supply chain organizations are no exception. The gap between the skills needed to compete in an increasingly digital world and those available in the organization is widening. Rise in robotics, algorithmic intelligence, […]

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Maersk, Blackbuck Create Containerized Trucking Platform

To help India’s government reach its goal of reducing logistics costs from 14% of the GDP to less than 9% by 2022, integrated container logistics company Maersk is partnering with BlackBuck, India’s largest online trucking marketplace. BlackBuck will own and operate a new containerized trucking platform, which Maersk will support by developing industry-specific solutions. The […]

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