Articles
Supply Chain

How TMS is Proving ‘Time is Money’ for Shippers in 2018 – UltraShipTMS
There is only one way forward for high-volume shippers who are facing a logistics environment where they’ll be forced to produce far more efficient shipping using far fewer resources in a much more competitive environment. Expectations surrounding shipping velocity (and the fines increasingly imposed for late delivery) have never been higher. The visibility required to […]
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5 Ways Your 3PL Can Help Meet E-commerce Challenges
With unlimited e-commerce potential on the horizon, it is worth exploring if an experienced third-party logistics (3PL) provider can help you accommodate growth and ensure an optimal customer experience. If you’ve just launched your e-commerce channel or are striving to make that channel more seamless, scalable, and cost-effective, an experienced 3PL can be a valuable […]
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10 Ways To Play IT Safe
State-sponsored and individual bad actors will escalate supply chain cybersecurity risks. Here are 10 threats and trends to look out for across business, governmental, and personal arenas: 1. Software updates—the new Trojan Horse. Criminals use the normal software update process to get companies to infect all their clients, which then affects everyone down their software […]
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LTL Carriers: E-Commerce Powerhouse
Less-than-truckload carriers are developing new strategies to serve retailers and manufacturers who create the goods that impatient e-commerce consumers expect will be delivered fast and free.
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It’s Time to Make Inbound Freight Management a Priority – Kuebix
Frequently overlooked and often pushed to the bottom of a shipper’s supply chain agenda, good inbound freight management can help companies improve shipment visibility, save money, and enhance customer service—all of which add to the bottom line and boost profitability. Unfortunately, few shippers make inbound freight a priority, and even fewer consider it a strategic […]
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Peak Season Planning: A Year-Round Venture
It’s never too early to start planning for peak season supply chain capacity. To meet customer demand at a reasonable cost, it is best to plan ahead as much as possible with a lean, flexible supply chain. Many retailers do an inordinate volume of business—some as high as 70 percent—from Black Friday until the end […]
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How Leadership Training Can Improve Company Culture – MD Logistics
Use this advice to implement a leadership training and development program that can pay long term dividends.
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Steve Ahern: Supply Chain Strategist
Steve Ahern is manager of supply chain operational design with BASF, a leading chemical company with global sales of $67.8 billion. He has held this position since October 2014. Responsibilities Optimizing BASF’s North American network of 100-plus warehouses and distribution centers, and designing supply chain services and upgrades to its transportation process and system. Experience […]
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Top 3 Supply Chain Check-ups Provide Cost Savings – A.N. Deringer, Inc.
At the onset of overseas procurement, logistics professionals focus on supply chain strategy. Finding the right supplier, defining sales terms, determining the best transportation solution and speed to market mean sourcing start-up can be time intensive. When the goods finally arrive at the consignee, many supply chain professionals relax a little knowing that leg of […]
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Maximizing Deliveries While Driving Down Transportation Costs – Transplace
Transplace established an LTL consolidation program to increase load capacity and reduce freight costs for a Canadian hardware wholesaler.
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How to Prepare for the Unexpected
Disruptions are part of our world. Weather, labor strikes, materials shortages, and demand spikes or valleys are simply part of doing business. High-performing supply chain organizations are differentiated on how well they respond to the unexpected. Moments when things don’t go well should remind anyone involved in the intricate and complex supply chain process to […]
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Fraud Goes Broad
The use of analytics to mitigate third-party supply chain fraud, waste, and abuse risk jumped to 35 percent in 2017 from 25.2 percent in 2014,according to a Deloitte poll. Between 2014 and 2017, an average of 30.8 percent of poll respondents report at least one instance of supply chain fraud, waste, and abuse in the […]
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The Son Also Rises
Chuck Wall never pressured his son Ryan to enter the family business, FHI (Freight Handlers, Inc.). But in 1998, as the young man’s college graduation drew near, he asked his father for advice about the future. Chuck Wall painted a tempting picture: “If you apply yourself, within a year or two you could be a […]
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Multi-Stop Steps
If you suspect that carriers reject multi-stop truckloads more often than single-stop loads, you’re only partially right. While carriers dislike specific factors about multi-stop, you can employ some strategies to make multi-stop freight more attractive to carriers and better control your costs. Here are four ways shippers can reduce rates and increase acceptance of multi-stop […]
Read MoreImproving Supply Chain Network Strategies
Today’s world of disruptors and changing consumer behaviors drives companies to continuously revisit their network strategies. Social media ads, mobile purchases, and same-day delivery changed the way we shop, and keeping customers happy has become a challenge. Jason Deloach, vice president of engineering at Americold, offers these tips to create a flexible,demand-driven supply chain. 1. […]
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Status Quo? No.
The coming year is destined to be one of some major and minor changes in business operations. Given your role in logistics, you will face a perfect storm of new. Here are some events and trends that will drive change and the need to think flexibly and laterally, and adapt operations accordingly. Domestic trucking capacity […]
Read MoreValentine’s Day Logistics
$2 billion Amount spent in 2017 on flowers for Valentine’s Day 250 million Number of roses grown specifically for February 14 Colombia, Ecuador, the Netherlands, and Kenya Top four suppliers of roses in the world. Roses don’t grow in the United States in February so they need to be imported from these top […]
Read MoreTracking Trucking
Data scientists at fleet management solutions provider Omnitracs recently conducted some research into what the trucking industry looked like in 2016 vs. 2017. The main findings revolved around Hours of Service (HOS) and Key Performance Indicator (KPI) metrics. HOS takeaways, based on data from January to October for 2016 and 2017 Drivers on average drove […]
Read MoreIndustrial Technology and the Supply Chain: Is 2018 the Year We Turn a Corner?
2017 may be remembered as the year we finally figured it out. After years of spending on the components of industrial technology, professionals in the supply chain and manufacturing disciplines should begin to see the fruits of their investments, as new capabilities and efficiencies begin to surface. 2018 won’t be so much about discovering anything […]
Read MoreSupply Chain Collaboration: Myth or Reality?
Today’s supply chains are more complex than ever before—that is one of the surest realities of supply chain collaboration. And, due to a lack of collaboration, the supply chain sector is realizing a negative impact resulting from the increased time it takes to make critical decisions. This is why supply chain collaboration (SCC) is such […]
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