Articles

Supply Chain

Michael Kukiela

Improve Your Supply Chain’s Stability During the Next Procurement Event

Q: Why is now the right time to consider a transportation procurement event? A: The transportation industry consistently faces capacity volatility, demands for improved service, and relentless focus on cost containment. Two years ago, shippers witnessed on-time delivery fall as low as 80 percent while the spread between contracted and spot rates exceeded 25 percent. […]

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Felecia Stratton

You Are Never Too Cool for School

When I was in college pursuing an English degree (it doesn’t matter how many years ago), I learned the rules of grammar, how to punctuate a sentence correctly, and the difference between it’s and its. I could diagram a sentence like no one else. And those skills were enough to lead me to my dream […]

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Optimizing Freight Spend

Managing your transportation budget is the key to shedding excess cost. Working in today’s competitive market provides many options to help slim down freight spend. As freight transportation continues to change, service providers are using technology to improve and meet the dynamics of the supply chain. Tim Quinn, director of procurement for Freightquote, offers the […]

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Michael Fries: No Small Potatoes

Michael Fries: No Small Potatoes

Michael Fries is senior business intelligence logistics analyst at U.S. Foods in Rosemont, Ill. He has held this position since 2014. Responsibilities: Analyzing data on inbound operations and carrier performance to support process improvement. Experience: Member service representative, Alliant Credit Union; project coordinator, Best Messenger Service; supply chain coordinator, CF Industries; logistics sourcing analyst, ITW. […]

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Global Logistics—February 2016

Global Logistics—February 2016

Global Infrastructure Projects: Building for the Future A $305-billion transportation infrastructure bill passed the U.S. Congress at the end of 2015, but the United States isn’t the only country looking to spend big money on infrastructure projects, according to the 2016 Global Infrastructure Report from CG/LA Infrastructure. The report details 100 infrastructure projects in 71 […]

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Jannine Miller

Georgia: Enabling Business Growth Through Collaboration

The business environment in Georgia is rich in everything a shipper might seek for responding to customers and competing in the global marketplace. From well-designed redundancies across intermodal shipping methods to creative solutions when the unexpected happens, Georgia’s logistics advantages can help shippers of all sizes and industries connect and grow. Shippers are the lifeblood […]

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Chase Sowden

Tapping the Power of Performance Management

In today’s workplace, performance improvement and the role of performance management are increasingly important. Organizations are under more pressure than ever to become more efficient and improve business strategies to remain competitive. Consider, for instance, a manufacturer with five warehouses that decides to implement a new enterprise resource planning system. The goal is to increase […]

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Nick Cicero

Leverage Dashboard Technology to Improve Decision-Making Capabilities

As a logistics professional, you’re familiar with the value of high-quality data. Experienced supply chain practitioners recognize that the value of data is directly related to its utility: Raw data without context or consequence is virtually meaningless. With even more tracking systems contributing to a dramatic increase in the volume of available data, companies are […]

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Raymond G. Monteith

Is Your Business Prepared for the Worst?

Disasters and tragedy happen every day. From fires and theft to severe weather events, we experience disruptive incidents on a regular basis. So how prepared is your business to withstand a crisis? How well have you incorporated risk analysis and crisis preparation into your business operations? Effective risk assessment depends on using our imagination to […]

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Keith Biondo

The Supply Chain of the Future?

We have achieved a good measure of being able to match demand to supply, and have aligned enterprise operations to support that purpose. But now that we have achieved that goal, we begin again—with a new global supply chain metastructure that is always on, never off. Consumer impatience drives supply chain impatience. For example, Adidas […]

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Who’s more important—your customers or your employees?

Who’s more important—your customers or your employees?

This one is easy for me: employees every time. Customers come and go, but it’s employees who determine the frequency. Treat your employees well, invest in their skills, promote and reward customer-centric behaviors, and you’ll never need to answer this question again. Nick Foy Director of Operations, ModusLink Whether they are your employees or your […]

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Becoming a Shipper of Choice

Supply chain partners are instrumental to business success. Taking steps to become a shipper of choice delivers benefits across the supply chain, and helps sustain and grow your bottom line. Greg Braun, senior vice president of sales and marketing at C3 Solutions, offers these tips for becoming carrier friendly. 1. Offer a flexible delivery window. […]

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