Articles

Technology

Dan Sellers

Shopping for a Transportation Management System: Factors to Consider

Is your organization seeking to replace its current Transportation Management System (TMS) or obtain a TMS for the first time? Besides the obvious factors, such as overall cost, functionality that meets your requirements, and the ability to integrate with your current system and trading partners, below are five points to consider when shopping for a […]

Read More
Frank McGuigan

Consumer Demand Helping Drive 3PL Industry Growth

In recent years, shippers have encountered new standards of velocity, market choice, and cost for their products. Consumers are demanding better variety and greater availability at the lowest possible cost. These demands put increasing pressure on retailers, who in turn, pass that burden on to their suppliers—further increasing complexity and intensifying pressure on supply chains. […]

Read More

Gaining Visibility Through Data

Q: Data impacts the way many organizations make decisions. Can a freight audit and payment system provide added visibility? A: If shippers don’t have valid insight, they can’t make valid decisions. Data analysis and benchmarking can provide this visibility, allowing shippers to identify outliers in performance and cost. Yet most companies don’t have the technology […]

Read More

We’ve Been Together for 35 Years 

This month marks my 35th anniversary of serving readers as editor of Inbound Logistics. That milestone gave me reason to look back while developing and editing the content for this annual logistics technology issue. Three decades ago, logistics technology primarily consisted of typewriters, pens and pencils, ledgers, paper maps, and hand-typed bills of lading and […]

Read More

Leading Logistics Provider Closes More Business, Develops Stronger Customer Relationships

The Challenge With its growing international customer base, this global logistics and transportation service provider for the chemical and process industries recognized the need to automate its contract management and pricing process and to expand its global operations. However, the logistics team realized it would be very difficult to handle the increased number of contracts […]

Read More
Brad Hollister

TMS Launches New Era: Control Tower Visibility

It wasn’t long ago that top executives around the world had to be convinced why they needed accounting software to run their companies. Today it is unthinkable of any company operating without accounting software to manage their company’s finances. The importance of technology in shipping is starting to reach this same critical point for most […]

Read More

Blockchain Set to Shake Up Shipping

International trade is a maze of regulations, and mostly manual, inefficient processes that lack transparency. This is all about to radically change with blockchain technology. Shipping today is riddled with documentation, regulations, and policies that require certificates of origin, letters of credit, bills of lading, vessel manifests, and customs declarations. Blockchain converts documents, such as […]

Read More
Roei Ganzarski

3 Steps to a Demand-Driven Supply Chain

The on-demand economy means customers expect instant gratification via immediate access and convenient delivery options. Companies must adapt and start optimizing their supply chains to stay competitive. Many companies are still supply driven, constrained by resource capacity, archaic scheduling technologies, and inefficient decision-making. Typically, these businesses match demand by increasing the supply and infrastructure to […]

Read More
Samuel Mueller

Turn to Technology to Attract the Next Generation of Workers

Supply chain stakeholders have to acknowledge the shortage of workers in the supply chain sector. An estimated 600,000 manufacturing positions in the United States are going unfulfilled due to a lack of qualified workers, according to the 2016 MHI Annual Industry Report. Additionally the survey showed that 58 percent of respondents face a significant challenge […]

Read More
Inbal Axelrod

Transparency to Efficiency: How IoT Can Increase the Productivity of Your Transportation (Sponsored)

The evolution of business has rapidly increased over the last 25 years. The speed of technological advances has impacted all aspect of business, including the last bastions of manufacturing and transportation operations. Every business has looked to capitalize on technology to increase productivity and leveraging that into higher profit margins. With the Internet of Things, […]

Read More
Robert Walters

What Your Transportation Management System Should Provide

The transportation and logistics world is abuzz with the need for ever stronger and more diverse transportation management systems (TMS). This is apparently true for small and large shippers alike. And in today’s world of diverse rates and worldwide shipping operations, both inbound and outbound, the need grows stronger each year. So what should a […]

Read More
John Watkins

How 3PL Warehouses Can Capitalize on the Escalating Demands of Prospects and Customers

2017 is looking to be a memorable year for the warehousing industry. For the first time since the mid-2000s, 3PL warehouses are not only in demand, but in a position of strength. This will provide 3PL operators with a unique opportunity to build lasting relationships with key customers, suppliers, and retailers of their choice. However, […]

Read More
Sean Riley

Today’s Competitive Supply Chain: Digital, Smaller, More Resilient

Historically, the supply chain and manufacturing industry has been relatively slow to embrace the opportunities presented by the digital revolution. Technology is advancing quickly, and it’s time to buck this trend. Whether it’s recognizing the crucial strategic strength and impact offered by the Internet of Things (IoT), taking advantage of the dramatic increase in automation, […]

Read More