Archive: Jan 2006

Balancing on the Rim

Like gravity, the lure of Asia’s rock-bottom costs and abundant labor force has a powerful pull. But companies need to closely examine potential pitfalls of sourcing halfway around the globe. Taking that first step into the Pacific Rim means walking a tightrope between the benefits and risks.

Read More

Minimize Total Landed Cost: Strategize, Model, Act

Total landed cost is the sum of all costs associated with making and delivering products to the point where they produce revenue—usually your customer’s door. So, if you employ tactics to reduce costs in all discrete functions from manufacturing through delivery, you’ll have a lower total landed cost, right? Theoretically, yes. But in the real […]

Read More

Managing the Supply Chain in Reverse

Those of us who enjoy changing gears manually when we drive don’t hesitate when we have to shift into reverse. But not all reverse actions are comfortable. Taking in, sorting, and repairing or redistributing returned goods is an onerous task for many manufacturers and retailers. Unlike goods moving out of the factory, goods coming back […]

Read More

Heather Fryar: Life on the Strategic Side

Airplane components, laundry detergent additives, offset printing equipment, and men’s formal wear have one thing in common: Heather Fryar. As logistics manager for St. Louis-based Sequa Corp., Fryar oversees inbound and outbound transportation strategy for the parent company’s seven business units. That means improving transportation processes and cutting costs among operations that manufacture a diverse […]

Read More

Operations Network Design: A New Solution for an Old Problem

Tools for optimizing distribution networks have long been available, yet most of these applications still have an important limitation: they can’t fully model network requirements at the operations level. This limitation often leads to recommendations that cannot be implemented. What is needed is a new approach that enhances the current process by incorporating site-level detail […]

Read More

Global Logistics—January 2006

"China’s emergence as a global economic power is having a seismic impact on the global logistics market." This statement, from New Zealand-based international property adviser DTZ’s recent Global Logistics Markets report, is not surprising. What is surprising is just how far China’s impact reaches when it comes to the international industrial landscape. "The negative impact […]

Read More

Bullseye! Finding the Right Site

The economic development stars are aligned. As U.S. companies reassess their distribution networks to combat rising transportation costs and meet customer demands, business development entities now realize the logistics and transportation industry offers an opportunity to add jobs and vitality to local economies, expand and develop transportation infrastructure, and create a new economic livelihood for the future of U.S. industry. The result is a renewed focus on site selection.

Read More