Three Tips for Doing Business in Canada
Canada offers a unique opportunity for American businesses looking to sell products into new and profitable markets. Canada shares a border with the U.S. that spans 5,525 miles, and entered the North American Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. and Mexico on January 1, 1994. Since then, Canada has purchased a significant number of American […]
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G75: Inbound Logistics’ 75 Green Supply Chain Partners
If you want your carbon footprint to be as small as possible, and your business to be sustainable, then make sure you are doing business with supply chain partners who feel the same way. Inbound Logistics’ annual 75 Green Supply Chain Partners (G75) focuses on showcasing companies that demonstrate green best practices in their supply chain, […]
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It’s Time for an Automotive Aftermarket Logistics Tuneup
In automotive repair shops across the country, demand for older model parts is matching demand for newer model regular maintenance parts. This is because the average vehicle on the road today is 11.4 years old, and expected to reach 11.7 years by 2019. The result has transformed the aftermarket industry. Aftermarket SKUs are estimated in […]
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Ocean Spray: Tastes Good, Good for You and the Environment
When companies get serious about cutting costs by reducing their carbon footprint, they call in the Climate Corps.
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Chemical Logistics: Keep it Moving, Keep it Safe
As U.S. chemical production grows, chemical shippers and their partners refine their strategies to ensure trouble-free transportation, secure sufficient capacity, and navigate the regulatory landscape.
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The Top Universities for Supply Chain Technology Education
Worried about the talent gap? You can’t go wrong staffing your supply chain team with recent graduates from these highly ranked university programs.
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Growing a Culture of Sustainability
Ford Motor Company’s corporate social responsibility journey offers a roadmap for industry to travel.
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Benefits of Partial Truckload Shipping
Q: What is partial truckload? A: You hear a lot about less-than-truckload (LTL) and full truckload, but an often overlooked mode is partial truckload, or volume LTL. This mode has benefits shippers should consider when looking for faster transit times, less handling, and a more cost-effective solution. Logistics professionals begin to look at partial truckload […]
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Connected Vehicles & Smart Infrastructure
While the future of transportation may not include the flying cars from "The Jetsons" or "Back to the Future," it is still light-years beyond our current travel methods. We are all familiar with the litany of concerns regarding our land-based transportation system, including inadequate infrastructure, traffic congestion, energy usage, pollution, and safety. On a recent […]
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Ditch the Spreadsheet and Grow Your Business with Quality Data
To optimize logistics execution, shippers must gain visibility by adopting new technologies that provide high-quality data. But at many companies, separate freight procurement and logistics management functions leave managers struggling to optimize processes beyond freight rates, producing results that may have a large financial impact and damage customer satisfaction. Even today, many companies manage information […]
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How to Cut Seven Non-Traditional Wastes
In my first column for Inbound Logistics in 2012, I covered the seven traditional wastes identified in Lean thinking: Transportation, inventory, motion, waiting, overproduction, over-processing, and defects, more commonly known by the acronym TIM WOOD. But there are other wastes to consider in your supply chain and logistics functions. Let’s examine the following seven non-traditional […]
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Trends—June 2015
Highway Trust Funding: Déjà vu All Over Again? News that U.S. Congress and President Obama are about to finalize a two-month extension to the lame duck Highway Trust Fund has elicited mixed reaction from industry. Some are optimistic because legislators were able to push through a bill without undue delay, especially as summer construction work […]
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Global Logistics-June 2015
GCC States Warm to Regional Collaboration Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states —Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain—have long been hamstrung by independent-minded sovereigns who prefer to think and act unilaterally. Despite the formation of the trade bloc in 1981, collaboration, especially around transportation and logistics, often goes wanting. It’s why […]
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Kelvin Miller: Home Away From Home for the Troops
Kelvin Miller is an equipment and mobility readiness spare parts allocation supervisor with military contractor DynCorp International, in Dohar, Qatar. He has held this position since 2013. Responsibilities: Managing and shipping equipment to the field to support Air Force deployments in the Middle East. Experience: Section chief, materiel distribution, U.S. Air Force. Education: A.A., psychology, […]
Read MoreCutting Costs While Delighting Customers
North American companies increasingly are seeking data-driven supply chain strategies to lower costs while improving customer satisfaction. Robust technologies and advanced analytics drive the business insight needed to streamline processes and reduce costs from raw materials to end delivery. Sophie Dabbs, vice president of client solutions for third-party logistics provider Transportation Insight, discusses the art […]
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Engineering Green DNA
Sustainability and green are two words often used interchangeably. In truth, one is a subset of the other. Sustainability is inclusive, an ethical umbrella that covers a gamut of social, economic, environmental, and business issues. But the idea of sustainment is integral to any green effort. Shippers often run into problems pushing environmental programs because […]
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Dealing With Demurrage, the Dreaded D-Word
Every industry endures a topic no one wants to discuss. It’s usually too painful or tedious to confront, although it probably will never vanish. For shippers and receivers who transport by rail, that topic is the dreaded demurrage. Demurrage is the fee charged for the extended use of a railroad-owned or privately held railcar. When […]
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Gamification: A New Way of Tracking and Improving KPIs
Harnessing and optimizing new technology has always been a cornerstone of the logistics sector. Dating back to 1781, when James Watt patented the first continuously rotating steam combustion engine, logistics has evolved by capitalizing on technological breakthroughs and innovations. So, perhaps it is only appropriate that an industry initially built on the back of the […]
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How to Use Safety Measures to Reduce Lift Truck Accident Damage
Like busy freeways, plants and warehouses have squeezed more traffic into less space as the cost of real estate has risen. With products and equipment packed tighter, operating with more just-in-time logistics, the risk of lift truck impact is greater than ever today. That puts your people, production, and assets at risk. OSHA estimates that […]
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