Feature Stories
3PL Partnerships: How to Ink the Deal
This story examines the secrets behind a successful shipper-3PL relationship, as seen through the eyes of four pairs of successful business partners.
Navigating the Customs Labyrinth
Importers need to know what they’re doing to ensure goods proceed through U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as smoothly as possible, including understanding the relevant regulations and ensuring such information as the product descriptions and classifications are complete.
Healthcare Logistics: Filling a New Prescription for Supply Chain Improvement
Healthcare organizations are transforming how they source supplies and connect with manufacturers and service providers to meet emerging patient demands, address healthcare legislation, support an overall focus on improving patient care, and lower healthcare costs.
Get The Scoop: The Ice Cream Supply Chain
Ice cream companies have to ensure their products maintain their quality as they travel from the manufacturing plant to distribution center to the retailer, and finally into the consumer’s shopping cart and home. Cold chain management and proper sanitation are key ingredients.
6 Technologies Guaranteed to Disrupt Your Supply Chain
Emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, 3-D printing, collaborative robotics, self-driving trucks, drones and the Uberization of deliveries are poised to be disruptive influences on logistics in the coming years.
3PL Perspectives 2016
Inbound Logistics’ exclusive market research survey on the third-party logistics (3PL) sector reveals new trends and opportunities.
Readers' Choice: Top 10 3PL Excellence Awards 2016
Year after year, the IL 3PL survey reveals the importance of great customer service to shippers.
Materials Handling Equipment Kicks Into High Gear
New technology abounds inside the four walls of a distribution center. From narrow aisles configurations, specialized rack systems and lift equipment to optimize stacking capabilities, WMS software that integrates with automated sortation systems, and self-guided intelligent robotic vehicles, innovations in materials handling products are transforming the supply chain.
Project Logistics: Going the Distance
When logistics professionals are tasked with a special project, no matter how enormous, no matter how infeasible, they’re expected to go the distance.
Tapping Military Talent: Shoes on the Ground
Supply chain logistics companies view veterans as a crucial pool of potential employees, and consequently they are using a range of methods to recruit and hire former members of the military for their workforces.
Summer Reading Guide: 16 Must-Reads This Summer
A handy reading guide summarizing supply chain books and their key takeaways.
Cross-Border Trade is On a Roll
U.S.-Canada cross-border trade continues to be a mutually beneficial partnership between nations with a long history of friendship.
Case Studies
Casebook
Making Scents of Demand Planning
Bedoukian Research improves forecasting, demand planning, inventory management, and logistics processes with the help of Smart Software.
e-Tales
Girl Scout Cookie Sales Go Digital and Milk E-Commerce Innovation
The Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA) created and implemented a new way of taking and filling orders for its annual cookie drive. Here’s how it made sure cookie sales didn’t crumble.
I.T. Toolkit
Delivery App Perks Up Coffee Sales
A new app helped a coffee merchant digitally transformed its retail sales and distribution processes.
Reader Profile
Diandra Hayban: Keeping New York City Prepared
Profile of Diandra Hayban, Logistics Shelter Support Program Manager, NYC Emergency Management
Commentary
How-To
Ten Tips
Using Social Media to Empower Your Supply Chain
Social media benefits the supply chain industry in many ways. Companies enhance communication with customers, generate demand, reduce operating costs, mitigate risk, increase productivity, and gain marketplace intelligence through social channels.
Trends
Global
Sponsored
Knowledge Base
The March of Technology
Technology can make the difference between profit and loss in a low-margin environment. As margins squeeze ever tighter, staying current with technology can make the ultimate difference ultimate success or failure.
Knowledge Base
Is It Time to Think About Logistics Outsourcing?
A company’s ability to efficiently execute a supply chain strategy in today’s environment can be enhanced by logistics outsourcing with a strategic partner.
Knowledge Base
Optimizing Inbound for Improved E-Commerce Fulfillment
A more comprehensive approach to supply chain management can help provide a great omni-channel experience that encourages customer loyalty and optimizes profitability.
Knowledge Base
Truckload Capacity: There is Always a Truck Going That Way
Searching for capacity is sometimes a tough job, but there is always somebody driving where you need to go.
Knowledge Base
Increased Visibility
Freight location and status updates, along with advanced predictive analytics capabilities, are making load tracking a valuable tool for shippers, brokers, 3PLs, and carriers
Knowledge Base
Preparation: The Key to Successful Business…and Procurement Projects
A successful procurement project or event is all about the right preparation.
Knowledge Base
Import Express LCL Service
Using an import express less-than-container service, particularly from China, offers cost savings and faster transit times over traditional consolidated LCL services.
Knowledge Base
Keeping an Eye on Cost Management
An acceleration of mergers and acquisitions is causing dramatic changes to the supply chain. Are you prepared to manage through this changing environment while managing cost?
Knowledge Base
What You Need to Know About the New SOLAS Regulation
Here are the key facts you need to know about the new Safety of Life at Sea regulation.
Knowledge Base
Adapters Win in the Multi-Modal, Omni-Channel Fast Lane
Competitive agility and adaptability help shippers win the multi- and omni-channel race to the customer.
Knowledge Base
Big Data: Breaking Down Key Information and Putting It to Work
When you break down big data, new types of data is found that can be used to benefit customers and build a stronger advantage competitively.
Knowledge Base
Is Transportation Management Your Core Competency?
When evaluating your needs for a transportation management system it’s important to look beyond technology and consider who will manage planning and execution. Use this advice to determine if a managed service provider will deliver greater value than developing an in-house team.
Knowledge Base
Become an Extension of Your Client’s Brand
As entities responsible for brokering appropriate carrier rates, ensuring accurate quantities of orders and guaranteeing high quality of products, third-party logistics providers are extensions of companies’ brands.
Knowledge Base
Survey Says: Invest in Warehouse Technology
How do industry leaders plan to keep up with these unprecedented demands? The short answer is technology investment.
Knowledge Base
3PL Customer Service Specialization
Industry expertise is the most impactful way to positively affect customer service requirements.
Thought Leaders
Balancing Inventory for a Better Customer Experience
With the growth of e-commerce, retailers have identified a potential opportunity to reduce working capital by thinning inventory at brick-and-mortar stores—opting instead to maintain major portions of inventory at distribution centers upstream.
Past Issues
Digital Editions
©2018 Thomas Publishing Company
3PL Line: Third-Party Logistics PerspectivesJamie Overley
How to Stand Out From the Crowd
To meet the changing needs of today’s manufacturers, third-party logistics (3PL) providers need to distinguish themselves through collaboration and technology investments.
Checking InKeith Biondo
Still Pushing Your Customers Around?
Using the best logistics IT available, and partnering with world-class carriers and 3PLs, can help you find a better way towards supply chain success.
Checking InFelecia Stratton
6 Cool Things I Learned Editing This Issue
Inbound Logistics editor lists six cool things she learned (or just realized anew) as she edited the annual 3PL issue.
EcoDevRich Thompson
Panama Canal Expansion: Four Keys to Unlocking its Potential
The Panama Canal expansion is finally complete. How will the increased capacity of this global maritime crossroads play out in your shipping and logistics strategy?
Good Question
GOOD QUESTION | How would you describe your job to a five-year-old?
Logistics professionals explain their jobs in terms a hypothetical five-year-old would appreciate.
Green Landscape: Supply Chain SustainabilityJerry Levy (pictured) and Gary Barker
How to Be Fashionably Green
Going green is in style for retailers. Here’s how adopting a multi-faceted sustainability strategy can lower costs as well as boost brand loyalty.
Online ExclusiveIT Matters: Logistics & Supply Chain TechnologyMichael Elmgreen
B2B Commerce Technology Improves Fulfillment Times and Supply Management
With demand for speed and convenience at an all-time high, companies must streamline and speed up order fulfillment. Technology that allows sales reps and customers to rapidly write orders and submit them almost instantaneously for fulfillment is a major competitive advantage.
IT Matters: Logistics & Supply Chain TechnologyJohn Bermudez
Supply Chain Execs Shift Focus From Sustenance to Survival
If they haven’t already, supply chain executives need to immediately deploy more flexible and agile supply chain management solutions that encompass an enterprise resource planning system.
Reverse LogisticsIsaac Mathew
Dialing In to the Secondhand Smartphone Market
Success in the secondhand phone market requires the ability to spot and adapt quickly to market trends. The right supply chain partners can help maximize earnings and navigate the uncertain terrain ahead.
Online ExclusiveRisks and Rewards: Risk Management StrategiesWes Baker
Warehouse Fires Can Cripple Your Business. Preventing Them Just Got Easier.
As warehouse heights have increased with the help of new materials handling technology, so have the risks. Here's one way to meet fire codes as well as cut sprinkler costs.
Risks and Rewards: Risk Management StrategiesKen Harris
Who Are You Doing Business With?
Denied party screening is of critical importance in shipping and international trade, and essential for minimizing business risk today.
Smart Moves: Supply Chain Careers & Education AdviceAbe Eshkenazi
Prepare Today for the Workforce of Tomorrow
A recent ranking highlights logistician careers as among the best – yet manufacturers still face a shortage of qualified workers as the demand for skilled logistics professionals grows.
Supply Chain SecurityGary Barraco
How Secure Is Your Air and Ocean Cargo?
Keeping cargo secure requires visibility and the automation technology to enable this view into your shipments. Additionally, immediate access to rapidly changing requirements for import and export activities plays a key role in light of new security concerns.
The Lean Supply ChainPaul A. Myerson
Does Your Supply Chain Need an Alignment?
If your company’s supply chain isn’t aligned with your overall business competitive strategy, then performance may fall short of expectations, with higher costs, poor execution, and reduced revenue and profits.
Trade Compliance StrategistJulie Gibbs
10 Steps for a Win-Win Shipper-Forwarder Partnership
Outsourcing trade compliance activities does not mean outsourcing trade compliance responsibilities. Here’s how to work with your forwarder to create a ‘win-win’ partnership where compliance is the top goal.
Online ExclusiveViewpoint: Logistics & Supply Chain AnalysisBruce Salter
Five Keys to Selecting the Right Transportation Consultant
For many shippers, choosing the right transportation consultant can become a difficult, time-consuming, and frustrating process. Here are five keys to finding the optimal partner.
Viewpoint: Logistics & Supply Chain AnalysisAaron Baker
Physics of a Customer-Centric Supply Chain
The supply chain strategy shift, from business cost efficiency to customer purchase location flexibility, is similar to the Copernican Revolution. Here’s how supply chain managers can increase product velocity using a customer-centric business model.