Articles | January 2018

Feature Stories

Digital Supply Chain: What's Your Reality

What does the digital supply chain mean for your company? More integration, better visibility, a single version of the truth, a clearer view of the future—and maybe a few flying robots.

LTL Carriers: E-Commerce Powerhouse

As more consumers choose e-commerce for a variety of goods, how are less-than-truckload carriers being impacted? Trucking companies are developing new strategies to serve retailers and manufacturers creating the goods that impatient consumers expect fast and free.

3PLs & Shippers: In It For the Long Haul

Third-party logistics providers (3PLs) drive continuous improvement for the shippers they serve through innovative solutions, up-to-date technology, and sheer effort.

Truckload Carriers and E-commerce: Serving the Middle Mile

E-commerce is redrawing the landscape for freight transportation. Do truckload carriers have a place in this new world of high-velocity supply chains, especially as shipments get smaller and delivery windows shrink?

What the Health is Going on?

The U.S. healthcare system faces many challenges that efficient supply chain management can help heal.

Creating The Internet of Everything

This story looks at some ways in which companies are using IoT or IIoT technology along the supply chain and discusses the added value companies will gain as they move from discrete applications to integrated ones.

VMI Strategies: A Matter of Trust

Vendor-managed inventory partnerships strive to improve efficiency by allowing suppliers to maintain the inventory of their products at the stores and other locations operated by their partners in the supply chain. VMI relies on a tight-knit collaboration between supplier and buyer to improve product availability while decreasing excess inventory.

Supply Chain Impatience: No Time To Wait

Artificial intelligence, hidden cameras, robots—These are not part of a new movie, but reflect daily life in a "hurry up" world of impatient consumers. Read how supply chains are adapting to serve a market increasingly driven by e-commerce and Amazon-like business models.

Global Trade Disruption: Managing the New Normal

Global trade disruptions come in all shapes and sizes, and can wreak havoc on supply chains. Find out what proactive strategies and tactics leading companies are using to tackle the escalating challenge of supply chain risk management.

Supply Chain Convergence: Stitching Together Best-of-Breed Technologies

Supply chain technology ecosystems are evolving as once distinct processes for executing TMS, WMS and YMS functions converge. Is the best path forward stitching together a trifecta of best-of-breed technologies, or going all-in on a single instance, single platform for all three?

Cashing In: 5 Supply Chain Financing Trends

Supply chain financing allows companies to delay paying for transportation or goods while suppliers are still paid quickly – for a fee. While it might seem counterintuitive, participants say it’s a win-win for all. Here’s how it works and trends worth watching.

Spot Market Strategies: Making the Right Connection

Digital loadboards are transforming the spot market from a people business to a fast-paced online marketplace that matches freight and shippers faster than ever. Shippers can tap into the flexibility of the spot market while working with carriers that meet their standards.

Let's Get Visible

Technological advances in the past decade have provided shippers with increasingly detailed visibility of their supply chain from end to end. As the tools available to view the supply chain become more sophisticated, shippers are taking advantage of this new level of insight to improve efficiency and better manage their inventory. Shippers no longer view supply chain visibility as a tool designed only to help cut costs – they see it as a potential contributor to growth.

Specialized Transportation: Paying the Price

When moving high-value items, proper packaging and labeling, efficient scheduling, discretion, and a bit of extra effort are key to minimizing the risk of theft or damage.

Food Fight

The Global Food Safety Initiative is working to improve food safety across the globe through GFSI-recognized certification programs and its platform for collaboration, and by reducing redundant audits and developing food safety capacity around the world.

Current State of the 3PL Market

Shipper demands, customer expectations and 3PL capabilities increase, putting supply chain at the forefront.

U.S. Manufacturing: Resurgence Sparks Dramatic Change

With one in every six jobs now tied to manufacturing, American-made products are making a profound comeback in today’s progressive U.S. economy. Known as Industry 4.0, this trending wave of innovative disruptors - 3D printing, robotics, big data, and the Internet of Things - is changing the global supply chain and the world's geo-political view of American manufacturing.

U.S. Infrastructure: Will It Finally Be Fixed?

Crumbling U.S. transportation infrastructure gets worse every year, and failure to address it soon will leave us in the midst of a crisis we can’t dig out of. There’s no more time to sit on our hands; it’s up to the U.S. government and the private sector to act before we reach a point of no return.

Dining In is the New Dining Out

As more and more consumers order delivered meals from restaurants or through pre-packaged meal kits, foodservice companies will need to focus on quality and safety as much as they do speed and cost-efficiency.

Inbound Logistics Winter Reading Guide 2018

A review of the hottest logistics and supply chain books available to help shippers boost their knowledge and skills.

Case Studies

Casebook

Outsourcing Distribution: Good For What Ales You

Partnering with a third-party logistics company enabled to Velour Imports to sell regional products on a global scale.

I.T. Toolkit

Fashion Icon Designs Supply Chain Solution

With its distribution center approaching capacity, Michael Kors had several options to consider, including one that would expand the existing facility. The fashion company turned to supply chain software company LLamasoft for help evaluating possible solutions. The collaboration also led to Michael Kors developing a core supply chain decision-making capability as well as systems it could use for other purposes.

LeaderSHIP

The Son Also Rises

Profile of Ryan Wall, president and CEO of FHI (Freight Handlers, Inc.) in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina

Reader Profile

Steve Ahern: Supply Chain Strategist

Profile of Steve Ahern, manager of supply chain operational design with BASF, a leading chemical company

Commentary

3PL Line: Third-Party Logistics PerspectivesPerry Belcastro

5 Ways Your 3PL Can Help Meet E-commerce Challenges

A 3PL could offer benefits worth exploring to help you accommodate e-commerce growth.

Carriers Corner: Air, Ocean, Rail, Road TopicsRandy Swart

Slowing Down the Driver Shortage

Companies need to develop successful tactics and strategies in the recruitment and retention of drivers in order to remain competitive.

Checking InKeith Biondo

Status Quo? No.

Status quo will not be the norm in 2018 as major and minor changes are brewing in business operations.

Checking InFelecia Stratton

Status Grow? Yes.

There is a great opportunity for growth in many business sectors, and the role of supply chain excellence is fundamentally important in that economic environment.

EcoDevMichele Brown

Welcome to the Neo-Panamax Era: Big Ships, Big Opportunities

The widening of the Panama Canal ushers in an era of big ships and big opportunities. Companies with a New Jersey location are well-positioned to capitalize on this exciting new era.

E_CommerceJonathan Tran

Inventory Strategies That Satisfy and Retain Customers

Good QuestionKatrina Arabe

What’s the Supply Chain Buzzword for 2018?

Readers reveal the term that will loom large in 2018.

IT Matters: Logistics & Supply Chain TechnologyMac McGary

Blockchain Technology: Good in a Supply Chain Crisis

With the massive scope of supply chain, the benefits that blockchain could provide are well worth exploring, particularly in times of crisis.

Reverse LogisticsDr. Ron Lembke

Seamless Returns Start With Serial Numbers

Although serial numbers were initially created to track production, they are an invaluable tool for reverse logistics. Here’s how to get the most out of serial numbers.

Risks and Rewards: Risk Management StrategiesJim Wetekamp

How to Prepare for the Unexpected

High-performing supply chain organizations are differentiated on how well they respond to the unexpected.

The Lean Supply ChainPaul Myerson

Peak Season Planning: A Year-Round Venture

This year, you may want to start your holiday planning earlier with a more structured methodology. Here’s why.

Viewpoint: Logistics & Supply Chain AnalysisShreyas Bhat

Four Ways to Optimize Your Supply Chain

These primary techniques help achieve supply chain optimization.

How-To

Ten Tips

Improving Supply Chain Network Strategies

Today’s world of disruptors and changing consumer behaviors drive companies to continuously revisit their network strategies. Use these tips to create a demand-driven supply chain.