Supply Chain Insights
A collection of the latest logistics and supply chain management industry whitepapers, eBooks, case studies and more.
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Foundation for a Successful Freight Brokerage
Ryder’s new infographic highlights the most important elements to navigate disruption and keep your goods moving. Learn how the combination of talent and technology, lead best-in-class brokerages and optimize the movement of your freight.
Warehouse Profitability Checklist: Proven Ways to Improve 3PL Profitability
3PL warehouses seeking to improve profitability must be at the top of their game in every area. The Warehouse Profitability Checklist can help you identify gaps, evaluate new technologies, and position your warehouse for success.
Effective Change Management Process Critical to a Successful Transportation Transition
Shippers can identify many benefits to relying on an experienced third-party logistics (3PL) provider to manage their transportation and logistics processes, including full network visibility, route optimization, carrier management, access to performance benchmarks and metrics, and more. Making the change, however, can be daunting, and shippers should ensure they choose an experienced partner—one who understands that having a detailed change management plan can mean the difference between a successful transition and a complete disaster. Ruan’s experts have identified three keys to effectively managing a transition to an outsourced transportation management solution.
Three Ways Configured Software Prepares Your Business for the Future
The contract packing industry is becoming more complex with each passing day. In order to adapt and thrive, you need to choose the correct software platform to meet the needs of your value-added services. Scaling your contract packing operation for the future requires preparation—for risks as well as opportunities.
Merging Technology & Talent
Globally, supply chains are facing unprecedented levels of disruption. Shippers and carriers are challenged more than ever to keep goods moving, while ensuring customer needs are met. Ryder’s new infographic explores the foundation to a successful freight brokerage. Learn what the fundamental areas needed for success are and what to look for in a freight broker to keep your goods moving while navigating disruption.
Bridging the LTL Expertise Gap: Online Learning Evolves
Sometimes it takes a commercial business to step back and identify a need for educational resources. For those beginning a career in freight management, there exists a dozen or more respected logistics or supply chain management educational courses. But, there has been a notable gap in LTL educational resources to bring newcomers up to a competitive level of excellence or enable industry veterans to expand their knowledge base.
How to Grow Your 3PL and Win Customers for Life
Are you spending hours a day onboarding new clients, chasing down inventory, and wading through hundreds of contracts to find billing answers? See how to redeploy those resources into revenue-generating activities, like services tailored by client and self-serve billing and order tracking. This guide shows how 3PLs have cut the billing cycle by 35%, increased shipping volume by 63%, and boosted labor efficiency up to 60%.
The Complete Guide to Evaluating Warehouse Management Software
Buying software shouldn’t be hard. Yet, every year third-party logistics warehouses struggle to make decisions about technology infrastructure that will help them grow and meet their customer needs. In this year’s In the Complete Guide to Evaluating Warehouse Management Software, we will share a step-by-step guide on how to best evaluate, select, and implement WMS software.
Boosting Labor Management With Capacity Planning
Are production deficits from unplanned labor shortages increasing your labor costs and cutting into your profit margins? Since the start of the pandemic, many manufacturing or distribution and fulfillment (D&F) operations have dealt with waves of staff illnesses that have put production behind schedule and led to excessive overtime hours. Many site managers are turning to capacity planning models to break the cycle. Learn how modern labor management software (LMS) is leveraging data science techniques to deliver more accurate and prescriptive capacity planning forecasts.
Podcast: Stretching the Limits of Supply Chain Digitization—A Conversation with Boston Dynamics
This episode of the DHL Supply Chain All Business. No Boundaries.™ podcast features a conversation with Marc Theermann, chief strategy officer at Boston Dynamics, and Sally Miller, chief information officer, DHL Supply Chain. Listen in to learn how the two companies are teaming up to further automate warehousing in North America.
Cut the Fat From Your Forklift Fleet
Optimizing your lift truck fleet according to business requirements can help protect slim margins and maximize productivity. This white paper examines the value of a fleet management program and how to evaluate it for ongoing success."
The Perfect Warehouse Pick and Pack Checklist
Are you using best practices to increase accuracy and profitability? Now is the time to improve your warehouse operations. One of the easiest ways to enhance productivity and improve accuracy is to implement pick and pack best practices throughout your warehouse. In this year’s To help, we’ve created an easy-to-use checklist of picking and packing best practices to get you started on the right foot.
2022 State of the Third-Party Logistics Industry Report
What does 2022 have in store for 3PLs, warehouses, and their partners? From combatting supply chain disruptions and creating new omnichannel fulfillment strategies to benefitting from the evolution of 3PLs, 4PLs, and cutting-edge technology, 2022 could be one of the most important years ever for businesses looking to play a pivotal role in how consumers receive goods.
2022 Warehousing Vision Study
The pandemic disruptions to the global supply chain will linger for years. Some experts say it will never return to normal. Bar Code Direct is a Leader in mobility solutions for supply chain Logistics. With our partner Zebra, we have conducted an extensive study to gather best practices for the best way to adapt and succeed in this new reality.
![The Spring Shipping Surge’s Far-Reaching Market Impacts [WEBINAR]](https://www.inboundlogistics.com/wp-content/uploads/DATiQ_SCInsights_0522.jpg "The Spring Shipping Surge’s Far-Reaching Market Impacts [WEBINAR]")
The Spring Shipping Surge’s Far-Reaching Market Impacts [WEBINAR]
If you’re a Shipper that wants to navigate the rate, volume and market shifts of the spring season better, this is a definitive live event you won’t want to miss. Hosted in partnership with DAT iQ – this is a must-attend, 1-hour webinar: The Spring Shipping Surge’s Far-Reaching Market Impacts – June 1 at 1:00pm EST. REGISTER NOW!
9 Steps to Boost Your Shipping Performance
Don’t get left behind. Now more than ever, retailers have to up their shipping game to keep up with the competition. Shoppers expect a smooth online shopping experience, and to make that happen businesses need to have an effective (and affordable) shipping ecosystem in place.
![This Calls for a Toast: JobsOhio Beverage System and DHL Supply Chains Top Shelf Partnership [PODCAST]](https://www.inboundlogistics.com/wp-content/uploads/DHL_SCInsights_0522.jpg "This Calls for a Toast: JobsOhio Beverage System and DHL Supply Chains Top Shelf Partnership [PODCAST]")
This Calls for a Toast: JobsOhio Beverage System and DHL Supply Chains Top Shelf Partnership [PODCAST]
This episode of the DHL Supply Chain All Business. No Boundaries.™ podcast features a conversation with Lorraine Terry, Managing Director, JobsOhio Beverage System and Jason Rowe, Senior Director of Operations, DHL Supply Chain. Listen in as they explore the importance of partnership when developing an impactful supply chain.
Holiday Fulfillment: Peak Season Survival Guide
Holiday 2022 is just around the corner. Are you prepared for a record year? If you need to fine-tune order fulfillment operations before you deck the halls, check out our Peak Season Survival Guide. You’ll learn useful tips from fulfillment experts on solution design, inventory management, information systems, labor management, parcel shipping, reverse logistics, and more.
Port Congestion Shines Light on Visibility Gaps
Port congestion is a standout topic in current conversations surrounding logistics and the supply chain. With consumer demand and e-commerce at an all-time high, huge spikes in U.S. imports have led to severe backups that have hobbled many companies utilizing West Coast ports. This report, built from extensive survey data from a myriad of shippers and logistics providers, shines light on visibility gaps that have contributed to the current crisis of port congestion.
3PL Warehouse Growth Checklist
To prepare and plan for growth, 3PLs should take a strategic approach to both setting and executing against growth targets. Creating a growth roadmap will help your business clearly identify gaps or new opportunities. The 3PL Warehouse Growth Checklist outlines key steps to achieve profitable growth.
Wide World of eCommerce Fulfillment for 3PLs
eCommerce fulfillment–everybody is doing it! If you’re a 3PL and not already doing high-volume fulfillment, you likely will be soon. The pandemic has accelerated an already fast-growing segment of the industry. Omni-channel fulfillment is here to stay. This FREE eBook provides an overview of the concepts, terminology, and operational guidelines that 3PL warehouse operators should be considering for a successful fulfillment operation.
E-Commerce Consumer Survey Results Are In
Kenco’s recent survey includes insights into consumer behavior when it comes to purchasing products and services online. Will this surge in e-commerce buying subside along with the pandemic, or have our shopping preferences changed permanently? What percentage of the public regularly shops online, and does this cause any conflicting feelings between the desire for a quick turnaround while preferring sustainable practices? Click to see our results.
![Next Week, Next Day, Next Hour: How to Meet Ever-increasing Customer Demands [Podcast]](https://www.inboundlogistics.com/wp-content/uploads/DHL_SCInsights_online0322.jpg "Next Week, Next Day, Next Hour: How to Meet Ever-increasing Customer Demands [Podcast]")
Next Week, Next Day, Next Hour: How to Meet Ever-increasing Customer Demands [Podcast]
This episode of the DHL Supply Chain All Business. No Boundaries.™ podcast recorded live at RILA LINK 2022 features a conversation with Brian Bobigian, VP Supply Chain, Ulta Beauty; Bill Best, VP Supply Chain, REI; Carl Weaver, Senior Director of Logistics, 7-11; John Barbee; Partner; McKinsey & Co.; and Chris Blickhan, VP Retail & eCommerce, DHL Supply Chain. Listen in and learn how changing consumer behaviors have impacted the retail supply chain.
Warehouse Process Checklist – Evaluation Best Practices
More than ever, warehouses need to process inventory with less – less time, less labor, less room for errors. To remain profitable, warehouses must look to implement industry-proven technology, backed by benchmarks, to accelerate efficiency. But, where do you start? Get the Warehouse Process Checklist
Inefficiency, Not Just the Labor Shortage, is Breaking Supply Chains
Driver shortages and port congestion are taking center stage amid news reports of supply chain challenges. However, new research from Flock Freight® and Drive Research reveals inefficiency plays a major role in supply chain disruptions. Want to be the first to see all the study’s notable findings? Download the guide, “Inefficiency – not just the labor shortage – is breaking supply chains,” to uncover exclusive insights into the obstacles hundreds of shippers face due to inefficiency within traditional freight modes.
The Definitive Guide to High-Capacity Autonomous Mobile Robots
Autonomous mobile robots, such as self-driving fork trucks, pallet trucks, and tuggers, are now a key tool for materials handling in manufacturing and warehousing facilities. Explore the benefits of adopting autonomous equipment, common applications, and workflow examples in this free whitepaper.
7 Best Applications for Robotic Lift Trucks
Robotic lift trucks are increasingly popular, but where do they fit in your operation? You need a solution to address challenges finding and retaining employees, and robotics are capable of handling a wide range of vertical storage and horizontal transportation tasks. The challenge is translating those capabilities to your operation. This whitepaper covers the seven best workflows for robotic lift trucks.
CenterPoint Properties—The Railway Forward
Companies are flocking to industrial real estate in and around intermodal centers in the quest to improve delivery speed, enhance supply chain efficiency, and lower transportation costs. CenterPoint Properties saw this day coming long ago and set out to develop a robust portfolio of rail-adjacent assets in America’s leading intermodal hubs. Learn more about CenterPoint’s state-of-the-art Intermodal Centers in strategic rail markets coast-to-coast.
The Industrial Port Outlook
Rapidly growing online sales activity that shows no signs of slowing is having a profound effect on imports and port congestion. Retailers and logistics companies are seeking higher transportation efficiency and lower drayage costs as they fight to keep pace. See how CenterPoint Properties has been preparing for this moment for years by strategically assembling a robust portfolio of port-proximate industrial properties coast to coast.
5 Ways to Start Cutting Supply Chain Costs
The ultimate challenge for companies trying to remain competitive in a fast-paced distribution environment is being able to meet skyrocketing customer demands while reducing costs. That’s a tough ask, and often a seemingly insurmountable task. These heightened expectations may have you wondering: What do my competitors know about keeping supply chain costs down that I don’t? Find out by downloading this new guide. Learn five tried-and-true ways to cut your supply chain costs, and how the right warehouse management system can help you get started on the path to greater efficiency. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you can do with the right technology and the right mindset.
Forward Thinking on Reverse Logistics
With more consumers buying online, managing returns becomes a challenge. And returns of large, bulky items are even more complex. End those headaches by letting DM Transportation handle those large parcel returns that FedEx or UPS won’t touch. DM can pick up from the consumer’s room of choice or curbside, or even break down and pack the item. What distinguishes DM from its competition is attentive customer service – DM contacts the consumer within 24 hours of the return order, and picks up within 48. Once it completes the pickup, DM can donate or recycle the item locally, liquidate it, return it to the vendor, or send it back to the retailer. Check out this video today and get started on improving your reverse logistics program with DM Transportation.
Generate and Communicate Actionable Visibility Data for Shippers and Receivers
Today’s shippers and receivers are being challenged to navigate increasingly complex supply chains more efficiently. To succeed, they need the ability to view, analyze, predict and communicate the status of shipments in real time.As a result, supply chain visibility functionality has emerged as an industry requirement.
Why Businesses Need Route Optimization
Route Optimization (RO) is the process of determining the most cost-effective route from point A to point B. However, it is not equivalent to finding the shortest distance between the two points. The best routes for business will depend on a lot of different factors. Download this free guide for a comprehensive look at how RO software can take these factors into account and provide businesses with various benefits.
Constantly Connected: How Cellular is Enabling the Digital Supply Chain
Supply chains grow more and more complex every day. Although there are many technology options when it comes to building a digital supply chain, one stands out as the most reliable and cost-effective: cellular. Cellular tools are the foundation of an effective digital supply chain, and the key to keeping managers constantly connected to their in-transit goods — from end to end. Download the white paper from Tive to learn more.
It’s Time to Rethink the Box
Eliminating outer cartons can drastically reduce the dimensional weight of each package, bring down costs, and make shipping additional units in a single load more efficient. Find out how packaging solutions company Sealed Air can accelerate your fulfillment speeds and reduce freight fees with StealthWrap, a customizable automated equipment platform powered by engineered, opaque shrink film that can withstand the rigors of the modern supply chain.
The Do’s and Don’ts of a TMS Selection and Implementation
Transportation is often the largest supply chain cost for a company. A TMS can yield 6-8 percent savings on transportation costs, yet only a fraction of companies take advantage of a TMS. In this white paper, learn the do’s and don’ts of selecting and effectively implementing the right TMS for your company to realize transportation savings and improve your operations.
Optimize Your Supply Chain with Ocean Shipping Best Practices
Want to optimize your supply chain? Doing so can feel easier said than done. Shippabo’s eBook walks through ocean shipping best practices to help you get started. The eBook includes critical elements of a successful supply chain, eight tips for optimizing your supply chain, and answers to common shipping FAQs. Download it to optimize your supply chainís inventory turn and pre- planning capabilities.
When It Comes to eComm Why Reinvent the Wheel?
Flexibility is Key to eComm Fulfillment. As eCommerce fulfillment evolves two things are clear, 1) supply chain must revolve around a consumer who has many buying options, and 2) success comes from flexible and adaptable supply chains. We partnered with Adrian Gonzalez of Talking Logistics on this brief 2-part series.
Supply Chain Visibility: Illuminating the Path to Responsive and Agile Operations
Supply chain visibility is not an end, but a tool. It is the means to achieving true supply chain effectiveness, agility and ultimately, corporate profitability. The purpose of this paper is to take a step back and look at what visibility really means in supply chain operations, what it can do for you and the conditions needed to achieve it. Using real-world case studies, you will also see how true visibility leverages integrated, active and agile technology to enable continuous, real-time decision-making.
Inbound Terms Conversion Best Practices
Many companies remain unaware of just how much their inbound freight costs them because these charges are “buried” in the prices they pay for the goods. “Collect” payment terms allow companies to pay for their own inbound transportation costs rather than their vendors. This not only gives a company greater control over their network—often resulting in greater visibility, tracking, and monitoring—but is frequently more cost-effective as well. For details, download this free whitepaper.
Not Your Mama’s 3PL
How do you define a 3PL? There are many definitions as to what a 3PL really is, especially as the capabilities of a 3PL have shifted dramatically throughout the years. But the legal definition of a 3PL was hammered down in 2008, defined as a person who solely receives, holds, or otherwise transports a consumer product.
5 Proven Ways to Improve Your 3PL Warehouse Profitability
When it comes to running a warehouse, finding new ways to increase your profits can be one of your biggest challenges. Which is why 3PL Central and inside industry experts created the “5 Proven Ways to Improve Your 3PL Warehouse Profitability.” Detailing five crucial actions your warehouse can take to upgrade its bottom line, you will not want to miss this free ebook. Download now!
Move Inventory Faster: It Starts With The Label
Move Inventory Faster. It Starts with the Label. Think about it…the label connects the supplier to you – well, to your ERP and, equally important, to the inventory itself. What if you could control the labeling outside your 4 walls so that shipments from suppliers and other trading partners were labeled with the information you required? Your data, your barcodes, your instructions, your process? Download Loftware’s report to discover how enterprise labeling can improve your supplier transactions.
Transportation – No Longer Just a Cost of Doing Business
Transportation leaders are constantly looking for ways to reduce costs while improving service levels as they conduct strategic assessments. Using the Spend Diagram to document freight flows and costs on a single page is the best way for a transportation team to collect data and focus their efforts. Read our white paper to learn how a Spend Diagram can identify savings opportunities throughout your transportation operations.
Examination of an Inbound Web Portal
Regardless of the size of a business, everyone is looking to save money and streamline processes. However, often companies overlook the cost of their supply chain, particularly their inbound transportation. Inbound web portals have the ability to bring several companies together in one place to share accurate and necessary information and provide an opportunity for business-to-business growth. Overall, each component of the supply chain—whether it is customers, 3PL providers, carriers or vendors—can reap the rewards of reduced costs, advanced visibility, improved reliability and increased savings.
3PLs Empower Companies of All Sizes
The market for third-party logistics providers continues to grow, driven by the myriad of services they offer that can help companies of all sizes manage increasingly complex and global supply chains. Several 3PL organizations are based in or have significant operations within the state of Florida.
The Ultimate Guide to Being a Great 3PL Customer
Many shippers commoditize the services of third party logistics providers (3PLs), believing that the best result will come from micro-management and constant price pressure. In fact, the opposite is true. The more you, as the outsourcing company, invest in the relationship – as a partner, not an overseer – the more value is delivered. Here are 12 suggestions on 3PL relationship management that, while they create some work for you, pave the way for breakthrough supply chain performance.
Barcode Labeling is Changing. Are you Ready? Top 5 Trends.
Customer labeling demands increase, are you keeping pace? Label regulations evolve, do you have a strategy? Deployment models are changing, is your labeling ready? This report outlines shifts in barcode labeling that impact global supply chains.
The Internet of Things and the Modern Supply Chain
You have probably heard the term Internet of Things (IoT) quite a bit in the past year. It is frequently mentioned in the same breath as supply chain, with the common observation that it will significantly impact supply chain operations. This whitepaper clarifies what is meant by the IoT, and identifies some ways in which it is expected to, or already is, transforming supply chain operations. It also offers some suggestions on how to best leverage IoT opportunities in your business.
Dwell: How Intermodal Terminal Congestion Impacts Capacity and Service
The railroad industry is experiencing a congestion issue called "dwell" that, when combined with recent and forecast increases in rail volume, impacts capacity, service, and growth. Dwell is the period of time starting when a container is unloaded from the train and ending when the container has departed from the rail facility. This whitepaper examines the problem with dwell, and offers solutions.