Articles
IT Matters: Logistics & Supply Chain Technology
Measuring the Value of Warehouse Data
In today’s highly global manufacturing and supply chain economy, it’s no surprise that manufacturers need to embrace better communication to manage cultural, geographic, and language differences so as to operate effectively. In the end, better communication means better efficiency, less waste, and higher customer satisfaction. Complex, global economic issues have only increased the difficulty in […]
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Technology Convergence of Forces Offers Improvements for Logistics Sector
A convergence of technology trends is transforming the logistics sector, creating enormous opportunities to operate more safely, efficiently, and competitively. Technology research firm Gartner describes what’s happening in business and our society in general as a nexus of technology and human forces: Social – the technology linkage between people, and the connectivity that enables work […]
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Fight Inventory Pain Points
We’ve all experienced inventory management pains. Inaccurate inventory counts that cause mishaps, delays because of inaccuracy resulting in dissatisfied customers, costly end-of-year write-offs, and wasted time spent looking for lost inventory, are the most common pain points sited by businesses. While all these things can happen, the best part is, they don’t have to. There’s […]
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Dispelling Five Common Myths about Voice-Directed Work
Nearly one million workers use voice-directed technology daily in warehousing and logistics applications. These tools can help improve worker safety and reduce employee-training time. Yet many companies still resist investing in voice-directed solutions – often because of one of the following five common misconceptions. Myth: Voice is only applicable for picking workflows. Fact: Voice is […]
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What Transportation Providers Gain From an Integrated TMS Platform
Transportation service providers with trucking assets have an edge with customers. Compared to their non-asset counterparts, they can directly control the equipment, drivers and facilities to ensure capacity and customer service, keeping commitments and adapting quickly to market change. Keeping pace with the demands of the marketplace has become increasingly complex, however. Few carriers operate […]
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Is Your Freight Payment Company Equipped to Audit Your Invoices?
Businesses use freight payment companies (FPCs) to decrease internal administration costs and maintain detailed back-up information for their finance departments. They rely on FPCs to review weekly transportation invoices for accuracy and make payments on their behalf. Some companies also count on FPCs to audit their invoices. Companies can gain several benefits by partnering with […]
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Networked Track Sensors Keep Rails and Workers Safe
The current state of rail integrity and safety is a critical issue for logistics managers who increasingly rely on intermodal transportation. Intermodal rail traffic has significantly increased during the past two decades, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. In addition to increased rail traffic, aging infrastructure complicate intermodal shipping. In 2011, the Federal Railroad […]
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Using Operational Analytics to Achieve a Digitized, Visible Supply Chain
To assure a succcessful future, companies must add value to their customers and organizations, and drive competitive advantage. The best way to achieve this is by developing a system based on operational analytics. Operational analytics come from analyses done on the fly as part of standard business processes. Planning, inventory management, and control are examples […]
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Supply Chain Analytics: Overcoming Obstacles to Stay Ahead of Your Competitors
Leveraging data analysis and technology integration can generate powerful insights to transform today’s supply chains. Companies continue to struggle, however, with the best techniques to get the right information in the hands of their decision-makers. Many manufacturers and shippers report their organization is not aligned around key performance metrics. Simply including analytics in your strategy […]
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Achieving True Mobility in Supply Chain and Logistics Operations
Mobile technology is pervasive and disruptive. It has made huge strides in the consumer market. But, when we look at mobile technology adoption in enterprises, it is still in its infancy. True mobile technology means commonly available smartphones and tablets that run standard operating systems such as iOS, Android, and Windows. There are a number […]
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A New Paradigm in Vendor Partner Management
Leading companies are moving from traditional vendor compliance to vendor partner management — a competitive differentiator in how companies manage their inbound purchase orders (POs) and transportation to increase sales and customer service. Historically, vendor compliance has revolved around chargebacks — the practice of making deductions from the purchase price when vendors break an agreed-upon […]
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Seeking Innovation? Stop IT Overspending
Today’s supply chain is one of the most exciting arenas for business innovation. Mobility, cloud computing, big data, and new production techniques such as 3-D printing are breaking down barriers between retailers, consumers, manufacturers, and suppliers. The technology trends driving supply chain innovation are also driving IT costs through the roof. Eighty-nine percent of IT […]
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Creating More Intelligent Supply Chains with BI Technology
For suppliers in today’s business world, having a firm grasp on supply chain and logistics issues is a top concern. As internal operations and external supply-chain activities become more complex, these companies depend on current information to optimize productivity, improve customer service, and minimize expenses. Business intelligence (BI) technology improves supply chain operations by helping […]
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The Five New Rules of E-commerce and the Path to Successful B2B Online Sales
Does business-to-business e-commerce figure prominently in your organization’s strategic plans? If not, you are missing a key inflection point emerging in the market today. Industry analyst firm Forrester estimates the B2B e-commerce market is expected to reach $559 billion by the end of 2013. This significant opportunity has been recognized by Internet heavyweights Amazon and […]
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Moving Logistics Technology to the Cloud Dispels the Fog of Uncertainty
Cloud computing offers democracy to logistics and transportation providers, putting small and mid-sized providers on the same playing field as large global companies. With a strong technology platform, cloud computing can serve as a logistics company’s differentiator for its intellectual capital and other critical information and data. The advantages for logistics companies of moving to […]
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Three Top Myths About Foreign Trade Zones Dispelled
When supply chain and logistics managers think Foreign Trade Zone—the program that allows companies to defer paying customs duties, fees, and taxes on merchandise imported into the United States until consumed, used in construction, or leaving the zone—several adjectives come to mind. Usually those descriptors are not: smooth, cost-effective, and easy to manage. Instead they […]
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Get Airborne with Asset Tracking
In today’s complex global supply chain, transportation delays, security issues, and spoiled or lost cargo too often disrupt the distribution process. In air transportation, cargo often travels via multiple airports, airlines, ground handlers, and across geographies, creating ample opportunity for problems to occur. While other transport modes have had the benefits of GPS technology to […]
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What Happens When Your Warehouse Is Unplugged?
In warehouses, business as usual relies on steady and stable conditions—but these are not guaranteed. Numerous situations can disrupt productivity: A hurricane or ice storm comes through and knocks the power out for several days. You outgrow your warehouse and have to shut down while you move to a larger facility. The server finally crashes, […]
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Performance-Based Negotiations: Simulation as Support for Decision-Making
Performance-based logistics (PBL) contracts have the potential to reduce cost to the buyer, while also increasing capability. This is contingent on the right set of metrics and cost targets being developed to ensure the right contractor incentive. Today, less than five percent of work performed in both government and private sectors is under PBL deals. […]
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Leveraging Technology to Accelerate Productivity and Profit
Companies are increasingly turning to logistic services providers to run their manufacturing, warehousing, and transportation operations more efficiently and at less cost than they can run it themselves. Particularly in the past few years, many companies have outsourced logistics to save on operations costs and labor. This puts the crowded third-party logistics (3PL) market at […]
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