Articles
News
6 Information Management Trends Redefining Transportation and Logistics
While we usually think of challenges in the transportation and logistics industry as being the physical mechanics of transporting an item from point A to point B, the new reality is that information management – and how quickly data can be put into action – offers the biggest challenges. Fortunately, the digital transformation movement offers […]
Read MoreRoute Planning: How Good Logistics Makes E-commerce Companies Great
The e-commerce industry is growing at an incredible rate, according to Route4Me. Consumer expectations are growing as well. A decade or two ago, people were happy as long as their orders got to their house within a day or two of the scheduled arrival date. Now, people expect retailers to offer next-day or even same-day shipping. Also, […]
Read More
Consumers: No Patience For Supply Chain Fails
Seventy-eight percent of consumers want to receive updates on the status of their orders when purchasing goods, and they won’t hesitate to switch brands if supply chain performance fails to meet their expectations, according to a global survey conducted by YouGov and sponsored by Infor, a provider of industry-specific cloud applications. The survey polled 6,285 […]
Read MoreSupply Chain Management Insight: Study Reveals Top Supply Chain Priorities
From Now to Next in Supply Chain Management
Read MoreHow to Find Your Next Supplier in Europe
Small businesses seeking a competitive advantage in the global marketplace would be remiss if they ignored the power of working with a supplier in the European Union (EU). Not only is the EU the largest manufacturer of exported goods and services, its 28 member countries account for 16% of the world’s imports and exports. The […]
Read MoreSupply Chain Commentary:
The Battle of Retail Titans
Technology is ever-changing and recently, has been advancing at an extraordinary rate and providing accessible capital with highly valued stock prices. These prices are enabling acquisitions that have the ability to change the competitive landscape overnight. Exhibit A: Amazon’s deal with Whole Foods Market. Many recent acquisitions can be attributed to companies with aggressive growth […]
Read MoreStudy: Traditional Industrial Distributors Face Mounting Risk
Asset-light e-marketplaces and other non-traditional shopping channels, combined with shifting demographics, are upending industrial distributors’ inventory-heavy model more rapidly than previously thought. As a result, distributors must quickly adapt and address threats with everything from sharper mobile offerings to upgraded customer service, a UPS white paper shows. According to the UPS Industrial Buying Dynamics […]
Read MoreAmazon’s Prime Day: Primetime for Online Retailers to Get Logistics Lessons
Did Hallmark invent Valentine’s Day? Not quite, but it certainly helped. Did Amazon create a new shopping event with Prime Day? You bet! We’re all used to Black Friday, then we got Cyber Monday and now it looks like Prime Day is set to be another date in the shopping frenzy calendar. In 2016, it […]
Read More3 Ways to Reduce Food Waste in the Supply Chain
The UN Food and Agriculture organization estimates 30-40% of food production is lost before it reaches the market. While a great deal of this is lost in agriculture, there is a significant amount of food waste in the supply chain. In 2012, food waste costs in the EU alone were estimated at 143 billion euros. […]
Read MoreChoosing a TMS Today: Measure Five Times, Cut Once?
We’ve all heard the adage “Measure twice, cut once.” Of course, the intent of this proverb suggests it is best to be sure you are cutting the wood in the right place before using your saw. Since the creation of supply chain software, this advice has largely been followed when it comes to software selection. […]
Read More7 Tips to Driving a Strong Safety Culture
A USA Today article reported that Tesla’s worker injury rate was 31% higher than the industry average in 2015. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has pledged to change this, and in an email to his employees, he stated that he will personally carry out the job of an injured employee to assess the dangers first-hand. He […]
Read MoreIs Your Supply Chain Cyber Secure?
5 Tips for Keeping Viruses Away
On May 12, 2017, the WannaCry Ransomware attack affected hundreds of thousands of computers in 150 countries. By far the hardest hit in the attack was UK’s National Health Service. Businesses are starting to reevaluate their cyber security measures, and for organizations in the supply chain sector, there’s too much at stake to simply delete […]
Read More
High Value, High Risk: How to Make Sure Your Cargo is Protected
If your company is shipping a load valued at $100,000 or more, you should take every step possible to make sure your cargo is protected. Here are five ways you can greatly lower the risk of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a failed shipment. 1. Check your insurance coverage. First, you need to […]
Read MoreReport: Retailers are Hemorrhaging Costs from Premium Delivery Services
2017 brings unprecedented competition for retailers. Not only has Amazon set the standard for how to do retail well, it’s set the new consumer standard on shipping. Prime-like shopping is the new benchmark with Americans demanding ultimate convenience and immediacy at a low cost. Temando’s, a shipping and fulfillment software platform for commerce, 2017 State of […]
Read MoreNo-show Fine Could Cause Nightmares for Freight Forwarders
The recent implementation of no-shows fine by shipping liners could potentially cause ‘nightmares’ for freight forwarders, says online freight forwarding company iContainers. In recent months, shipping liners including Maersk, CMA CGM, and Hapag-Lloyd have begun implementing no-shows fines on shipments that fail to show up on vessels. iContainers warns that such a fee, while the […]
Read MoreSafety and Shipping Report: Cyber Security, Regulation, and Cost Cutting Impacts Global Shipping
Large shipping losses have declined by 50% over the past decade, mostly driven by the development of a more robust safety environment by ship owners, according to Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE’s (AGCS) fifth annual Safety & Shipping Review 2017. There were 85 total shipping losses reported in 2016, down 16% compared with a […]
Read MoreReport: New York Maintains, Improves Most Grades in Manufacturing, Logistics Sectors
New York retained or improved its grades in a report on manufacturing and logistics from Ball State University. The grades that remained the same were manufacturing (D), logistics (C), human capital (C-), benefits costs (D), global position (C), tax climate (F), and diversification (B). The state improved grades in productivity and innovation (C+ to B) […]
Read MoreHow Will Amazon Buying Whole Foods Affect The Delivery Industry?
It’s hard to imagine now, but Amazon used to be nothing more than an online bookstore. That was back in 1994. Since then, Amazon has started selling DVDs, clothes, furniture, and just about everything else you can imagine. They do more than just sell stuff online now, too. Amazon has become a big player in […]
Read MoreManufacturing is Returning to the United States
In 2016, leading technology brands collectively announced billions of dollars in investments in US manufacturing, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and supporting reshoring. But manufacturing today is not the same as when it left: Gone are many of the large steel mills, auto plants and computer factories and in their place a greater volume […]
Read MoreSupply Chain and Logistics Services Delivery: Study Reveals Future Trends
KPMG and HfS Research recently released their annual market study on the State of the Outsourcing, Shared Services, and Operations Industry. This study examines topics such as changes to organizational operating and service delivery models and adoption levels, challenges, and opportunities related to process and cognitive automation. The report also provides some interesting insights into […]
Read More