Articles
Logistics
A Fresh Look at Intermodal
With driver shortage and capacity issues affecting trucking, once wary shippers are taking a different view of rail intermodal.
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How to Reach the Pinnacle of Success
Last year, at age 29, Daniel Kaskinen, manager, strategic sourcing at Premier Inc., became the megawatt winner of the ISM®/Thomas™ 30 Under 30 Rising Supply Stars Recognition Program. He was recognized for his exceptional success at improving efficiencies and saving millions of dollars at his previous company, even at an early point in his career. […]
Read MoreE-Commerce Supply Chains in 2018: Millennial Consumers Most Concerned With Speed and Affordability of Deliveries
For today’s millennial consumers, timeliness of deliveries ranks high on the list of requirements for customer satisfaction. In fact, in a study of 3,000 consumers in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, conducted by e-commerce company Radial, over one-third — 39.7% — of respondents ages 18 to 24 said that speed of delivery […]
Read MoreHow to Know if Your Freight Broker Is Legitimate
Freight brokers act as intermediaries in moving shipping and logistics forward, and in recent years, more brokerage operations have flooded the scene, making it easier to secure a partnership that is beneficial to your overall business. While having more options for freight brokers is beneficial in finding the best fit intermediary for the best price, […]
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3PLs Put on the White Gloves
Logistics service providers reveal how they treat their customers like VIPs.
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Automated Compliance: Allied’s Stock-in-Trade
Automating global trade compliance helps electronics component distributor Allied Electronics & Automation nail its screen test.
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How to Prepare for Proposed China Tariffs
At the stroke of midnight July 6, 2018, tariffs against imports of tens of billions in yearly value of Chinese goods took effect for goods entered into or withdrawn from warehouses for consumption. Here’s what you should know: The 25-percent duties are based on country of origin, not country of export, and apply only to […]
Read MoreSetting New Standards: Six Key Trends Reshaping Enterprise Software User Experience
Businesses are increasingly realizing that user experience (UX) correlates closely to user engagement. The implications of a successful UX make it way more than just a satisfaction ranking. Here are six key trends that I see reshaping enterprise software UX. Mobile is the new norm: The increased use of mobile devices has raised the bar […]
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Straighten Up and Fly Right
A logistics maxim holds that "air freight is an ocean shipment gone bad," says Neel Jones Shah, senior vice president and head of global air freight for Flexport Inc., an air and ocean freight forwarder. Many shippers likely can relate: They planned to move their goods using a less expensive but slower transportation mode. Then, […]
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Anatomy of Hospital Supply Chain Disruptions
The aftermath of Hurricane Irma, which hit Puerto Rico in September 2017, created a severe shortage of IV bags in the continental United States. The reason: Baxter International, one of the major suppliers, manufactures the products in the U.S. territory and was crippled by the loss of electricity to the island. As a result, many […]
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U.S. Seaports Need Multimodal Funding
U.S. port authorities identify more than $20 billion in projected multimodal port and rail access needs over the next decade, while one-third cite pressing rail project needs costing at least $50 million for each of their ports, according to a new American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) survey, The State of Freight III. Funding and […]
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Driverless Trucks: A Different Idea
I admire and respect the individuals and companies working on perfecting driverless trucks. However, I don’t believe driverless trucks are an innovative concept. In fact, I believe just the opposite: Designing driverless trucks is the wrong solution for transportation. There is so much effort and capital being directed at wanting to make trucks driverless that […]
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Disruptive Technologies Shake Up Supply Chains
When efficiency is the primary focus in integrated supply chain management, every little bit that helps to tighten both front- and back-end processes helps. Increasingly, companies in a variety of verticals are achieving such efficiencies by leaning on disruptive technologies. These envelope-pushing solutions could take the form of artificial intelligence used in automation software, robotics, […]
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The Automotive Supply Chain: Disruption Down the Road
As electric and autonomous vehicles, and new business models shift into gear, automakers and their suppliers will need more than GPS to navigate the bumpy terrain.
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Internal Audits: The Cornerstone of Compliance – A.N. Deringer
Internal audits are the cornerstone of your compliance program. Monitoring your performance, and that of your Customs broker, is the only way to determine if the policies and procedures you’ve put in place are effective. You may be asking yourself: How often do we do this? How do we do this? Who has time for […]
Read MoreBridging the Gap Between Women and Funding
Thirty women have become small business owners in the trucking industry thanks to the efforts of Expediter Services (ES), in conjunction with the Women in Trucking Association. To bring more women into the transportation industry, ES set a goal of supporting 150 total women-owned small businesses through the 150 Business Challenge within 12 months. Through […]
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Footwear E-Tailers: Shoe Me The Money
E-commerce footwear sellers woo shoe shoppers with generous shipping and return policies designed to ensure a perfect fit.
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What Can Humanitarian Supply Chains Learn from the Private Sector? – SCTL at the University of Washington
For-profit corporations have spent the past 20+ years optimizing their supply chains to provide superior customer service, improve responsiveness and cash flow and, ultimately, to boost profits. And a handful of stand-out enterprises like Amazon have actually altered expectations about the sort of results a best-in-class supply chain can deliver. Consumers, in both their personal […]
Read MoreItaly’s Ritrama Sticks a Landing in SC
Ritrama, an Italian multinational self-adhesive materials producer, chose Ferretto Group’s technological solutions for its new automated warehouse located in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The structure spans an area of more than 5,000 square meters, and is equipped with six stacker cranes with different pick-up tools. Currently in use for about 70 percent of the warehouse, the […]
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Dual Dynamics
If you are using a third-party logistics (3PL) provider for truck brokerage alone, you are leaving money on the table. I wrote that eight years ago, when commenting on the results of our annual 3PL market research. Why did I say that? Because logistics providers have evolved and developed an array of solutions that bring […]
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