Articles
Supply Chain
The Do’s and Don’ts of Sales and Operations Planning
Most business executives would agree that effective S&OP should lead to competitive success. But S&OP means different things to different organizations. What makes S&OP a "secret sauce" is dependent on a few key factors. Having the right people in the bus. First and foremost, it is essential to obtain executive-level sponsorship. S&OP strategies fail without […]
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Tim Thoma Brings It In
Tim Thoma is international logistics and compliance manager at Northern Tool and Equipment, a multi-channel retailer based in Burnsville, Minn. He has held that position since 2008. Responsibilities: Moving freight from overseas to the company’s three distribution centers. This includes managing relationships with freight forwarders and carriers, and overseeing customs compliance. Experience: A series of […]
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Doing Business in China
Q: What do I need to know about doing business in China? A: Most companies today know why China is a great place for business for manufacturing, regional distribution, and domestic consumption. What companies may not know is that the logistics costs of doing business in China are quite high. China’s trade rules and regulations […]
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Three Steps to Mitigate Supply Chain Risk…Now
A supply chain vulnerability and risk assessment should be an integral part of any overall supply chain strategy analysis. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. Many businesses don’t address supply chain vulnerability and aren’t prepared for potential supply chain disruptions due to either random acts of nature or deliberate actions. The recent West Coast port […]
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Trends—October 2015
Amazon Dash Turns the Tide When Amazon debuted its Dash Replenishment Service (DRS) and buttons in spring 2015, it gave consumers a taste for how the Internet of Things (IoT) can simplify even mundane tasks. The underlying DRS architecture enables connected devices that measure consumable usage to automatically order physical goods from Amazon when supplies […]
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If Yogi Berra Were a Logistics and Supply Chain Manager
UltraShipTMS (and many of its employees) is native to the New York metro area. We all grew up with Yankees baseball among the constants of life in this part of the world. That is why it was with great sadness that we marked the passing of Yogi Berra, who, like the Yankees and like UltraShipTMS, […]
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Use Supply Chain Modeling to Mitigate Port Shutdowns and Other Risks
Recent massive strikes among dockworkers on the California coast brought the reality of supply chain continuity planning to the forefront once again for global businesses. The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports handle nearly half of the nation’s cargo, and are the main gateway for imports from Asia, including automobiles, furniture, clothing, electronic products, and […]
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XPO Goes Long with Con-way Play
Merger and acquisition activity in the transportation and logistics sector has been fast and furious over the past few months. Still, it’s hard to imagine that UPS’s acquisition of Coyote Logistics ($1.8 billion) and Infor’s GT Nexus move ($675 million) have become little more than sidebars to this summer’s blockbuster feature—XPO Logistics’ bookended $3 billion-plus […]
Read MoreGetting the Most from Professional Association Memberships
Membership in a supply chain or logistics association can be significant to your professional development.Actively participating helps advance career growth and offers continuous learning. Dino Moler, executive vice president of client solutions for third-party logistics provider LeSaint Logistics, member of several logistics and supply chain organizations, and president of the board of directors for the […]
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Global Logistics—September 2015
Ocean Carrier Dependability Ebbs Over the past few years, steamship lines have been juggling assets and throttling back transit times to better balance supply and demand. A slowdown in global trade—especially between Asia and Europe—and the industry’s well-publicized struggles with overcapacity have forced the issue for many carriers. While shippers and supply chains have adjusted […]
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Intelligent Technology Provides Visibility into Supply Chain
As more and more companies scale and expand, managing transportation is quickly becoming a challenging factor of growth. More so, companies need to have complete visibility into their entire transportation process in order to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible. While many TMS providers can promise transportation management, intelligent transportation technology also provides organizations […]
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Using Analytics to Differentiate Your Customer Service
Differentiated service is about making your company easier to do business with, anticipating the needs of your customers, and having products available when needed. For example, when I travel last minute, I expect my preferred rental car provider to have a vehicle available for me when I arrive. I don’t think about their current demand, […]
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Why Excellence in Supply Management Matters More Than Ever
In today’s competitive business environment, having visionary leaders and great products is not enough. In the past 20 years, companies have experienced a profound shift, and have dramatically increased their spending on external suppliers. This places the supply management function in the spotlight as a key driver of profitability. The better supply management teams are […]
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Nourishing a Healthy Supply Chain
A 3PL partnership helps nutritional life sciences company Nutrabolt stay lean and fiscally fit.
Read MoreIN BRIEF: New Services & Solutions-May 2009
Products Shippers can fully utilize the space inside a trailer with the Ancra Cargo AutoDeck system, which adjusts the height of each beam to create a customized decking solution. The automated system reduces losses resulting from cargo damage because pallets don’t have to be stacked on top of each other, and increases load averages by 10 to […]
Read MoreChange Is Good Medicine For Kohl & Frisch
Kohl & Frisch transforms its distribution center with advanced technology and new processes—all while experiencing double-digit growth.
Read MoreOptimizing Your Supply Chain: A Model Approach
A wide array of technological tools are just the do-it-yourself kit companies can use to model, then optimize, their supply chains.
Read MoreChoreographing the New Supply Chain
Connecting customers, distributors, manufacturers and suppliers to allow real-time workflow requires they all dance to the same music.
Read MoreDelivering the Goods: The Art of Managing Your Supply Chain
Master the recipe and you achieve efficiencies and savings. Becoming a better global competitor is just the icing on the cake.
Read MoreWhere the Supply Chain Meets the Value Chain
By taking a different approach to the way we look at certain objects and processes, we gain the benefit of objectivity. A similar method holds true when looking at the supply chain. It is the nature of systems, especially complex ones such as in the supply chain, to evolve and change. Part of the pressure […]
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