Archive: Aug 2013

Anand Raghavendran

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 […]

Read More
Blake Vaughn

Consumer Electronics and Reverse Logistics: Play It Again

Shoppers return between 11 and 20 percent of consumer electronics devices, according to industry experts. While returns are the beginning to device recovery, all the steps in the reverse logistics process, including repair/refurbishment and remarketing, can be improved. Recognizing the importance of reverse logistics in maintaining and growing profit margins, many consumer electronics manufacturers and […]

Read More
Patrick Labriola

When Government Oversight of Motor Carriers Fails, Shippers Pay

While overall truck accident rates have been trending lower over the past several years, avoidable carrier accidents are still common. Comprehensive safety compliance reviews (CRs) by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) protect lives and property. In the year after a CR is conducted, crashes decrease 16.3 percent, according to […]

Read More
Paul A. Myerson

We’re All in This Together: Teamwork in a Lean Workplace

While some Lean practitioners focus on manufacturing pioneer Taiichi Ohno’s Seven Wastes (transportation, inventory, motion, waiting, overproduction, overprocessing, and defects), many add an eighth waste: behavioral waste, or under-utilized employees. It takes a real change management effort to successfully implement a Lean program—especially when it involves changing workers’ habits. Someone who has been doing a […]

Read More
Global Logistics—August 2013

Global Logistics—August 2013

America’s Global Image: Taking a Closer View Yahoo! News paints a pretty grim picture of how outsiders perceive the United States: "Who loves ya, baby? If you’re the United States of America, the answer is fewer and fewer people around the world," according to a recent blog by the online news aggregator. Yahoo! might consider […]

Read More