October, 2017

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The Ecosystem of Culture

The Lean Thinker

An organization’s culture and mindset evolve over time. When confronted with a problem or challenge, the organization (or more accurately, the people in the organization) view it through a filter of their experiences. Ideas that they believe have worked for them under past similar conditions are more likely to be applied again. Ideas that have seemed less successful, or more difficult, in the past are less likely to be applied again.

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The 9 Key Considerations of an Effective Last Mile Logistics Strategy

GlobalTranz

Understanding last mile logistics is only half the battle. Shippers need to reevaluate their existing last mile logistics processes and devise an effective last mile logistics strategy that aligns consumer and business expectation. This is the only way shippers can safeguard their position in the market and continue to provide products to their consumer basis.

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Mitigating the Effect of Natural Disasters on Your Supply Chain

Talking Logistics

It has certainly been evident this year that natural disasters can significantly disrupt the supply chain. And when recent hurricanes, earthquakes and wildfires began wreaking havoc, many shippers were left asking themselves: “How have recent natural disasters affected our transportation network?” and “What can we do in the future to mitigate these disruptions?

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Top 10 Features of an Autonomous Warehouse

3PL Insights

It’s said that an autonomous warehouse functions much like the way autonomous vehicles navigate the road. Robots move on their own throughout a warehouse, maneuvering around obstacles—they stop for human workers, pick up crates, and move them from one location to the next, moving through a packing system that may see very human hands. Amazon is on the forefront of automation in the warehouse , currently using 45,000 Kiva Robots, after purchasing the company Kiva Systems in 2012 (they’re now rena

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Rethinking warehouse work culture: Can automation create better workplaces?

Heico Sandee, CEO of Smart Robotics, explores how automation redefines warehouse culture. By shifting repetitive tasks to skill-based roles, automation improves safety, fosters collaboration, and makes warehousing more appealing to today’s workforce.

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How a 3PL Can Benefit Your Business During Disastrous Times

Blue Grace Logistics

Running your Supply Chain can be stressful, especially in times where unforeseen circumstances arise. When working with a 3PL such as BlueGrace during a logistics service disaster, we are able to offer solutions that many businesses don’t have access to. During an emergency, having a 3PL who you trust, with the full tool set of carriers, technology, people and solutions is crucial.

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Executive Rounding: Taking the Organization’s Vitals

The Lean Thinker

Background: I wrote an article appearing in the current (October 2017) issue of AME Target Magazine (page 20) that profiles two very different organizations that have both seen really positive shifts in their culture. (And yes, my wife pointed out the misspelling “continous” on the magazine cover.). The second case study was about Meritus Health in Hagerstown, Maryland , and I want to go into a little more depth here about an element that has, so far, been a keystone to the positive changes they

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Terrorism and Supply Chain: A Growing Threat of Supply Chain Terrorism

GlobalTranz

Terrorism is a reality that, unfortunately, requires our growing attention in the supply chain world. The British Standards Institution Supply Chain Services and Solutions publishes an annual report that analyzes global trouble spots for supply chain operations. This year’s report focused on the continual rise in terrorist attacks and how it will continue to affect the supply chain.

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The next frontier: supply chain data architecture for your needs, not to feed the needs of numerous supply chain tech vendors

AIMMS

Data overload and quality issues are common problems faced by all organizations. This makes it really difficult to start getting value out of data with analytics. Inevitably, when you buy supply chain optimization software, you need to start hunting around for data to make the technology work – it can feel like you work for the technology vendor, not the other way around.

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Bridging the Gap Between Supply Chain Design and Planning

Talking Logistics

From demand shifts and evolving customer preferences, to new product introductions and sales strategies, volatility creates a continuously moving target for supply chain managers. But most enterprise planning systems weren’t designed to rapidly adapt to these changes—they were designed for problems that have already been solved! Supply chain professionals are left trying to patch together point solutions with a mass of spreadsheets and are unable to effectively collaborate with other business us

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Load Optimization: A Sustainable Way To Reduce Transportation Costs

Discover strategies to optimize load building and achieve significant transportation cost savings. Plus, learn how load optimization can help reduce CO 2 emissions and align with climate regulations and consumer expectations. Finally, discover best practices for sustainable load optimization.

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How to Promote from Within: Featuring Jennifer Guerra

3PL Insights

Jennifer Guerra started out at Evans in 2007, right out of high school. She worked on the Value Added team in the Packaging crew, and later on, worked for Evans Resource Solutions as an intern for Value Added. But when she was needed in other areas of the company, Jen was hired on as a receptionist, and shortly thereafter, moved into the HR department.

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What Is The Current Status Of Trucking Capacity?

Blue Grace Logistics

A sudden increase in freight demand throughout the United States might put shippers in a difficult position for capacity and price later this autumn. According to the American Trucking Association’s’ (ATA’s) Truck volume leaped 7.1 percent in August from July, and 8.2 percent year over year, the ATA said Tuesday. ATA revised July’s tonnage index, increasing it from 0.1 to 0.5 percent.

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Port of Savannah Passes 1 Million Container Mark in First of Quarter of Fiscal Year

Food Logistics

The port's continued success points to a myriad of reasons, most of them the result of innovation that has brought about a sea change in what was once a sleepy Southern harbor.

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What Are the Trends in Last Mile Logistics?

GlobalTranz

Shippers face many challenges in successfully delivering products to end-users, and last mile logistics will be a core focus of change in the coming months. Consumer demands and expectations are rising, and up to 25 percent of consumers are willing to pay extra for same-day delivery. Also, same-day delivery will reach a 25-percent market share by 2025.

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Autonomous AI Agents Are the Future of Procurement and Supply Chain Operations

As early as next year, procurement and supply chain operations will begin to adopt AI agents, often called “agentic AI,” to work alongside employees to make and execute decisions with precision across procurement and even the most complex global supply chains. Unlike LLM-based generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, these AI agents do not require prompts from humans.

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Analytics for better decision making: removing the barriers for supply chain teams

AIMMS

Reflections following the Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference in London . This month, our team had the pleasure to attend Gartner’s Supply Chain Executive Conference in London, a growing event that we’re always thrilled to participate in. This time, the event hosted 15% more visitors and took place at the Intercontinental O2 hotel.

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This Week in Logistics News (October 9-13, 2017)

Talking Logistics

I’m on borrowed time this morning, so let’s go straight to the supply chain and logistics news that caught my attention this week: DAT Freight Index Hits All-Time High in September. Bpost to Buy Radial for $820 Million (WSJ – sub. req’d). Richard Branson’s Virgin Group has invested in Hyperloop One (CNBC). Deutsche Post DHL to deploy self-driving delivery trucks by 2018 (TechCrunch).

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Truck Driver Shortage: Lessons from Katrina

Kane is Able

The chronic U.S. truck driver shortage threatens to disrupt supply lines and materially impact corporate financial performance. But has the drumbeat of warnings reached the corner office? There is evidence it has not, with companies ignoring the risk in the same way that many in New Orleans ignored flood warning signals before Katrina, until it was too late.

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Is WalMart’s OTIF Initiative Placing Impossible Pressure On Carriers?

Blue Grace Logistics

Carriers already face many challenges in the transportation industry. It includes a multitude of rules and regulations that they must follow or else they could be fined. Or, even worse, drivers could lose their CDLs. Now on top of all of their rules and regulations, WalMart is making it even tougher for carriers by imposing their OTIF program on them.

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Freight Procurement Simplified: Bids from Hours to Minutes

Speaker: Eric Berdinis, Ran Sun, & Chris Chmielewski

Procuring freight can be cumbersome, time-consuming, and error-prone. If you’re frustrated with the complex and manual processes for obtaining bids for your contract and spot freight, you’re not alone. In today’s fast-moving supply chain environment, optimizing these processes is critical to staying competitive and cutting costs. Join this exclusive webinar with experts from Uber Freight to learn how the latest digital tools and automation can transform your freight procurement strategy by strea

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LA, Long Beach Port Officials to Vote on Costly Plan to Cut Air Pollution

Food Logistics

A major—and likely expensive—plan to reduce air pollution around the country’s two busiest container ports may soon be approved by those who govern each port.

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Robots in the Last Mile: Are You Ready for Last Mile Automation?

GlobalTranz

Imagine the scenario: consumer orders a product online, and to lower delivery is available in the area. Rather than just picking up the product at the nearest Amazon store or waiting for drones to drop off the package on the doorstep, and autonomous wagon, looking like a refrigerator on wheels, shows up and interacts with the consumer via smartphone.

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The next frontier: supply chain data architecture for your needs

AIMMS

Data overload and quality issues are common problems faced by all organizations. This makes it really difficult to start getting value out of data with analytics. Inevitably, when you buy supply chain optimization software, you need to start hunting around for data to make the technology work – it can feel like you work for the technology vendor, not the other way around.

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The Takeaway from CSCMP Conference: The Data Problem Runs Deep

Talking Logistics

This year’s CSCMP conference reinforced that we’re in the early days of a massive transformation. The industry is moving in an unprecedented direction that is increasingly digitized and more data-centric than ever, and logistics leaders are looking to increase efficiency with artificial intelligence (AI). However, logistics leaders all know that in order to leverage advanced analytics and AI, they must first solve the core “data challenge.

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How to Drive Cost Savings, Efficiency Gains, and Sustainability Wins with MES

Speaker: Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions

Is your manufacturing operation reaching its efficiency potential? A Manufacturing Execution System (MES) could be the game-changer, helping you reduce waste, cut costs, and lower your carbon footprint. Join Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions, in this value-packed webinar as he breaks down how MES can drive operational excellence and sustainability.

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Pillars to a Successful Transportation Experience: Carrier Management

CH Robinson Logistics

Pillars to a Successful Transportation Experience: Carrier Management | Transportfolio. As the market continues to tighten, what’s your transportation strategy for handling fluctuations? An unclear plan may let you down. Rather than reacting to changes that happen to your supply chain, it’s always better to develop a carrier management strategy that allows you to be proactive—no matter what the market has in store.

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Amazon Final Mile - It is All About The Brand

10xLogistics

I keep being asked why in the world would Amazon start their own home delivery / final mile service (See Amazon Logistics )? Everyone questions this as a stretch and even Fed-Ex could not help themselves when they stated Amazon (they did not specifically say Amazon but we all knew who they meant) does not understand what it takes to have a dense delivery network like Fed-Ex or UPS.

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Sealand Unveils Remote Container Management End-to-end Visbility Tool

Food Logistics

The ocean carrier introduced Remote Container Management (RCM) at the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) Fresh Summit in New Orleans earlier this month.

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Supply Chain Finances: How Does Your Cash Flow Impact Your Supply Chain?

GlobalTranz

Editor's Note: Today's blog is from Ty Kiisel who shows us how you can be affected by your supply chain finances. . Every business, including manufacturing operations, rely on cash flow to meet important needs like fueling growth and keeping the manufacturing process rolling forward. Unfortunately, it’s possible for a growing, healthy-looking business to be cash poor.

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How To Set Up Innovation So That It Aligns With And Enables Corporate Strategy

Speaker: Paul Heller

Most innovation work proceeds independently from company strategy. As a result, the products that arrive in the market are not well aligned with the company’s goals. This challenge is particularly significant in organizations with transformation-oriented strategies, where innovation must directly support growth, scalability, and strategic pivots. In this session, we will discuss why innovation in large companies is so often not aligned with the company’s strategy and what innovation leaders, pro

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Analytics for better decision making: removing the barriers for supply chain teams

AIMMS

Reflections following the Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference in London. Last month, our team had the pleasure to attend Gartner’s Supply Chain Executive Conference in London, a growing event that we’re always thrilled to participate in. This time, the event hosted 15% more visitors and took place at the Intercontinental O2 hotel.

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This Week in Logistics News (October 2-6, 2017)

Talking Logistics

I’ve never been to Chile. I’ve never given a supply chain presentation in Spanish. I’ll be doing both for the first time in a couple of weeks at Seminarium’s Logistics & Operations Conference 2017 (October 18th in Santiago, Chile). Here’s a short video I recorded in Spanish highlighting the topic of my presentation: If you plan to be at the conference, I look forward to learning and networking with you.

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Does Your TMS Allow You to Benefit from Automation?

Logistics Problem Solving

Even in the age of digital automation, there seem to be some tasks that shippers and their teams continue to do over and over again. I often talk to shippers that just spent millions of dollars to upgrade or implement their TMS only to have to put together a large staff of highly trained people to now manage the TMS. It seems that the TMS requires a lot of repetitive and manual actions to make it work—one of the things that a TMS is supposed to eliminate!