Archive for March, 2009
Intriguing Logistics Products
· CommentsI’ve come across three logistics products and services in recent months that intrigued me.
The first product is called the “TruckTrainer Warehouse on Wheels System” by Demountable Concepts. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I recommend that you watch this video on Demountable’s website to fully understand what this product/system is about. Briefly stated, two “detachable trailer bodies” are mounted onto a Demountable Concepts semi-trailer… Continue reading
Visualizing Replenishment
· CommentsI recently read an academic paper from the WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management called “3rd Party Logistics Providers’ Role in Replenishment” that I liked. The paper contained good information, but it was also a bit long and kind of dense (although not nearly as inaccessible as most academic articles). I realized after reading it that the vocabulary used by most supply chain managers to talk about replenishment is extremely… Continue reading
The Road to Cap-and-Trade
· CommentsCap-and-trade is a key component of President Obama’s proposed budget, and although Congress is currently reviewing the budget, steps are being taken that make cap-and-trade almost inevitable. Earlier this week, news came out that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent the White House a proposed finding that carbon dioxide is a danger to public health. If this finding is approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget… Continue reading
I have been writing a novel in my head for more than a decade. Every once in a while, I write a few words, snippets of chapters, but for some reason, I can’t seem to get into a sustained writing groove.
Why not write a book about logistics instead, a book about what I’ve learned the past ten years as an industry analyst?
This brilliant idea came… Continue reading
Costco, Starbucks, and Whole Foods unveiled this past Sunday an alternative to the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). According to a very informative Bloomberg.com article by Holly Rosenkrantz, “Under the alternative being sought by the three companies, management could demand a secret-ballot election, and a provision of the original bill requiring binding arbitration for union contracts would be dropped. Penalties would be increased for companies that take action… Continue reading
I wrote a lot about Business Intelligence (BI) last year (see “Making Smarter Decisions Faster“), and it’s one of the “attributes of tomorrow’s industry leaders” that I’ve been speaking about recently. What is BI? Here is my quick definition: “BI is about empowering people, across all levels of the organization, to make smarter and faster business decisions by providing them with a more detailed, accurate, and timely understanding… Continue reading
Over the past two months, I’ve been interviewing Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) vendors, as I update our annual Warehouse Management Systems Worldwide Outlook study. Many vendors told a similar story of woe about 2008. The year started well, and then selling cycles began to lengthen in the third quarter. Many suppliers, particularly mid-size and smaller vendors, were not able to close any new software deals in the fourth quarter… Continue reading
Supply Chain Twitter
· CommentsLast week, my colleague Steve Banker wrote a posting on evaluating the B2B communication capabilities of logistics service providers (3PLs). Among the things he highlighted was the need to have “high tech, low tech, and no tech” approaches to on-boarding trading partners. This got me thinking again about something I wrote about last year: is there a role for social media technologies, like Twitter or Facebook, in… Continue reading
