Author Archive
Hurricane Earl, Cancer, and Satistics
· CommentsAs I write this, Hurricane Earl is chugging up the East Coast. I live in Boston; we don’t yet know if the hurricane will hit our area or whether we will just get much needed rain. The waiting has got me thinking about the weather related risks of global warming.
Scientific consensus is that global warming is real, and that in addition to warmer mean temperatures, we will also… Continue reading
Baby Boom Logistics
· CommentsCurrently, with the weak economy, many companies are not thinking so much about labor shortages. But here is a sobering thought: In 2011, the oldest of the 76 million baby boomers (people born between 1945 and 1964) will turn 65, the traditional retirement age. A systematic labor shortage is expected to impact many industries, especially the trucking industry as we have highlighted before in Logistics Viewpoints.
Ergonomics may be… Continue reading
I recently spoke with Jeff Kastning, Senior Manager of Logistics and Distribution at Brooks Sports, about the company’s recent implementation of a software-as-a-service (SaaS) labor management system (LMS). Brooks Sports, headquartered near Seattle, Washington, designs and markets high-performance men’s and women’s running shoes, apparel and accessories.
The company operates a 140,000 square foot distribution center (DC) that carries 12,000 SKUs and ships more than 6 million units… Continue reading
Stuffing the Channel
· CommentsSupply chain organizations are often forced to work harder because sales force targets and bonuses are not well thought out. And when the CEO pressures the sales force to meet the quarterly revenue number he has promised Wall Street, watch out! In these scenarios, the CEO often gives the sales force the power to provide unusually deep discounts to customers. The result is increased overtime in factories and warehouses; machines… Continue reading
The Fifth Annual Global Pharma Manufacturing Summit, organized by WTG, was held in Boson this past June. James Hagan, Vice President of Sustainability and Environment at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) gave a presentation on “Strategies for Environmentally Sustainable Manufacturing.” My colleague Janice Abel attended the presentation and interviewed Mr. Hagan afterwards, which was the basis for a report she wrote on GSK’s holistic, multipronged approach to sustainability (the report is… Continue reading
Gob was a self-educated turkey. He studied statistics for fun. His quarters were a bit tight at the farm, but the upside was that for 140 days straight he had been fed a nice grain meal. And as he got older, the meals got bigger. Based on this history and his statistical models, Gob had very high expectations of receiving another nice meal tomorrow from Farmer Joe, who obviously had… Continue reading
My colleagues at ARC recently published a report (available to ARC clients only) on electric vehicle technologies. It struck me that some of the information in it would be interesting to truck fleet owners.
According to the ARC report, there are four different types of e-vehicles: hybrid electric vehicle (HEV); plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV); pure electric vehicle (PEV); and fuel cell electric car.
Currently, the only realistic… Continue reading
Labor Management at DSC Logistics
· CommentsI recently spoke with Jim Chamberlain, the Director of Engineering at DSC Logistics about their rollout of RedPrairie’s Labor Management System (LMS) solution.
Jim began his career at Kraft where he worked to develop labor standards. Based on that experience, he knew this was a big opportunity for DSC when he joined them. In 2005, DSC evaluated the major suppliers of LMS solutions. They selected RedPrairie’s solution… Continue reading
