With the holidays around the corner, this was a relatively quiet week for news. And I suspect many of you are already in vacation mode, so I’ll keep it brief today. A New Threat to UPS and FedEx (Wall Street Journal) Whirlpool Shifts Some Production to U.S. From Mexico (Wall Street Journal) Big three container […]

Last week on Talking Logistics, I had a great conversation with Professor Robert Lieb from Northeastern University about the challenges 3PLs face attracting and retaining talent. Of course, the “talent shortage” problem is not only an issue for 3PLs, but also for manufacturers, retailers, and others. But is the challenge the same for everyone, or […]

Same-day delivery (or is it shipping?) and global trade dominated the news this week, so let’s take a look. Home Depot To Offer Same Day Delivery (Wall Street Journal) Retailers Turn Store Clerks Into Web Shippers (Wall Street Journal) WTO overcomes last minute hitch to reach its first global trade deal (Reuters) U.S.-Japan Impasse Dogs […]

I’m always on the lookout for companies that are using social networking technologies to enable business processes other than marketing and customer service. Yesterday, I came across a Financial Times article that mentioned two examples: Red Robin and GE. Here are the excerpts: Red Robin, the US fast-food chain, used to take 18 months to […]

There are huge piles of leaves in my backyard that I need to bag before Tuesday, the last day the city will pick them up, so let’s go straight to the news because I have a date with a rake this afternoon. Amazon to Deliver Packages Using Drones GrandJunction’s Technology Platform Surpasses 60 Million Local […]

According to an AP-GfK poll conducted last month, only one-third of Americans say most people can be trusted. That’s down from half who felt that way in 1972, when the General Social Survey first asked the question. Almost two-thirds of the poll respondents said “you can’t be too careful” in dealing with people. Is that […]

Are you going out like that? Always, just as I was about to head out the door to go partying with my friends, my father would ask me that question. That’s all he had to say because I knew what he meant: Are you going out like that, wearing that wrinkled shirt? My answer didn’t […]

Yesterday morning, I stood at my kitchen window and watched leaves fall from the trees. They floated down, one after another, to the dead grass below, where other leaves had fallen, yesterday and the day before. What made them drop today? I looked for patterns in their flight, but saw none. Each leaf acted alone, […]

Earlier this month, I participated in the CONECT 12th Annual Northeast Cargo Symposium where I gave a talk on Hours of Service and shared some words of advice with CONECT’s Young Professionals group, which had their own session at the conference. During that session, a young professional from a medical device company gave a great […]

Last year, I wrote about how Walmart improved the efficiency of its private fleet by almost 69 percent in 2011 compared to its 2005 baseline. How did Walmart do it? By increasing its pallets per trailer and better managing its routes (among other things). Obviously, companies can achieve great benefits via better route planning and […]

Lots of interesting news to discuss today, so let’s go straight to it. Descartes Unveils Same-Day Delivery Optimization Technology Amazon to Begin Sunday Deliveries, With Post Office’s Help (Wall Street Journal) Gap Inc. Pushes Omnichannel Focus (Women’s Wear Daily) Freight Shipments Rose 0.8% in September from August University of Maryland Selects Resilinc as Supply Chain […]

Whenever I’m asked “What’s the ROI of social networking?” I reply with a question: What’s the ROI of email? You never hear supply chain executives ask that question, yet they use the ROI question as a way to delay or block the deployment of social networking technologies at their companies. Email, as you probably know […]

Forget cloud, social, and mobile. Forget WMS and TMS. Forget BI and analytics. As was confirmed for me yet again this week at a conference, the most utilized supply chain and logistics application, the reigning champ of them all, is the Excel spreadsheet. As the saying goes, old habits die hard. In other news… JDA […]

The new Hours of Service regulations, which went into effect July 1, 2013, might well be the “Obamacare” of the trucking industry, with yet another challenge issued last Thursday when U.S. Reps. Richard Hanna (R-NY), Tom Rice (R-SC) and Mike Michaud (D-ME) introduced the TRUE Safety Act. The bill specifically targets the 34-hour restart rule, which […]

From the family room, I heard my 11-year old son crying in the kitchen being consoled by my wife. I assumed it was related to something that had happened at school that day. I was right about the school part, but wrong about the reason. In science class that day, the teacher was trying to […]

Are you working in a Company of Yesterday or a Company of Tomorrow? I love that question, which is from a blog posting by supply chain executive and consultant Tony Martins, who was my guest on Talking Logistics earlier this year; Tony was also a panelist in the Mega Trends Impacting Supply Chains session I […]

“Did you come to Denver to plant mango trees?” the taxi driver asked me shortly after we left the airport. He had a thick accent, so I thought I had misunderstood his question. “Excuse me?” I said leaning forward, and so he asked me again, “Did you come to Denver to plant mango trees?” The […]

The Red Sox are in the World Series. This was almost unimaginable a year ago, when the team shipped $250 million worth of talent to the Dodgers and finished the season in last place with 93 losses, the most for the team in 40 years. The Red Sox are in the World Series –- that […]

Several years ago, I interviewed CIOs and IT executives from leading third party logistics (3PL) companies, and one of the most interesting findings was that their teams spent a majority of their time fixing and cleansing data. I’m sure if I conducted those interviews again today, the story would still be the same. Therefore, I […]

An article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal revealed that Amazon has set up operations inside at least seven P&G warehouses worldwide where “each day, P&G loads products [such as paper towels and diapers] onto pallets and passes them over to Amazon inside a small, fenced-off area. Amazon employees then package, label, and ship the items […]

There’s lots going on today, so let’s go straight to the news. Freight Shipments Rose 0.4% in August from July Turnover Rose at Large Truckload Fleets in the Second Quarter Federal Government Shutdown Starts to Crimp Trade (Wall Street Journal) New Customer-Centric Solution from SAP to Help Retailers Improve Operations, Consumer Experience and Brand Perception […]

Are you attending the CSCMP Annual Global Conference later this month in Denver? It’s is one of the best conferences in the supply chain and logistics industry to learn and network. The challenge, of course, is choosing which sessions to attend, spread out across twenty-six tracks. Let me help you. Below are the sessions that […]

Is it ironic that the U.S. government partially shut down on Tuesday, the same day I was scheduled to give a talk on collaboration? I’m thinking of sending my representatives in Congress a copy of the book Getting to We, written by my friends Kate Vitasek and Jeanette Nyden — and also inviting them and […]

I presented at the LeanLogistics ClientConnect 2013 conference yesterday (more on that in a future posting), which took place at the Swissotel in Chicago. It’s a lovely hotel, with comfortable rooms and a great view of the lake, and something I had never encountered before: elevators with no floor buttons inside. Instead, you enter your […]

Tuesday night, I went to Staples with my daughter to buy some printer ink. She was immediately attracted to a colorful display, which caught my attention too. I took a picture of it and shared it on Twitter, which became my most popular tweet of the week:  3D printer and supplies at #Staples. The future […]

What is the path to building successful and lasting 3PL-customer relationships? That was the main theme of a panel session I led at last month’s MercuryGate User Conference 2013, which included the following 3PL executives: Shelli Austin, VP at Integrated Distribution Services (IDS) Michael Bartz, CIO at ReTrans Jane Sandifeer, VP Business Solutions at Advanced […]

“Half the countries in the world have an even number of chickens.” I wrote those words on a sticky note back in college, which I found in a memory box recently. I have no idea what it means, or what I was thinking at the time, but if I went through the trouble of saving […]

The typical role of an industry analyst is to look ahead, at the trends that are shaping and reshaping the supply chain and logistics landscape. On a recent episode of Talking Logistics, however, I decided to look back and reflect on the biggest changes I’ve seen in the industry over the past 15 years. As […]

Document less, experience more. That was the key takeaway from a great HBR article by Daniel Gulati published in April 2012. I was reminded of that article when I came across the video below this week, which saddened me and made me realize that I need to work harder on keeping my phone in my […]

About a decade ago, I visited a packaging facility operated by a contract packaging provider. The facility would receive bulk quantities of goods from a leading consumer goods manufacturer and package them into different clamshell units (10-count, 30-count, 50-count, etc.) and then into cartons. The cartons were then transported just a few hundred feet through […]

There is a lot of buzz these days about there being a shortage of supply chain and logistics talent in the market. While much of the focus has been on white-collar positions, finding, hiring, and retaining talent at the frontlines of operations – such as drivers and distribution center employees – is equally challenging and […]

This was a relatively quiet week for news, and I suspect many of you are taking off early today to enjoy the long holiday weekend, which unofficially marks the end of summer. So, without delay, here is the news that caught my attention this week: Qualcomm Signs Definitive Agreement to Sell its North and Latin […]

The transportation manager you hired last year — in large part because of his success at reducing transportation costs at previous employers — was able to reduce your transportation spend by 17 percent this year, way above the 10 percent target you had set. You highlight this accomplishment in his performance review, and you further […]

I went to Home Depot earlier this week to return a purchase, and the customer in front of me wanted to exchange a defective power tool with the same model, but he couldn’t find any on the shelf even though the store’s inventory system said 5 units were in stock. For all the talk about […]

Last week, while I was at the beach flying a kite, Elon Musk (founder of Paypal, Tesla Motors, and Space X) introduced his vision for a fifth mode of transportation: a Hyperloop, which would allow passengers to travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 35 minutes, traveling at a top speed of almost 800 […]

I gotta get packing, so let’s go straight to the news… U.S. Court of Appeals upholds nearly all of new HOS regulations (Logistics Management) Oracle Helps Retailers Increase Sales and Margins with New Release of Oracle Retail Allocation Paragon’s Territory Optimizer Improves Strategic Planning for Zoned Deliveries Con-way Truckload Doubles Down on Safety, Invests in […]

Last week on Talking Logistics, I had a very thought-provoking conversation with Tony Martins, VP of Strategic Services at Halo Pharmaceutical. Tony is a unique supply chain executive — he not only sees the potential value of social networking in transforming supply chain processes, he’s also a thought leader and visionary in this area, publishing […]

I have long argued that third party logistics providers (3PLs) should set themselves apart from the competition by fully harnessing the power and value of their customer and employee communities (see “If Operational Excellence is a Given, Then What Else Matters for 3PLs?” and “Operational Excellence is Not Enough–Why 3PLs Must Leverage Their Most Valuable […]

No time to waste this Friday, so let’s go straight to the news… Manhattan Associates Reports Record Second Quarter 2013 Revenue and Earnings Ryder Reports Second Quarter 2013 Results Oracle Brings Extreme Supply Chain Performance to Customers with New In-Memory Application Infor Simplifies Supply Chain Demand Planning New Vehicle Routing Activity Tool and Enhanced iPhone […]

My boys turned 8 and 11 this past May, and for their birthdays my wife and I promised them a trip to Cooperstown, NY to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame. Their dream (and mine) came true this past Friday when we packed the car and made the pilgrimage to upstate NY. We spent the […]

I passed on spending $1100 to fix my car A/C, so I’ve been driving around with the windows down this summer. When you have Cuban blood, 99 degrees is nothing to complain about (although I reserve the right to change my mind). In this week’s news, new products and services and a couple of acquisitions […]

In this month’s issue of Supply Chain Management Review, I share my perspective on the role and future of “social” technologies in supply chain management (see “The Social Side of Supply Chain Management,” available to subscribers). The article is over 4,000 words (the longest work I’ve written in years) and it covers a variety of […]

My cousin Lenny shared this photo on Facebook (the boys are not us, although the socks and shorts look familiar) with the following comment: “If u know about this game, u lived a great childhood.” The photo brought back so many great memories of my summers in Brooklyn — the concrete heat, the boombox music, […]

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the Crossroads 2013: Supply Chain as Future Enabler conference at MIT, which featured a great lineup of speakers from Flextronics, Pfizer, 7-Eleven, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, UPS, and MIT. I don’t have the time or space to summarize every presentation, but overall the conference was very informative and […]

Starting on July 9, 2013, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will begin the liquidated damages phase of Importer Security Filing (ISF) enforcement. According to the press release: CBP may issue liquidated damages of $5,000 per violation for the submission of an inaccurate, incomplete or untimely filing. Liquidated damages in simplified terms refer to a […]

Another crazy Friday morning, now with the kids out of school, so let’s go straight to this week’s news: JDA Announces Major Enhancements to Workforce Mobility, All-Channel Commerce Solutions HighJump Software Enhances HighJump Warehouse Advantage Express Offering to Meet Increased Demand in SMB Marketplace FedEx Adds 1,900 New Lightweight, Fuel Efficient Vehicles to Fleet UPS […]

Earlier this year, I launched Talking Logistics, a weekly online video talk show where I interview thought leaders and newsmakers in the supply chain and logistics industry. One of my goals was provide students and young professionals with an interactive platform to engage and network with industry executives. I’ve had many great guests over the […]

Summer is finally here, so let’s go right to the news…and then maybe the pool. C.H. Robinson Continues European Expansion with Istanbul Office MercuryGate International Inc. Announces Expanded European Presence Through Partnership JDA Software Announces Integrated Product Roadmap FedEx Corp. Reports Fourth Quarter Earnings Oracle Doubles Dividend; Cloud SaaS Revenues Up 50%, Engineered Systems Up […]

There’s been a common thread in my conversations with shippers over the past few years: their desire to take freight off the truckload grid — i.e., minimize the number of one-way truck shipments they make. This desire is driven by a number of factors, including: Capacity concerns: A lot of capacity has left the market […]

I’m short on time this morning, so let’s go straight to the news. Transplace Updates, Enhances TMS Freight Allocation Module 2.0 Infor Delivers Automotive Innovation Throughout The Value Chain Wal-Mart buys a ‘predictive analytics’ firm (Internet Retailer) Google finalizing $1.3 billion deal for mapping company Waze (Reuters) Con-way Freight Announces 2013 General Rate Increase Freight […]

What happens when you bring together a large group of shippers and carriers and put them in a conference room? At the Manhattan Associates Momentum 2013 conference last month, the answer was a great conversation about transportation trends, challenges, and opportunities. I had the privilege of moderating this year’s Shipper-Carrier Roundtable, which included the following […]

Welcome to June. We’re quickly approaching the midpoint of the year, which means it’s time to start planning for 2014 — at least that’s what I heard at my sister’s surprise birthday party last weekend, where some of her co-workers in finance were talking about getting started with 2014 budgets. Just like political campaigns, the […]

I speak at many conferences throughout the year, and I’m often asked for two things by conference organizers (besides a copy of my presentation): a photograph of me and my bio. The photo I send them was taken almost 15 years ago. I keep waiting for someone to send it back to me with a […]

After a cold and wet holiday weekend, summer has arrived with a vengeance, with temperatures in the 90s yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Time to put away the turtlenecks and find my bathing suit. It was a relatively quiet week for news, but here’s what caught my attention: Descartes Reports Fiscal 2014 First Quarter Financial Results […]

Earlier this month, I interviewed angel investor Tom Friedman on Talking Logistics about the link between entrepreneurship, angel investing, and supply chain and logistics. In Tom’s experience working with startups, specifically those making physical products, many entrepreneurs are very knowledgeable about engineering and product development, but they lack the skills and expertise in one critical […]

I’m still recovering from my red-eye flight back from Las Vegas earlier this week. Sleep deprivation was a small price to pay to get home in time for my son’s “moon-bounce-in-my-backyard” birthday party. Take a huge plastic structure, fill it with air, and toss a group of 8-year olds in it — a recipe for […]

Managing transportation —  the ebb and flow of rates, capacity, fuel and regulations — is an ongoing challenge for many companies, especially those still using spreadsheets and fax machines to plan and execute shipments. At some point, usually when costs are out of control or service levels are heading south, companies finally make the decision […]

“We’re toast,” said one of my son’s baseball teammates from the bench last night, as their team quickly fell behind 8-0 against the best team in the league. From my beach chair on the sidelines, I thought the same thing. Then came the bottom of the fifth inning, when my son hit a 2-run home […]

Last week at the Ariba LIVE 2013 conference, I led a discussion session titled “At the Intersection of Social and Business Networks” with about fifty senior executives in supply chain and procurement. I made the case that we are currently seeing the rise of supply chain operating networks, the business equivalents of Facebook and LinkedIn, […]

After spilling coffee all over my desk this morning and cleaning up the mess, I am short on time, so let’s go straight to the news this week: C.H. Robinson Reports First Quarter Results XPO Logistics Announces First Quarter 2013 Results Elemica Introduces a Completely New Supply Chain Operating Network Platform Ariba and Discover to […]

The collapse of the garment factory in Bangladesh last week, which killed at least 705 workers and injured thousands of others, has put a spotlight on a problem that plagues many supply chains: the use of slave labor. Coincidentally, at the Ariba LIVE 2013 conference yesterday, I attended a presentation by Justin Dillon, Founder and […]

It’s the beginning of May and the Red Sox have the best record in baseball. I know it’s a long season, but after a disappointing two years, I can’t help but feel good about this team. If they remain competitive the rest of the season, I think the team will prove something that is also […]

One of my predictions for 2013 was that we would see increased adoption of alternative fuel vehicles this year, including trucks powered by natural gas. The news from recent days and weeks suggests that this prediction is coming true. Last week, for example, UPS announced that it plans to buy about 700 liquefied natural gas […]

With no time to waste this morning, let’s go straight to the news that caught my attention this week. Manhattan Associates Reports Record First Quarter 2013 Earnings E-Commerce Lifts UPS 1Q Earnings Critical Aspects of Transportation Planning, Execution and Modeling Enhanced in JDA’s Latest Software Release SAP Simplifies Mobile Access to Analytics for Enterprise Workers […]

One of the things supply chain software users like to complain about the most is the user interface (UI). This was true 15 years ago when I started as an industry analyst, and it’s true today. Simply put, many user interfaces… are crammed with too many features and too much information that users don’t need […]

As I write this, the greater Boston area (including where I live) is in lockdown as the police hunt for the second suspect of the Boston Marathon bombings (the first suspect was killed overnight). I’m amazed by how quickly the investigation has progressed, and how organized the response by law enforcement has been. We’ll learn […]

My wife’s cousin Mike ran the Boston Marathon on Monday. He was running in memory of my wife’s brother Paul who died at age 3 of cancer, before my wife was even born. After months of training and fundraising for cancer research, Mike made it to the 25th mile before the police stopped him and […]

I’m on borrowed time this morning, so without delay, here’s the news that caught my attention this week: Freight Shipments Rose 1.2% in February from January Cass Truckload Linehaul Index Retail Imports To Increase 2.7 Percent In April WTO cuts 2013 trade forecast, sees protectionist threat (Reuters) First Fully-Automated Freight Broker buytruckload.com Welcomes Shippers of […]

Last summer, I led a workshop with a group of supply chain executives where we discussed the following question: What skills, knowledge, and expertise must an executive have to lead a supply chain organization effectively in today’s increasingly global, dynamic, and risky business environment? The group discussed many leadership attributes, but the one that was […]

Welcome to April. One quarter down, three to go in 2013. It was a relatively quiet week for news, so let’s get to the items that caught my attention. JDA Software Announces Release of JDA eight Roadnet Technologies Releases MobileCast On Track for Management of Mobile Workforce Employees CEVA Group plc Announces Preliminary Unaudited Results […]

In most aspects of life, an asset is an asset, “a useful and desirable thing or quality,” as Dictionary.com defines it. But not in the logistics world, at least not to private equity investors and venture capitalists who view a 3PL with assets like an overweight runner, wearing a lead track suit and cement sneakers, […]

Lots of interesting news this week related to e-commerce fulfillment and same-day delivery, so let’s get right to it. Wal-Mart may get customers to deliver packages to online buyers (Reuters) Wal-Mart Introduces Lockers as It Battles Amazon in E-Commerce (New York Times) Google launches same-day delivery in San Francisco Bay Area (Reuters) UPS Expands Expedited […]

The “reshoring” of manufacturing operations from China and elsewhere to the United States continues to make headlines. Back in December 2012, for example, Apple announced that it is investing $100 million to build some of its Mac products in the US. A month later, Walmart announced that it will increase its sourcing of US products […]

#TwitterTurnedSevenYesterday #MostSupplyChainExecsStillDontGetIt In other news… FedEx Corp. Reports Third Quarter Earnings Oracle Reports Q3 GAAP EPS Up 6% to 52 Cents Echo Global Logistics, Inc. Acquires Open Mile, Inc. Intelligrated acquires Datria Postmaster Launches a Simple, Intelligent API to Help SMBs Optimize and Save on Small Parcel Shipments Transplace Mexico Achieves C-TPAT Certification U.S., Canada […]

Have we reached the point where we should just focus on executing better with the systems and processes we have than chase the next technological or process innovation? Translation: There’s still plenty of juice to squeeze in the fruit we currently have, so why go pick more fruit when our hands are already full? This […]

On Tuesday morning I checked the reporting dashboard for Logistics Viewpoints. The screenshot below shows the search terms that were driving people to the blog that morning. The second item caught me by surprise; I thought only people interested in supply chain and logistics visited Logistics Viewpoints, but it seems like we attract a much […]

Today one of your customer contacts sends you an email invitation to connect on LinkedIn. You click on the email invite, visit the contact’s profile, check out his picture and profile information, and then click on the “Connect” button. In the days that follow, the two of you start corresponding via LinkedIn, exchanging quick messages […]

I spent several nights this week in Little League baseball tryouts and meetings, culminating in the Majors draft last night. And this morning I woke up to snow, at least a foot of it, with more falling. Welcome to baseball in New England, where you pray the snow melts by opening day (at least in […]

According to a survey of 600 manufacturing and retail executives conducted by Deloitte, 71 percent of the executives surveyed view supply chain risk as “an important factor in their companies’ strategic decision making, including 20 percent who view it as extremely important.” Yet, 42 percent of the executives from large companies said their supply chain […]

The appliance repair guy showed up this morning to confirm what I already suspected: my refrigerator is on life support and will soon die. My five year old daughter burst out crying, not because buying a new fridge is certainly not in the budget right now (which is the reason I almost burst out crying), […]

If you drove to work this morning, chances are you shared the road with countless driverless cars. Not the ones developed by Google and several automakers, which are getting a lot of press these days, but ordinary cars like yours, with people sitting in the driver’s seat, except they weren’t really driving, at least not […]

This was school vacation week and I spent most of it either with cross country skis or ice skates on my feet, which isn’t so bad except for the fact you have to be out in the cold to ski or skate, and I’m allergic to the cold, unlike my kids who would outlast any […]

What is the shelf life of a supply chain management book? I’ve been asking executives this question for the past few years and the general consensus is about two years. Sure, there are certain fundamentals of supply chain management that are timeless, but when you consider the rapid and ongoing changes in technology, business models, […]

Back in November 2008, I shared with you my fear of asteroids– see “All Greened Out (Until the Asteroid Comes).” Since then, various asteroids and meteors have come “near” our planet, but I suspect most people have been too busy with other things to notice or care. Well, this morning, according to a CNN report, […]

I often get emails from logistics executives looking for help and advice on selecting a 3PL partner. A couple of weeks ago, for example, I received an email from someone asking if I had updated a framework I had developed several years ago to help companies evaluate 3PLs. The answer was no, but this person’s […]

Schools are closed, the roads are empty, and we’re all just waiting for the blizzard to arrive. It’s a stay-at-home-in-your-pajamas kind of day, my favorite. And the fact that it’s Friday makes it even better. I’m not looking forward to shoveling two feet of snow tomorrow, but there is something undeniably beautiful about seeing the […]

When it comes to moving goods from one place to another, you have various transportation options: you can transport products by airplane, train, truck, or ship. You can also transport them by bicycle, horse, or donkey, or you can walk them over yourself. New technological advancements in each of these modes will continue to make […]

Wow, 2013 is already one-twelfth over. With no time to waste, let’s go straight to the news… Manhattan Associates Reports Record Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2012 Performance UPS Achieves Record Earnings Per Share UPS Announces Withdrawal of Offer for TNT Express ATA Asks FMCSA to Delay New Driver Hours Rule (JOC) NRF Forecasts 3.4% […]

It’s been more than a year since the U.S. Department of Transportation announced its final rule on Hours of Service (HOS) (read my comments at the time in “Hours of Service Rules Changed, But the Big Picture in Trucking Stays the Same”). The compliance date of July 1, 2013 seemed so far away back then, […]

It’s been a brutally cold week, so grab a blanket and something hot to drink, and let’s go straight to this week’s news. Infor SCE 10.2 Adds Mobility, Innovation to Logistics Management HighJump TrueCommerce EDI Solutions Adds New Transaction History and Reporting Features Union Pacific Reports Record Fourth Quarter and Full Year ATA Truck Tonnage […]

One of the great things about the supply chain and logistics industry is that there is no shortage of conferences to attend. You can literally spend the entire month of May traveling from conference to conference (mostly between Orlando and Las Vegas, with Dallas occasionally sprinkled in). The challenge is determining which conferences to attend […]

Countless: the number of double spaces after periods I’ve had to delete as an editor over the years. Last weekend, Slate republished a much discussed article from two years ago titled, “Space Invaders: Why You Should Never, Ever Use Two Spaces After a Period.” If you are guilty of this writing crime, please read the […]

There were plenty of rumors about what Facebook was going to announce yesterday, everything from the launch of a Facebook phone to the introduction of a “Dislike” button. But the big announcement was about Graph Search, “a new way for you to find people, photos, places and interests that are most relevant to you on […]

No time to waste this morning, as I have a lunch date planned with my soon to be five year old daughter. Here’s the news that caught my attention this week: GT Nexus and TradeCard to Merge Oracle Unveils New Releases of Oracle Transportation Management and Oracle Global Trade Management Oracle Announces New Release of […]

Back in April 2009, I took a 2.5-day course on Vested Outsourcing (called “Performance-Based Outsourcing” at the time) at the University of Tennessee. Halfway through the course, I shared some of my key takeaways, including this one: Implementing Vested Outsourcing “the right way” takes a lot of work and discipline, and it requires 3PLs [third […]

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing vacation. Now it’s back to the grind — and fun. There was very little news this week, but here’s what caught my attention: JDA and RedPrairie Complete Merger New UPS Worldwide Express Freight Service Offers Faster International Shipping in More Lanes Roadnet Technologies Unveils […]

One of my predictions for 2012, in the aftermath of the Japan earthquake and Thailand floods in 2011, was that supply chain risk management would become a higher priority for companies. While I’m sure some companies took proactive action to define and implement supply chain risk management practices, many more did not. Then Hurricane Sandy […]

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes How do you measure, measure a year?                              — Seasons of Love, from the musical Rent In postings, in page views, in website visitors, in Twitter followers, in comments…those are just some of the […]

Predicting the future has never been easy. Back in 1943, Tom Watson, the president of IBM at the time, said “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” And in 1995, Robert Metcalfe, the founder of 3Com and the co-inventor of Ethernet, made this astonishing prediction: “Almost all of the many predictions […]

This was a relatively quiet week for news, so let’s get right to it… Ryder Launches Mobile RydeSmart® 3.0 App Intermec To Be Acquired by Honeywell for $600 Million FedEx employee emails claim firm overcharged businesses (Reuters) Freight Shipments Fell 1.9% in October from September Cass Truckload Linehaul Index Driver Turnover at Truckload Carriers Remains […]

The important role of operations research in driving supply chain benefits was in full display at last month’s OPTIMUS 2012, ORTEC’s annual forum in Atlanta, GA. Many of the company’s key clients were there, including Walmart, Coca-Cola, General Mills, and Clorox. In the case of Coca-Cola, for example, the company has saved $500,000,000 in ten […]

I’ve been reading a lot lately about how sitting for too long isn’t healthy, and how many business professionals are now using stand up desks at work. So I decided to work standing up this week, and because stand up desks are expensive, I employed my Cuban ingenuity and built my own using an ironing […]

…is the same problem that has always existed with data: it is often wrong, outdated, or incomplete. Whenever I ask supply chain professionals, “What was the most difficult and time-consuming part of your software implementation project?” the answer I get is almost always the same: collecting and cleaning the data. This was true fourteen years […]

I didn’t win the $585 million PowerBall jackpot this week, which is not surprising, because when it comes to lotteries, taking shortcuts through town when I’m late, and picking the fastest checkout lines, I’m like Hemingway’s old man: “salao, which is the worst form of unlucky.” On to the news, which is dominated this week […]

Most of the time, when people talk about innovation in supply chain management and logistics, the focus is on technology (e.g., social and mobile) or business processes (e.g., same-day delivery and omni-channel fulfillment). But what about innovation in business models? Is there an opportunity for 3PLs and software vendors, for example, to innovate their business […]

I was born the 11th of April, 1935 in Cuba, in the Province of Las Villas. My town was called Esles del Venero, but I was born in El Cafetal, a farm that belonged to my father and his brothers. This place was part of the municipal district of Aguada de Pasajeros. I am from […]

Get your Twinkies and Wonder Bread while they last. Hostess Brands is going out of business. In more important news… Descartes Acquires Exentra Descartes Community Cloud-Based Service Unveiled at Descartes’ Global User & Partner Conference LeanLogistics Releases On-Demand TMS® v.12.3.0 E2open Announces Availability of Next-Generation E2 Cloud Connectivity UPS Introduces New Cloud-Based Technology Platform to […]

Since most companies are still in the “early observer” stage when it comes to using social networking tools for business processes other than marketing and customer service, it’s great when an early adopter shares its experience publicly. Last week, MIT Sloan Management Review published an informative interview with Ron Utterbeck, the CIO for GE Corporate […]

The US presidential election is finally over. $6 billion (yes, billion) was spent on the presidential campaign to end up where we started: same president, the Republicans in control of the House, the Democrats in control of the Senate, and the country still very divided. It’s hard to see how things will be different this […]

Last week, RedPrairie and JDA Software, two leading providers of supply chain and logistics software, announced that they are merging together (see our commentary here). Both companies had grown through the years by acquiring best of breed vendors, and now that they have reached a certain size, they are joining forces to offer customers “a […]

The biggest news this week was Hurricane Sandy, which left a path of flooding, power outages, and destruction along the east coast. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by the storm, especially those hardest hit in New Jersey and New York City. The storm also disrupted logistics operations, including the closing of local […]

Meet Google, your new supply chain and logistics technology provider. According to a New York Times article, Google has started to test a same-day delivery service in San Francisco with some Google employees and their friends. At least one national apparel retailer is participating in the test, according to a source. Although Amazon and Walmart […]

Last year, Halloween greeted us with a snow and ice storm. This year, it greets us with Hurricane Sandy. This is too much trick and not enough treat for me. In other news… C.H. Robinson Reports Third Quarter Results UPS International Profit Rebounds SAP Announces Record Third Quarter Results Exceed €1 Billion in Third Quarter […]

Earlier this year, I made a simple request to a group of 25 supply chain executives: go online to a discussion forum I had created and post a question about a supply chain topic you would like to get feedback and ideas about from your peers. The question could be about a project or initiative […]

My wife is going away for a long weekend with her mom and sister. But I should be fine. She left me three detailed pages of where I need to be and what I need to do, hour by hour, for the next three days. So, with no time to waste, here’s this week’s news: […]

Earlier this month, I was speaking with a supply chain executive about his relationship with a 3PL, and although the relationship is going well so far, he raised a concern. “The people who lead the company are very knowledgeable and good at what they do,” he said, “but once you go below that top management […]

The kids are all excited because we’re going to the circus tonight. But when you have four young kids running around the house, it’s a circus every night for me and my wife, with animals and clowns included. In the news this week… Wal-Mart Delivery Service Says to Amazon: ‘Bring It’ (Wall Street Journal) FedEx […]

A growing number of trucking companies and freight brokers, especially small and mid-sized ones, are looking to move up the value curve and become more than just providers of trucks or capacity for shippers. They want to become 3PLs — that is, provide shippers with managed transportation services. Why? That was the first question I […]

As reported in the Wall Street Journal, a study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School found that “men with shaved heads are perceived to be more masculine, dominant and, in some cases, to have greater leadership potential than those with longer locks or with thinning hair.” I was cheering the news, reading the […]

The iPhone 5 was released last month, and although Apple made some notable enhancements to the phone’s design and sold 5 million units the first weekend, most of the buzz has been about one thing: how inferior Apple Maps is compared to Google Maps, which prompted Apple CEO Tim Cook to issue an apology and […]

The nation is breathing a huge sigh of relief today. No, the economy is still growing at a snail’s pace, and things in the Middle East aren’t getting better, but in what the White House called “a great day for America,” the regular refs are back in the NFL! Classify that under “Things that Make […]

A couple of weeks ago, I participated in the MercuryGate 2012 User Conference in New Orleans (MercuryGate is a Logistics Viewpoints sponsor). There were more 40 presentations throughout the three days, with the first half of the event focused on logistics service providers and the other half on shippers. Many of the company’s 200+ customers […]

Lots of news this week, so let’s get started. FedEx Corp. Reports First Quarter Results Oracle Reports Q1 GAAP EPS Up 15% to 41 Cents; Q1 Non-GAAP EPS Up 11% to 53 Cents ILA, USMX agree to 90-day extension in labor negotiations (Logistics Management) Descartes as an IATA Strategic Partner Facilitates Air Cargo Innovation With […]

In a HBR podcast that aired last week, Nilofer Merchant, author of 11 Rules for Creating Value in the Social Era, discusses the emergence of a new organizational model that threatens the power of 800-lb gorillas in business: “The 800-lb gorilla in business has been aspiration, and it worked as a metaphor — it was […]

The outbreak of violence in the Middle East was a troubling development this week, with possible supply chain implications in the near future if the situation worsens. Let’s hope the political leaders on all sides can diffuse this situation quickly and without additional violence. In other news… Freight Shipments Rose 0.1% in July from June […]

The new inventory manager at the Carnegie Mellon University campus store is short, likes to wear hooded sweatshirts, and doesn’t talk much. And he’s a robot. As reported in a recent MIT Technology Review article, the robot called AndyVision “scans the shelves to generate a real-time interactive map of the store, which customers can browse […]

Are you up yet?! What do you want for breakfast? Look in the other drawer. Don’t forget your lunch in the fridge. Why is this binder on the floor? I have no idea where your other sneaker is, just look for it! Did you brush your teeth? If we don’t leave in one minute we’re […]

If operational excellence is not enough for third party logistics providers (3PLs) to differentiate themselves in the market, then what else matters? I’ve been thinking about this question a lot lately, as I prepare to participate in two 3PL-related sessions this month: “Delivering Customer Value Beyond Operational Excellence,” a panel discussion I am moderating with […]

Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Louisiana, Mississippi, and elsewhere who are dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac. And a big thanks to the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) and other relief groups who have mobilized to help. In other news this week… Trimble to Acquire North American Trucking Industry Enterprise Software […]