Managing logistics can’t happen in a vacuum; you need visibility and awareness of internal and external partners, systems and resources. The problem is that integration and visibility are a big hurdle for most transportation management systems (TMS). According to the Transportation Planning and Execution Benchmark Study by American Shipper, for example, 61 percent of respondents […]

The logistics world is full of jargon and sometimes we only have a vague understanding of what certain terms mean, especially when it comes to software. Some of the most confusing ones pop up in conversations about transportation management system (TMS) deployment model options: SaaS, private cloud, or on-premise are common ones. These terms are […]

I’ve just returned from attending and participating in several supply chain conferences around the country. There’s a palpable excitement in our industry about the sweeping changes fundamentally altering supply chain operations. The drivers of these changes, such as e-commerce and omni-channel markets, are resulting in new and greater investments in the supply chain technology. Indeed, […]

Do you have a March Madness bracket filled out for the NCAA basketball finals? Whether you do lots of research on each team or pick randomly, it’s a fun time of year to watch the highs, lows and upsets during the culmination of the college basketball season. As I filled out my bracket and prepared […]

The need for track and trace capabilities in industries such as food and beverage, manufacturing or automotive industries is obvious: the threat of contamination or recalls impacts public safety, and the responses to those events are highly regulated. Organizations need to know what goes into their products and their location at all times. But increasingly, […]

The growth of online shopping, direct-to-consumer shipping, and multi-channel distribution demands have led to big changes in the 3PL industry – to the point where many industry observers, such as Robert Bowman in a recent article for Forbes, noted that the number of 3PLs overall is shrinking due to a rising trend of mergers and […]

You’re trying to do everything right to lure in online shoppers: You offer free shipping. Customers can return merchandise to a retail location. You even offer free returns through the mail. But this freedom for the customer can mean a lot of headaches and cost for you. The demands of the omni-channel marketplace are not […]