Success in a post-pandemic business landscape requires that we truly shed the shackles of our traditional siloed thinking and embrace a holistic, customer-centric view of our supply chains. We need to take command and control of our product flow through all supply and fulfillment channels, breaking down functional walls that impede our larger view. And, finally, we need to embrace the rapidly expanding technology ecosystem to fully leverage the benefits of an open platform for ongoing logistics innovation. Unified logistics represents an unprecedented mindset that is imperative for these unprecedented times.
No, this is not yet another article about capturing network milestones or establishing better carrier connectivity, but rather the more strategic issue of how companies can raise the visibility of transportation within the domain of corporate initiatives. I recently attended the American Shipper Executive Summit in New York City and early in the agenda, Eric […]
Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. That applies to supply chain operations as well. If we don’t learn from what is happening day-by-day in our supply chains, we are doomed to repeat disconnected planning processes that lead to mismatches between supply and demand. These mismatches are costly and can lead to service […]
We have all seen it. We have all heard it. Perhaps many, or most of us, have even participated in the ongoing debate over which is more critical; transportation planning or transportation execution? Some trivialize planning as something generic and focus on the hard realities of execution. Others advocate the basic principle that a better […]
In my last Logistics Viewpoints commentary, I shared with you some of the experiences I acquired over my many years of traveling around the world. The commentary was very well received, so this time around I thought I would do something similar but looking over a span of time instead of distance. A week or […]
I am fortunate. The supporting facts behind this blanket statement are gleefully numerous, but for the purposes of a blog focused on transportation and logistics, I am going to whittle it down to the cumulative opportunities I have had to fly, quite literally, around the world and see a multitude of logistics challenges and best […]
In my previous guest commentary on the evolution of transportation management, Driving Value from a Transportation Management Center: Think Global, Act Local, I discussed how transportation best practices were evolving from more rigid, centralized control towers to more flexible and collaborative Transportation Management Centers (TMC). The TMC merges technology, organization and processes to establish a […]
To centralize or not to centralize? That is the question – or at least it is a major discussion point for many large, global companies considering how best to manage transportation across today’s vast supply and distribution networks. The argument to centralize usually includes the advantages of economies of scale when dealing with carriers and […]
The lasting image of the supply chain in 2012 is one of a consumer with a smartphone engrossed in making an online purchase. The story that goes with that image is all about the rapid changes that this new “connected consumer” has injected into our industry in 2012. So let’s take a deeper look at […]
I was recently invited to participate in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Center for Transportation & Logistics’ roundtable focused on the trade-off between planning and execution. The event spanned two days and presented an agenda of discussion topics across the multiple time horizons of planning (strategic, tactical and operational) as well as views on […]
The rise of the omni-consumer has changed virtually every aspect of the way retailers and manufacturers conduct their businesses. Brick-and-mortar retailers are forced to compete with alternative channels on the basis of price while also keeping their service quality high. Manufacturers are challenged to operate with razor-thin margins while still offering the innovative products and […]
This is an interesting time to be a supply chain professional. We are seeing a convergence of revolutionary trends that are causing retailers and their manufacturing suppliers to truly re-think how they approach their planning and fulfillment strategies. Here are some examples: Multi-Channel Retailing. Not long ago, a retailer’s transportation focus was on loading trucks […]
Retailers, manufacturers and other shippers often operate global transportation networks composed of their own assets as well as third-party carriers, in an environment characterized by order volatility, fluctuating consumer confidence, increased competition and cost containment pressures. Too often, shippers attempt to address these competing challenges through simplification. Orders are pre-assumed to be served by a […]
Supply chain disruptions occur in many forms, from simple day-to-day concerns to catastrophic natural disasters. While potential risk cannot be avoided entirely, leading companies are taking a new approach to risk management and optimization. Instead of viewing risk mitigation as a one-time or periodic activity, these companies are assessing risk as a continuous improvement initiative. […]
The Time Gap Within the realm of supply chain there has always been an inherent separation between the notion of planning and that of execution. Historically, this separation was easily attributed to the time required to plan, as well as the gap in time between planning and when orders begin to be placed. In some […]
In today’s challenging environment, it’s a given that companies across all industries must strive to optimize the process of moving goods from one place to another – whether from factory to distribution center, distribution center to store, or any combination in between – locally, regionally or internationally. Leading companies are reexamining their current business processes, […]
