In North America, the Internet of Things (IoT) is getting a great deal of attention.  In one definition of the term “Internet of Things,” almost all objects have sensors, connectivity to a broader environment, and intelligence. Sometimes the object has just a sliver of intelligence; but it can be much more substantial. Objects can be […]

I had the opportunity to speak to Miguel Ramirez, Logistics Cost Implementation Lead, from Sisamex at the Oracle Value Chain Summit.  Sisamex has had an interesting journey with the Oracle Transportation Management (OTM) solution.  Sisamex, headquartered in Mexico, is a joint venture between Meritor, a Tier 1 supplier of automotive components, and Grupo Quimmco, a Mexican industrial […]

It’s been a busy week here at Logistics Viewpoints as we get ready to head to Las Vegas next week for JDA Focus, and Hollywood, FL the week after for Manhattan Momentum. There’s a bit of everything in the news this week, so let’s get right to it. Amazon tries its own deliveries Freight train […]

When an automobile parts dealer or a business in the auto service parts retail network makes a request to its suppliers to fulfill an order, there is an expectation that the right component shows up at the right place, in the right time frame, at the right cost. After all, at the end of the […]

Transportation Management Systems (TMS) were initially designed to handle the complexities of outbound shipments. And to this day, companies are still far more likely to implement a TMS to reduce outbound freight costs than to manage inbound or international moves. I realized just how complex inbound transportation can be when I spoke with the North […]

Toyota, the company that invented the Toyota Production System and brought lean manufacturing techniques to the world’s attention, is one of the most respected names in Supply Chain Management. But over the past few weeks, Toyota has recalled about 9 million vehicles worldwide due to problems related to accelerator pedals, and last week the company […]

I recently spoke with key members of Ford’s service parts supply chain and IT organization in North America to better understand how the company is using SAP’s end-to-end service parts supply chain solution (SAP is an ARC client). Ford and Caterpillar Logistics, as key customers and partners, have helped SAP to build out this solution, […]