The phrases “transitory inflation” and “supply chain disruption” have been frequently used in the general and business news media this summer. And they have at times been used together to describe the general economic environment. Certainly, supply chain constraints are a partial cause of the current above trend inflation. Furthermore, there is much discussion about […]

Supply chains around the country are in great need of warehouse and transportation workers. Just last month I noted that warehouse labor productivity was hindered extensively by COVID-19 and that 80 percent of ARC’s warehouse survey respondents anticipate an increase of order throughput volumes in 2021. Furthermore, COVID-19 exacerbated the existing shift from retail store […]

Five Forces Reshaping Logistics as We Know it Because warehousing and transportation represent significant cost centers, intelligent logistics decisions are critical. And, more than ever, these decisions have to be made on the fly, in real-time. As logistics managers grapple with their own challenges, including labor shortages and emerging commodity marketplaces, the logistics function has […]

It’s graduation season, so the hunt for critical supply chain talent is more vigorous than ever. We may be known for ensuring we can make and move “stuff,” but ultimately supply chains are human. In a white paper on “How reinventing the supply chain can transform the planner role,” consulting firm EY cites their research […]

If your company’s supply chain survived 2020 and the disruptions of early 2021, it’s safe to say it has passed the supply chain resiliency test. Supply chain disruption has many sources: tariffs and trade disputes, natural disasters, pandemics, economic uncertainty and cybersecurity attacks. Each disruption has its own nuances, so it’s challenging to plan a […]

Three years ago, my colleague Steve Banker wrote an article about the Amazon supply chain, asking if it was the most innovative in the world. In the article, he wrote about Amazon Relay, the acquisition of Whole Foods, Amazon the carrier, and the expansion of its warehousing capabilities. As the world is in year two […]

ARC is getting ready for our Supply Chain Forum on February 16th and 17th. I was originally scheduled to speak. But we ended up with a good problem.  We have so many good, high level executives speaking, we canned my speech (Forum Agenda). End users – supply chain practitioners working for manufacturers, distributors, or retailers […]