Indirect sales, brand owner sales through sites like Walmart.com or Amazon, are an increasingly large portion of sales for many companies. In 2020, ecommerce sales accounted for 14 percent of total retail sales in the US. But of ecommerce sales, 86% come from indirect channels, rather than a company’s own website, according to CommerceIQ. For […]
Distribution is no longer a backwater of the economy, due in large part to the upheavals brought on by ecommerce. Today’s DCs and fulfillment centers are a major driver of employment growth and a highly visible proving ground for autonomous robots and other next-generation technologies. But there is a technology gap between gleaming new automated […]
Pure Storage never stocked out during the pandemic. That was not because demand for their products tanked. Product sales were down by 8%, but the company did grow by 2% overall in the last fiscal year based on strong performance in subscription services. While demand from many customer’s decreased, some of their customers did place […]
Ashok Vantipalli, Vice President of IT, recently spoke at ARC Advisory Group’s Supply Chain Forum. Mr. Vantipalli works for TireHub and discussed the company’s ongoing digital transformation efforts. They have implemented a variety of supply chain applications to build out the business model, with the mantra of “crawl, walk, run.” They are currently in the walk […]
Raj Govindarajan agreed to answer questions about KeHE Distributors digital transformation. Mr. Govindarajan is the Senior Director, Supply Chain (Systems, Processes & Analytics) at KeHE. KeHE is a national wholesale food distributor that has been in business for 70 years. Steve Banker: Tell me about KeHE and KeHE’s supply chain! Raj Govindarajan: At KeHE Distributors, […]
Over the years, cost and efficiency ruled the supply chain agenda. In light of the global pandemic, resiliency and business continuity come to the fore for the C-suite across many businesses and industries. The Chief Supply Chain Officer (CSCO) has gained prominence as organizations tackle the disruption and prepare for a post-COVID world. At the […]
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.
When it comes to managing your freight spend, there are a few options to consider. The three traditional methods are the use of a transportation management system (TMS), transportation execution system (TES), and managed transportation services (MTS). Ultimately it comes down to whether shippers want to manage their freight spend in-house or outsource it. We […]
Modern WMS is essential, as warehouses are becoming critical nerve centers to deliver a differentiated customer experience across product availability, buying avenues, and speed of delivery without adding cost. Warehouse leaders will need to think about how they transform their operations to become strategic assets that deliver best-in-class customer experience as a key differentiator. Customers want a frictionless experience, which in the pandemic environment, means contactless for more of their transactions.
Managed transportation service providers compete on their tech stack. The transportation management system is core, but the platforms also have complementary applications, visibility and advanced analytics.