The global trade compliance market is one crazy market. The market grew by double digits year over year, yet there is no standard user and consequently there is no common understanding of what the end-to-end global trade compliance process should be. Linda McKee, the director for global trade services management at SAP, expressed the idea […]
The reason that microgrids are growing faster than larger grids comes down to economics. In many cases microgrids are now bankable investments due to high power costs, low renewable and battery costs, and the value of improving power resilience. The option of using local power generation from a microgrid for supplying your electric power can […]
On August 15th, Walmart had a call with financial analysts to discuss their second quarter earnings. Walmart has about $1.5 billion in inventory “that if we could just wave a magic wand, we’d make it go away today,” said chief financial officer (CFO) John David Rainey. Walmart estimates that inventory is still 15% above optimal […]
Some spices are meant to be grown and used year-round. Personally, I’m a fan of a few that I grow in my garden, such as mint, basil, and chives. Then there are the store-bought standbys, such as oregano, onion granules, garlic granules, and the basis of almost all recipes (along with salt), pepper. Using salt […]
Oracle Fusion Cloud Transportation Management offers a solution that allows transportation planners to see estimated emissions – carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides, and particulate matter – before a trip is executed. Transportation is, of course, a major source of green house emissions. According to the environmental protection agency, in the US, the transportation sector accounts for […]
I thought I understood all the major supply chain implications of the pandemic until I began reading Yossi Sheffi’s new book The New (Ab)Normal: Reshaping Business and Supply Chain Strategy beyond Covid-19. Jim Hackett, the CEO of Ford at the time, was quoted as saying: “We didn’t realize there was an off switch. We knew […]
Black Friday is in the books, and unsurprisingly, it was a big one. According to the annual survey by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics, nearly 180 million Americans shopped during the five-day holiday shopping period from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. This exceeded initial estimates by more than 21 million […]
With Christmas goods in stores before Halloween this year, I thought there was no reason that we shouldn’t also get a jump on 2022 predictions. Many major challenges of 2021—capacity constraints, ecommerce growth and driver shortage—are rolling over into 2022 and, in addition, the environment and machine learning are becoming more important for logistics and […]
Often times, a shot and a beer go hand in hand. And President Biden is making sure the American public knows this; although this is not the traditional shot and a beer you are probably thinking of. The White House has partnered with Anheuser-Busch offering free beers if the country reaches its goal of getting […]
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or the ‘‘CARES Act’ includes many provisions directed at the supply chain and logistics function. Namely, modifications to the medical supply chain and support for air carriers are directly supported. The directives on the medical supply chain have potential to stimulate broad-based and long lasting changes. The air carrier directives are focused on bridging the current gap, both operationally and financially.