Supply Chain Challenges: Freight Volume Rising, Driver Shortage Growing The shipping industry plays a critical role in world economics. Its immense power stems from its ubiquity–in every sector, you will find shipping and a supply chain. Today’s driver shortage is helping to drive transportation costs higher. To put this in perspective, 2018 is the first year since 2006 in which driver shortage is the primary concern of the industry. MORE

Retail was slow to adopt supply chain processes to drive new business models; and as a result, traditional retail redefinition of supply chain processes got caught in the omni-channel hype while Amazon worked its magic to become a market leader. For today’s supply chain leader, the pressures on both operating margin and inventory turns is great. A Closer Look at Consumer Value Chains and the Value of the EACH. MORE

Accellos, a leading provider of supply chain execution software solutions, has named Bill Ashburn General Manager of its line of transportation software solutions. Accellos has recently restructured into business units focused on Transportation, WMS, Third Party Logistics and Supply Chain Execution, a crucial step in its long-term strategy of building a unified suite of supply chain software through acquisition and organic development. MORE

It’ll come to me eventually, but in the meantime, here’s the news that caught my attention this week: Kewill Acquires the IBM® Sterling Transportation Management System (TMS). One of the early pioneers of software-as-a-service (SaaS) transportation management systems (TMS) was Nistevo, which was acquired by Sterling Commerce in May 2006 (Sterling Commerce had become an AT&T company in late 2005). MORE

This points to an ongoing trend, Armstrong notes, "for companies to outsource logistics functions to 3PLs in order to control costs and increase supply chain efficiency." The service most frequently outsourced to a 3PL is transportation management (24%), followed by warehouse management (19%). CEVA also delivers contract logistics solutions featuring customized, flexible design and a range of tailored warehousing and distribution services across the country. MORE

by Alexa Cheater In honor of Earth Day I thought I’d take the opportunity to outline in my humble opinion why having a green supply chain is no longer a nice-to-have – it’s a necessity. Gone are the days when consumers would look the other way while companies rode roughshod over the environment in pursuit of a more profitable supply chain. And how exactly does that lead to a green supply chain? MORE

Intelleflex, a leading provider of on-demand data visibility solutions for supply chains and asset tracking, today announced the Intelleflex CMR-6100, the first fully integrated cellular-enabled, GPS-equipped multi-protocol RFID reader with support for the ISO Class 3 battery assisted passive and EPCglobal C1G2 passive standards. Enabling information sharing among supply chain partners, and product traceability records with customers and insurance and financial services companies. MORE

Modern supply chains are evolving beyond anyone’s expectations due to increased use of cloud-computing technologies, wearables and advanced data analysis. Meanwhile, cloud technology enables companies to expand infrastructure without significant investment or use of resources, reports AXIT of Supply Chain 24/7. In other words, greater access to identical systems prevents organizational silos from inhibiting visibility, asserts Alex Whiteman of Eye For Transport. MORE

TradeEdge – Demand Chain Management. Supply Chain Management. The Infosys global supply chain management blog enables leaner supply chains through process and IT related interventions. Discuss the latest trends and solutions across the supply chain management landscape. It is more of a logistics suite race as the vendors have moved from being pure play WMS players to end to end supply chain execution software providers. MORE

The development and history of warehouse management systems (WMSs) have had a profound impact on how the supply chain functions. Ancient Times Through Colonization: Warehouse Management Dates to Ancient Times. The concept of warehouse management originated in ancient Egypt as people sought ways to manage grain gathered from crops. As the world moved forward, the basic concept of managing warehouse inventory did not change much. MORE

Customers want what they want, and there should be a supply chain plan in place that supports those needs. But what happens when your hospitality supply chain isn’t flexible enough to provide for the customer? Here, we’ll give you examples of customer experiences — bad and good — and how with the right supply chain, it’ll all work out. For many hotels, poor information flow can be a deathblow when it comes to maintaining and improving the supply chain. MORE

India is on the cusp of a supply chain transformation that may end up being nothing short of a major game changer. This usually leads to a lively discussion as to why companies in India have surprising supply chain configurations. A system of poor supply chain incentives. We spoke to Raj Reddy, supply chain VP at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals. These long delays for transport run straight into the very localized and demand distribution market. MORE

Over the last 100 plus years of the history of supply chain management has evolved from an initial focus on improving relatively simple, but very labor-intensive processes to the present day engineering and managing of extraordinarily complex global networks. History of Supply Chain Management: Roots. Increasingly this is referred to by industry as “Supply Chain Engineering.”. History of Supply Chain Management: The Early Years. MORE

History of Supply Chain Management. Over the last 100 plus years of the history of supply chain management has evolved from an initial focus on improving relatively simple, but very labor-intensive processes to the present day engineering and managing of extraordinarily complex global networks. History of Supply Chain Management: Roots. Increasingly this is referred to by industry as “Supply Chain Engineering.” MORE

A lot of this growth has been fueled by 41 acquisitions since 2006, across a broad spectrum of solutions: Global Logistics Network; Routing, Mobile, & Telematics; Transportation Management; Customs & Regulatory Compliance; Broker & Forwarder Enterprise Systems; and Global Trade Content. There are a lot of niche supply chain and logistics solutions in the market and Descartes is good at finding and acquiring them. MORE