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That means consumers everywhere are making resolutions, joining gyms, journaling, cutting back on alcohol and calories, and engaging in other self-improvement activities. And, since the cost of processing a return averages about 30% of the products original price , this storm of product returns is every retailers nightmare.
The traditional metrics of excellence cost efficiency, on-time delivery while still important, are no longer sufficient in an era defined by volatility, complexity and political changes. This approach has enabled some organizations to reduce inventory by significant amounts while actually improving service levels.
Companies importing and exporting goods, be it finished retail products, manufacturing components or materials, now face substantial cost and price pressures that squeeze margins and force difficult pricing, sourcing, operations and distribution decisions. The result?
in 2022, costing retailers $101.91 The customer instead sent in used or different merchandise, empty shoeboxes, or even packages that never arrived at the warehouse to claim the returns – based on advice from organized groups on messaging apps. To make matters worse, returns fraud is also on the rise. Last year, 13.7%
They need to offer low-cost or free shipping and returns, while also protecting margins. In the case of product returns which amounted to a staggering $890 billion in 2024 the warehouse needs to move with lightning speed and precision to capture the resale opportunity and minimize waste. Increasing reverse logistics complexity.
Leaders in logistics today: there are pressures to reduce labor costs, exceed service levels, balance inventory in the right locations to match demand, collaborate with suppliers and carriers, and connect all your decisions among your operations. Waste increases your cost and reduces first time quality and your customers’ trust.”
In the immediate, companies are stockpiling products , moving warehouses, and updating production schedules to keep costs as low as possible. Teams from supply planning all the way to warehouse management and transportation must share the same data. Often, the cost of speed is efficiency.
Not only does multi-echelon inventory optimization, driven by AI and ML, avoid large capital investments in parts and materials, but it also decreases warehousing resources, container space and waste. Any surprise — like stockouts, or products that weren’t allocated correctly — can lead to much higher transportation costs.
Everything from changes in supplier availability to geopolitical issues force companies to update their plans to avoid risk and extra costs. The two ways to make a company more efficient are by streamlining operations or reducing mistakes. Modernizing the supply chain to be powered by AI tools improves both simultaneously.
A rise in nearshoring and away from single-source dependency The pandemic was a wake-up call that exposed the fragility of globally interconnected supply chains and the risks of over-reliance on distant suppliers and single-source strategies. The result was a shift and acceleration towards nearshoring, reshoring, and source diversification.
The right planning and scheduling decisions can be made in seconds, powered by AI, based on achieving predefined cost, service, utilization, sustainability and other targets. The customer reports there are no additional costs caused by last-minute rescheduling, since the Blue Yonder solution supports fact-based, profitable decisions.
Our commitment to innovation, excellence, and customer satisfaction has gotten us recognized in Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), Transportation Management Systems (TMS), and Supply Chain Planning (SCP) analyst evaluations. We were able to make better decisions via automation, while also eliminating days of manual effort.
The UK-based economics research consultancyestimates that the keep-or-return game and other serial returner behaviors are costing retailers about $7 billion annually in the UK alone. Fashion retailers like Zara, H&M and ASOS are now charging returns fees to customers to discourage hauls and offset the costs of reverse logistics.
Warehouse Ops Agent , which will fully brief you on the challenges for the day across picking, labor and inventory. In addition, Nunzio also announced an entirely new class of Cognitive Mobile Apps, including apps for Replenishment, Warehouse Management, MerchOps, Manufacturing, and Space Planning.
In the age of Amazon, consumers want customized fulfillment and delivery options, with fast service at a low cost. They need to monitor changing conditions in real time — like freight rates, carrier and warehouse space availability, and order volatility — and always make decisions that balance service and costs.
Our platform encompasses Transportation, Warehouse and Order Management, supports an n-tier network for visibility and collaboration with customers, suppliers and carriers alike and provides next generation planning capabilities from detailed Scheduling to strategic processes like IBP and network design.
About 30% believe AI significantly boosts productivity and cutscosts. By implementing advanced forecasting and production sequencing powered by AI, Swire Coca-Cola reduced production changeovers by 5.2%, decreased changeover times by 6%, and significantly improved market responsiveness.
Gartner has recognized Blue Yonder as a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems 1 report for the 14th consecutive time 2. Depth and Breadth of Features Blue Yonder Warehouse Management is the culmination of decades of customer-centric development.
Concerns that may have seemed specific to the warehouse extend to transportation and logistics. One takeaway from Tuesdays keynote speaker, Azeem Azhar, was for everyone from executives to warehouse workers to change how they imagined AI. A task that would have taken days, or even months, was cut down exponentially.
Getting shipments from the production facility or warehouse to the retail store or the consumers doorstep is a lot more complicated than it used to be. While these kinds of events are hard to predict and impossible to eliminate, modern transportation management system (TMS) solutions can help. There is good news, though.
Recently, theres a growing trend among retailers to simply discard some product returns on receipt, because the cost of processing and re-merchandising them is greater than the potential profit. There are a number of practical actions fashion retailers are already taking to reduce returns. In the United States alone, every year 2.6
They must find faster, more efficient strategies to surgically and profitably match supply with fluctuating demand and ensure operational excellence across their value chain. Did we mention inflation and rising cost pressures? Today, life sciences companies face an entirely new competitive landscape.
We believe this recognition highlights the Completeness of our Vision and our Ability to Execute by providing cutting-edge technology to address the complex and evolving needs of our customers. Learn how Bayer is reducing Global Transportation costs by 4% across 70+ countries. Read more about Arcadia Colds journey.
Based on an increasingly omni-channel world, these systems are challenged to handle the combination of downstream demand variability, upstream supplier variability, and the risk that comes with leveraging global sourcing and supply chain strategies. A supply chain goes deeper than just buyers and sellers within a transaction.
From medium-term production planning spanning several months to short-term sequencing into individual production lots, manufacturers are challenged to optimize their resources and capacities to achieve the best possible utilization, while also meeting cost and service targets. A cloud delivery model is essential here, as well.
And its not only the lost sales opportunity that hurts, but also the high operations costs associated with returns, estimated to be about 30% of a products original price. By eliminating labels and having consumers initiate returns digitally, the process is faster and more seamless for the shopper, but also more value-added for the retailer.
Supply chain networks At the most fundamental level, organizations must communicate with everyone from manufacturing and warehousing to transportation partners, freight forwarders, distributors, retailers, and others. So, what is the solution? First of all, there have to be benefits for all participants.
Reduced Operational Costs: Retailers can save on costs associated with warehousing, shipping, and customer service, as the third-party sellers handle these aspects. This can attract a wider customer base and increase sales potential.
Today, most organizations have come to outsource various supply chain functions to focus on their core capabilities, improve costs, or expand their global footprint. In the 1950s organizations like Toyota popularized strategies like Lean Manufacturing and Kaizen to helo optimize these expanding ecosytems.
Every year, retail professionals gather to learn from their peers, see and hear about the latest strategies and technological innovations in the retail space. Aging tech stacks and data silos are costing retailers billions of dollars in inefficiencies and missed revenue opportunities.
As volatility rises and economic concerns expand, todays supply chains face a new reality: every decision must be faster, smarter, and more cost-effective than the last. Margin pressure Rising labor, material, and shipping costs require intelligent, end-to-end efficiencynot just patchwork fixes.
Adapting intelligently to the specific circumstances of each return enables significant costreductions, and can make the end-to-end process much simpler, ensuring that more returned goods end up resold. Both store staff and warehouse staff need a digitized system that makes their decision-making process clear and easy.
The Trump administration has introduced a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports, a 10% tariff on Chinese goods, and additional duties aimed at the European Union, India and Japan under a “reciprocal tariff” strategy. If enacted, these tariffs could increase the cost of new vehicle models by $4,000 to $10,000.
For example, with 40% of manufacturers planning to increase their domestic sourcing , LSPs will see shifts in transportation and warehousing that might create excess capacity in some regions, while stretching capacity in others. Rates and costs may skyrocket as supplier networks shift. Humans wont miss a new tariff or other disruption.
Amid this volatility, its increasingly difficult to predict finished vehicle logistics demand, let alone optimize logistics for cost and service. In a more stable market environment, OEMs and their transportation providers might have had a more distant relationship, centered on rate negotiation.
Managing yard and warehouse operations has long been one of the thornier aspects of transportation logistics. Yards are a choke point between transportation and warehousing — and wherever you have choke points, you have a higher risk of inefficiencies that drive up labor costs, detention fees and delivery commitments.
Driving down costs across the supply chain is a key goal for third-party logistics (3PL) businesses, particularly during inflationary pressure and labor market shortages. Sophisticated returns processes provide LSPs with immediate cost-saving benefits by freeing staff time, reducing transportation costs, and boosting warehouse efficiency.
Dan Gilmore is a recognized thought leader in WMS, with experience prior to his role at Softeon as the founder of Supply Chain Digest, CMO at RedPrairie (now BlueYonder) and as lead WMS analyst at META Group (later acquired by Gartner). Warehouse Management System (WMS) , 2.) Warehouse Execution System (WES) and 3.)
Here are the trends our Blue Yonder Industry Strategy team sees for the upcoming quarter: Supply Chain and Technology Supply chains will remain volatile with escalating disruptions as a result of extreme weather effects and unrest across the globe. Speak to one of our Industry Strategy leaders today! Reach out at blueyonder.com.
The changing warehouse technology landscape is driving higher adoption of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and other new automation. How can companies unlock opportunities for greater efficiency, performance and costreductions across the warehouse? What are the current warehouse automation trends that you are seeing?
More LSPs are now turning to automation as a proactive strategy to navigate an increasingly complex and disruption-prone environment. Implementing advanced automation technologies can achieve significant costreductions in transportation and logistics operations, alongside improvements in asset utilization and operational throughput.
alone, the carbon dioxide cost of returns is equivalent to the output of 3 million cars. However, there are ways for retailers to implement both cost-effective and sustainable returns. These unsold items often pile up in warehouses, taking up valuable space and ultimately ending up in landfills. In the U.S.
Regional distribution centers are still critical nodes, but the need to locate products closer to the customer is driving supply chain executives to look to other strategies. The goal is high throughput at the lowest possible cost. This rapid shift to e-commerce and the customer-centric focus caused a reassessment of supply chains.
To stay competitive, automotive companies must adopt this approach, continuously delivering cutting-edge features and functionalities. This results in longer lead times, reduced fulfillment levels, and declines in quality standards and customer satisfaction.
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