January, 2019

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Reinventing Retail in a Multichannel World

MIT Supply Chain

The liquidation woes of Sears Holdings, owner of iconic retailer Sears and Kmart, underscore the dramatic decline in bricks-and-mortar retailing in the face of booming e-commerce sales and shifting consumer buying patterns. But as attendees of the recent MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (MIT CTL) Future of Retail roundtable heard, high street retailing is […].

Retail 82
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Tackling Item Complexity

Supply Chain Shaman

Personalization. Market microsegmentation. New product launch. There are many good reasons to add items to product portfolios, but companies are better at adding than eliminating items. Discontinuing products is a struggle with tension between supply chain and marketing functions. Why is this an important topic? The lack of product rationalization results in the long tail of the supply chain with increasing complexity.

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Modeling brewing capacity to drive cost savings at HEINEKEN

AIMMS

Heineken is one of the world’s best-known beers. But for HEINEKEN International, the famed lager is only one of its products. The company owns more than 165 breweries around the world. It operates in 70 countries with a workforce of 80,000, producing over 300 specialty beers and ciders at international, regional and local levels. Planning such a large operation efficiently is no doubt a challenge, but HEINEKEN’s quest for efficiency started in the company’s early years.

Modeling 293
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To do: Prepare supply chain for natural disaster

Kinaxis

by Mike McAllister “It will never happen to my supply chain,” said the first planner. “We’ll sort it out when the time comes,” said the second planner. Perhaps these fictional quotes resonate a familiar refrain. After all, on the list of things to do when managing your supply chain on a daily basis, ‘prepare for natural disaster’ likely sits far down the list, somewhere between ‘submit expenses’ and ‘organize file folders.

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Speeding Robotics Automation with AI

The $53 trillion manufacturing economy in the US is undergoing a major automation paradigm shift due to Artificial Intelligence (AI). Thanks to new practical frameworks, automation projects that were once impossible or inefficient to implement are now being fast-tracked, and robotics automation is becoming increasingly relevant to a growing number of users and scenarios.

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4 Tips To Cut Costs In A Warehouse

GlobalTranz

Maximizing profits is the main point of running a business. If you’re running a warehouse, this will probably be your main goal, too. Competition is plentiful, and you’re always on the lookout for a way to get ahead. But how do you make bank without harming productivity or the quality of your work? It’s as difficult as it sounds. But, with a well-planned strategy, you too can reduce expenses in your workplace.

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The State of Digital Freight: The 4×4 Blueprint for Freight 2020

Freightos

As we enter a new year, it’s a great time to look back at how far we’ve come as an industry, set our next goalposts, and map out where we should be as an industry by 2020. The journey to digitize freight, while initially off to a slow start, has gained momentum in the last two or three years. But the road to true digitization is long and winding. We have a ways to go and the world won’t necessarily wait for us to catch up, especially with external entrants to the industry that will certainly try

Freight 166
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Where Would We Be Without All of the BullS&%T?

Supply Chain Shaman

It is 1:00 AM in Antwerp. I cannot sleep. As I stare at t he keyboard sitting on my desk, my view is the train station draped in darkness. The quiet streets await the coming of the soft snow. It seldom snows in Belgium: the city sits in anticipation. I hate jet lag. There is nothing worse than trying to sleep when you cannot, and you know that you should.

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Tata Steel Makes Strides Towards an Autonomous Supply Chain Powered by Optimization Technology

AIMMS

Tata Steel is one of the world’s largest steel producers. In fact, it’s very likely that Tata Steel plays a role in your life today, by providing raw material for the car you drive, the house you live in and the roads you drive through. The company was established in India as Asia’s first integrated private steel company in 1907. Today, the steel manufacturing leader has an ambitious digital transformation agenda and is leveraging AIMMS technology to optimize operations in its home country.

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Unilever and Kinaxis initiate engagement to manage planning

Kinaxis

by Jay Muelhoefer. To stay ahead of rapidly changing customer needs within the consumer packaged goods industry, companies are turning to supply chain solutions to better balance changes in demand distribution complexity, while increasing turnarounds. With the ability to plan for exceptions and run multiple scenarios, planners can immediately see, understand, and proactively react to how changes affect the supply chain from one end to the other.

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Tail Inventory: The Silent Cost Driver You Shouldn't Ignore

Learn how centralizing slow-moving SKUs can help reduce fulfillment costs by $300M+ while boosting fulfillment efficiency.

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What Are Dark Warehouses and What Do I Need to Know?

GlobalTranz

Demand to increase efficiency in warehouse management is at an all-time high. Warehouse managers also face challenges with finding and retaining the right talent, as well as added pressure from customers and shareholders alike. One of the possible ways warehouse managers can improve efficiency is through the implementation of dark warehouses. Let’s take a closer look at dark warehouses and what they mean for the future of warehouse management.

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IVALUA NOW 2019 reveals innovations that will transform The Art of Procurement

ivalua

Premier event for Procurement & Supply Chain practitioners will showcase latest innovations in Artificial Intelligence and extensive line-up of industry leaders. Ivalua, a leading provider of global Spend Management Cloud solutions, today announced the agenda for its marquee annual event series, Ivalua NOW 2019. The event will bring over 1000 procurement, supply chain and finance leaders together at 2 locations, April 10-12 at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris and April 29 – May 1 at the Ren

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Transforming the Construction Materials Supply Chain

Talking Logistics

If you stop to think about it, the construction industry supply chain is all around us — it’s the roads we drive on, our houses and commercial buildings, and all sorts of other infrastructure. But when you take a closer look at how this supply chain works, you realize that there is a lot of waste and inefficiency. Simply put, there’s probably no other supply chain that is in more dire need of transformation than the construction industry supply chain.

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Where Would We Be Without All of the BullS&%T?

Supply Chain Shaman

It is 1:00 AM in Antwerp. I cannot sleep. As I stare at my keyboard sitting on my desk, my view is the train station draped in darkness. The quiet st reets await the coming of the soft snow. It seldom snows in Belgium: the city sits in anticipation. I hate jet lag. There is nothing worse than trying to sleep when you cannot, and you know that you should.

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Tariffs on the Table: How to Brief the Board and C‑Suite With Confidence

“What should we do about the tariffs?” There’s no straightforward answer — every leader has a different expectation. CFOs want numbers. COOs want action. CEOs want strategy. And supply chain and procurement leaders need to be ready with the right response — fast. That’s why GEP has created a simple three-part framework that will help CPOs and CSCOs brief the board and C-suite with clarity and confidence.

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What are supply chain professionals using to make network decisions? 

AIMMS

Part I in our series on assessing your network design’s maturity . How does you r network design compare to others ? We recently created a quiz to help supply chain professionals answer this question. Our goal was to help you identify potential improvement opportunities by answering a few questions and get a temperature check on the current landscape of network design solutions.

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"Recreating the environment in which historical demand occurred"

ToolsGroup

Editor's Note: Starting today we will begin publishing this blog once every two weeks. At last year’s Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference analyst Tom Enright summarized the essence of successful demand forecasting with the following statement: “ Demand forecast accuracy depends on your ability to recreate the environment in which historical demand occurred.”.

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Trucking & Freight Management Trends to Know in 2019

GlobalTranz

Freight management is crucial for companies around the globe. Effective freight management reduces delays for consumers, helps companies offer Amazonesque shipping benefits and much more. Shippers that wish to succeed in 2019 need to know the top trucking and freight management trends for 2019 and how they will affect shipping practices, global trade, last-mile , and even drivers.

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Technology alone isn’t the answer to your supply chain future

Kinaxis

by Alison Crawford. Do you get the feeling you’re surrounded by conflict and uncertainty lately? You’re not alone if you do. If we had to label 2018, it would be the year of “us versus them.” Political parties, men and women, humans and robots, line of business and supply chain operations, Red Sox and Yankees. If the 2018 climate was about conflict, the supply chain equivalent would be about the uncertainty created from increasing complexity and volatility.

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How to Modernize Manufacturing Without Losing Control

Speaker: Andrew Skoog, Founder of MachinistX & President of Hexis Representatives

Manufacturing is evolving, and the right technology can empower—not replace—your workforce. Smart automation and AI-driven software are revolutionizing decision-making, optimizing processes, and improving efficiency. But how do you implement these tools with confidence and ensure they complement human expertise rather than override it? Join industry expert Andrew Skoog as he explores how manufacturers can leverage automation to enhance operations, streamline workflows, and make smarter, data-dri

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Ivalua and Axbility Consulting partner to help companies create value through successful procurement transformation

ivalua

Axbility Consulting, a subsidiary of Ivalua European partner Axys Consultants, reinforces Ivalua’s capabilities to empower today’s Procurement & Supply Chain Leaders. NYC, NY – January 23, 2019 – Ivalua, a leading provider of global Spend Management Cloud solutions, and Axbility Consulting announced today that they have signed a partnership agreement welcoming Axbility Consulting to the Ivalua Alliance Partner Program.

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CPG Brands: The Growing Importance of Agile Customization

Talking Logistics

There is a lot of discussion in the marketplace about disruption, transformation and the rapid pace of change in supply chain management, but if you’re in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) or contract packaging and manufacturing industries, you know this all too well. Simply put, yesterday’s rules for success are no longer valid in today’s market. So, what are the new rules for success?

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What are supply chain professionals using to make network decisions? 

AIMMS

Part I in our series on assessing your supply chain network’s maturity . How does you r supply chain network design compare to others ? We recently created a quiz to help professionals answer this question. Our goal was to help you identify potential improvement opportunities by answering a few questions and get a temperature check on the current landscape of network design solutions.

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Supply Chain Planning Predictions for 2019 and Beyond

Logility

It is that time of year once again when many of us pontificate on what 2019 and beyond will bring. Personally I hope for World peace, the end to hunger, a cleaner/greener Earth, and lower taxes. Well, maybe someday, but I doubt many would buy into those as predictions for 2019. The field of supply chain planning is changing quickly with the need to reduce costs to meet corporate objections, increase speed to meet customer expectations, plan for changing regulations and trade tariffs, while strug

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Breaking The Commerce Bottleneck: Your SAP Exit Plan Starts Now

Speaker: Jason Cottrell and Gireesh Sahukar

Retailers know the clock is ticking–legacy SAP Commerce support ends in 2026. Legacy platforms are becoming a liability burdened by complexity, rigidity, and mounting operational costs. But modernization isn’t just about swapping out systems, it’s about preparing for a future shaped by real-time interactions, AI powered buying assistants, and flexible commerce architecture.

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The Top 10 Supply Chain Blogs of 2018

GlobalTranz

Today, we continue our series highlighting our top blog posts of the year! We always enjoy the end of the year as it allows us to see what our readers really love. That then allows us to create more of that kind of content for our award-winning blog This year we will feature the top blog posts by page views in the following categories: Manufacturing , Logistics , Freight , and the Supply Chain.

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The Dispatch Report + Full Product Launch | January 2019, Issue No. 10

Shipchain

Dear Community, If you care about our company and/or the freight and logistics industry (which we really hope you do!), then this is the email you’ve been waiting for. Because today, we have something extra special for you. No, it’s not some announcement of an announcement about an announcement or any blockchain hype. It’s better. Much, much better– Approximately two weeks ago, we fully launched our platform and have begun selling!

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What You Need for an Unbeatable Inbound Freight Management Strategy

Kuebix

Managing inbound freight is one of the most crucial parts of running a successful supply chain, but the fact is… it’s hard! Each supplier is likely to have different characteristics and the receiving company can be negatively affected by suppliers’ inefficiencies such as low levels of visibility, lack of standardization and poor communication. When companies […].

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The Digitization of Freight

Talking Logistics

The digitization of freight is one topic that has generated a lot of industry buzz and animated discussion over the past couple of years, but also a lot of confusion and questions. What exactly is freight digitization? Is it a disruptive force in the industry or a transformational one? And what actions should companies take to leverage the opportunities inherent in the digitization revolution?

Freight 133
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Revolutionizing Hiring: Remote-Insourcing That Slashes Turnover & Training Costs!

What is Remote-Insourcing? Sounds like an oxymoron, right? Not anymore. Remote-Insourcing isn’t outsourcing—it’s a revolutionary staffing model that lets our clients fill key entry-level positions with top-tier, loyal, long-term talent, integrated seamlessly into their businesses—just like local employees but without the turnover or W2 HR hassles. With under 4% unwanted attrition, you train once and keep the same team for years.

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Modeling brewing capacity to drive cost savings at HEINEKEN

AIMMS

Heineken is one of the world’s best-known beers. But for HEINEKEN International, the famed lager is only one of its products. The company owns more than 165 breweries around the world. It operates in 70 countries with a workforce of 80,000, producing over 300 specialty beers and ciders at international, regional and local levels. Planning such a large operation efficiently is no doubt a challenge, but HEINEKEN’s quest for efficiency started in the company’s early years.

Modeling 156
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What challenges must today’s automotive manufacturers overcome?

DELMIA Quintiq

Some of the most innovative developments currently being delivered by automotive manufacturers include new drive technologies, autonomous driving and connected cars. Fulfilling the demand for innovative models relies on a flexible network of internal and external partners. Even though these networks are already well established, the potential for optimization is still significant.

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The Top 2019 Logistics Trends Shippers Should Know

GlobalTranz

The state of the logistics industry is evolving. 2019 is shaping up to be a year in which warehouses and distribution centers continue the development and implementation of technology-based processes. Technology allows shippers to work smarter, faster and with fewer human resources, and new technologies, such as drones and augmented reality, are continuing the process, reports Victoria Kickham of Logistics Brief.