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E-commerce and omnichannel solutions are rapidly becoming the next frontier in the use of the Internet of Things and better order fulfillment processes. When the Internet first arrived, the idea of waiting for an extended period to receive a product was great, asserts Gordon Hellberg of Material Handling and Logistics. It opened up doors and gave millions access to products that were never available in local areas, regions, or other countries.
Today’s supply chain is inside-out. Companies wait and process orders. They cannot sense and respond to demand. It is a struggle. The processes are largely batch and out-of-cadence with the markets they serve. Increasingly, business requirements are outside-in. The channels are multi-tier and companies are more dependent on outsourcing. Systems are growing more complex.
“The No. 1 challenge among manufacturing companies is connecting sales and operations planning (S&OP) to operational plan/execution.” – Gartner Research 1. There are few competencies more core for a company than the ability to coordinate sales with supply chain in order to fill demand. But according to Gartner, today’s Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) isn’t solving the fundamental challenge of translating aggregated decisions into operational details.
At a recent dinner with friends, the topic of our conversation moved to the invincibility of autonomous vehicles and the unfortunate encounter between the bus and the Google car. It was my turn to be ‘the heart of the party’. Score one for rational thinking and mathematics. Fans of autonomous flying vehicles (a.k.a. drones), proponents of self-landing planes, enthusiasts of autonomous driving vehicles, and whatever other sorts of unmanned flying, sailing and flying things of the future – it’s ti
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.
by Alexa Cheater The past year has not been kind to our musical idols. Although many have passed, including David Bowie, BB King, Glen Frey and most recently Prince, we’ll always have a phenomenal body of musical works to keep them alive in our hearts and minds. When you hear these names and their music you don’t immediately think supply chain, but for all the supply chain nerds out there we’re always thinking, ‘what’s the impact on the supply chain?
As digitization continues to modify the global supply chain landscape, its unprecedented data sources and solutions will lead to not only the demise of disparate information systems, but to the rise of true, end-to-end, supply chain visibility. For suppliers and mid- to large-sized companies, supply chain visibility serves as the foundation for strategic decisions and tactical improvements across the entire transportation network.
As digitization continues to modify the global supply chain landscape, its unprecedented data sources and solutions will lead to not only the demise of disparate information systems, but to the rise of true, end-to-end, supply chain visibility. For suppliers and mid- to large-sized companies, supply chain visibility serves as the foundation for strategic decisions and tactical improvements across the entire transportation network.
The average Supply Chain management professional measures their Supply Chain by reviewing cost reduction. Is cost reduction all that there is in measuring Supply Chain performance? Sure, supply chain cost reduction is important in reducing the cost of goods sold (COGS) and increasing profit, but there are other measurements which should not be forgotten. 3 Key Metrics for Measuring Supply Chain Performance Beyond Cost Reduction.
This weekend, I decompressed and turned off my cell phone. The concept of being on and available all the time– 24/7– wears on me. I spent a beautiful, brisk, Saturday afternoon building monsters with my grandson, Jake, at the local children’s museum. (I find that even building blocks hold more possibilities today than when I was a child fifty-five years ago.
Managing change at the individual level is essential to realize benefits across the organization. Companies pick supply chain planning software based on the benefits to the business. But they install the software successfully—and realize the gains—when they convince users of those benefits. It’s the critical “last mile” of any implementation and can be one the hardest miles to overcome.
Organizations continue to look for areas of opportunity and inspiration on the quest to improve the operational efficiency of their supply chain. While technology capabilities are plentiful, for many, it’s not immediately obvious where one should start. What I have attempted to do here is provide a staged view on how I would categorize significant technology enablement, with one category potentially building upon the other.
by Alexa Cheater There’s no denying Amazon is a Goliath in the online marketplace. Selling more than 480 million products, a mix of its own items and products drop-shipped by others; its supply chain is a force to be reckoned with. I’ve written before about how the company is revolutionizing omni-channel strategies , but a recent post and infographic by MBA@Syracuse, the university’s online MBA program , shines a spotlight on just how customer-centric Amazon’s supply chain really is.
It’s rare that a shipper or third party logistics (3PL) provider has the luxury to sit back and roll out perfect operations and systems strategies, perfect improvement programs or perfect projects. Yet, many improvement approaches focus on that green field. Ideal transportation operations are difficult to achieve, but an ideal approach to improving transportation in the real world — finding real savings and adding value to other functional areas in the supply chain, or business more broadl
The benefits to the use of warehouse robots, loading, unloading and delivery are evident. Robots do not sleep. They do not drink. They do not complain, and they do not need a paycheck. Robots are rapidly becoming one of the most prevalent enterprises within the logistics industry. As explained by Steve Banker of Forbes magazine , Amazon has unleashed an army of robots in their distribution centers for the purposes of picking and packaging.
We’re huge fans of innovation in the logistics space. Which is why we’re taking our hats off to SpaceX for delivering 7,000 lbs of cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) this week using a reusable rocket – the Falcon 9. As a result, the launch costs “only” $90 million (of which $200,000 went to fuel). Given that the ISS orbits at about 250 miles, that comes out to about $50,000 mile/ton.
“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.
In last week’s blog we talked about the fundamental challenge of connecting tactical S&OP down to detailed execution. Here we look in the other direction and examine the challenge of connecting tactical S&OP up to the strategic plan. S&OP creates a common framework and view of the business, so different departments with different drivers and measures are able to efficiently communicate.
Rwanda is a tiny country in Africa, the fourth smallest to be exact, but one making giant strides in embracing the latest technology. In fact, in some cases it is leapfrogging many first world countries in the race to do business, smarter, cheaper, better. Rwanda is at a distinct disadvantage. It’s small (about the size of Maryland), landlocked, and mountainous.
by Melissa Clow This guest post comes to us from Argentus Supply Chain Recruiting , a boutique recruitment firm specializing in Supply Chain Management. This week, we want to highlight a fascinating survey by global management consultancy Deloitte. Titled Human Capital Trends 2016 , the survey solicited 7000 responses from executives at 130 countries about a vast array of workforce topics including organizational design, hiring, leadership, and other issues, with the goal of assessing how the 21
One of my supply chain and logistics predictions for this year was that the transportation management system (TMS) market will become more barbell-shaped ( mirroring what is happening in the third-party logistics industry ). “We’re seeing the TMS market move in two opposite directions,” I wrote back in December. “Some solutions are becoming broader, more integrated, and feature-rich (multi-mode, multi-geography, complex optimization), while others are offering more limited capabilities, but with
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
This month China's Chang’an Automobile Engineering & Research Institute conducted a 2,000-kilometer test run of two driverless cars, The Hindu reported. The cars performed well under simple road conditions on urban driveways and highways but still needed human assistance to navigate situations such as pulling into gas stations and going through toll booths.
In ARC‘s recent Supply Chain Visibility & Collaboration Study, we found that the supply chain visibility & collaboration market is the fastest growing supply chain market. Over a year ago, ARC started to come across large corporations investing in supply chain control towers as a way of taking their supply chain program to the next level.
As world affairs go, the most recent Global Liner Shipping conference in London did not stir up much interest in the global news cycle. The Panama papers were still hogging the headlines and competing hard against dissections of mishaps in the private lives of British politicians. And let’s not forget the endless discussions on the subject of Brexit.
Congratulations to Walmart’s Carriers of the Year for 2015. Walmart selected the carriers based on their “dedication to customer service and a commitment to creating innovative solutions in an evolving, yet extremely important, business.”. I think it’s no surprise that all of Walmart’s selected carriers are on One Network’s Real Time Value Network , the consumer-driven platform for supply chain and logistics leaders.
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.
by Jonathan Matthews When talking about exciting new advancements that are coming to the supply chain, the discussion will always usually end up focused around 3D printing. Rightly so, as the 3D printer has opened up new opportunities never before possible in the supply chain. Rather than having to wait for a specialized part, companies can now print the part they need right on site.
For the last couple of decades transportation management systems (TMS) have revolutionized supply chains, helping companies streamline their logistics processes, achieve greater visibility into their operations and save significant dollars on transportation. But even as more and more businesses get wise to the advantages of a TMS, many large, multi-national corporations have remained on the sidelines, unwilling to believe in the existence of a truly global TMS that could meet the needs of comple
Bluetooth technologies seem to predate the use of the Internet of things (IoT) in society. We can all remember when the first flip phones could send short media files to friends for use as ringtones. However, Bluetooth technologies are creating a subset of the IoT, expanding its benefits and use among shipping and logistics providers. Before deciding to forgo the use Bluetooth-enabled technologies, logistics providers need to think about the driving forces behind them and how they will further b
When it comes to bulk shipments of commodities, strategic planning is even more important than day to day operations. Without careful advance planning, logistics personnel can never hope to effectively manage logistics operations when they are stuck with a suboptimal supply chain network.
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.
“The potential for the Internet of Things is huge,” writes Thomas Wadlow. “From water sensors that remind you to water … Continued. The post The Internet of Things will Change the World Once Devices Start Communicating appeared first on Enterra Solutions.
As every year, Emerald has recently announced the winners of the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2016. Several SCM-related articles have been awarded this year: A set of awarded articles falls into the area of sustainability, including articles by Tseng et al. , Tachizawa et al. , Signori et al. , Touboulic & Walker and Jaggernath & Khan.
by Melissa Clow Supply chain functions have often been segmented into siloed activities specific to functional goals and that reflect organizational structure. Over the years, software has been designed, developed and deployed in the same isolated manner. In contrast to this approach, a supply chain planning (SCP) system of record (SOR) enables a company to ‘create, manage, link, align, collaborate and share its planning data across a supply chain’. 1.
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