We’re less than a month into the new year and already some of my supply chain and logistics predictions for 2017 are starting to surface — namely, that we’ll see companies get more serious about eradicating slavery and conflict minerals from their supply chains, and that we’ll see a rise in cyber attacks, with supply chain and logistics operations becoming new targets. MORE

Supply chain management is a multi-faceted process with many stakeholders and even more moving parts. New technology aims to make the supply chain more efficient, yet investing in the wrong technology further complicates productivity while hindering profitability. Effective supply chain management offers numerous benefits for companies, so overcoming challenges to keep things running smoothly is a top priority for supply chain professionals. MORE

Friday in 5 – interesting news bits from around the supply chain horn, served up in one spot to keep you up to date. The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based chain said Monday that Jeff Burt will assume the title of senior vice president, grocery, fresh food and beverage on April 10. But her go-to source has become the online subscription service Stitch Fix, which lets her try on clothes at home and decide what to keep. MORE

Friday in 5 – interesting news bits from around the supply chain horn, served up in one spot to keep you up to date. The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based chain said Monday that Jeff Burt will assume the title of senior vice president, grocery, fresh food and beverage on April 10. But her go-to source has become the online subscription service Stitch Fix, which lets her try on clothes at home and decide what to keep. MORE

Nine questions about the topics on the supply chain agenda of a supply chain professional. By Helen Armstong (Supply Chain Movement). It consolidated Cargill’s global animal feed production and strengthened its internal supply chain capacity for food production and processing. What is your responsibility regarding the supply chain? GMS is a team of nine people based in Rotterdam, Shanghai and Minneapolis. MORE

Moving on, here’s the supply chain and logistics news that caught my attention this week: Amazon is granted a patent for using a subterranean network to deliver packages (GeekWire). Target invests in Minneapolis start-up that helps retailers monitor supply chains (Star Tribune). Source: Amazon patent filing. MORE

In my work with clients, customers bandy about the term “customer-centric supply chain.” Many of my clients talk about a customer-centric supply chain but rely on useless metrics from an annual survey or a net promoter score. MORE

Outbound volumes from Houston also fell 73%, but the rearrangement of supply chains, the difficulty of shipping in the flooded region, and increased seasonal demand in other parts of the country combined to create pockets of tight capacity that put extra pressure on truckload rates. Diesel prices shot up 15¢ due to the resulting disruption in the fuel supply. In the other direction, Chicago to Minneapolis jumped up 33¢ to $2.60 MORE