Efforts to digitize the supply chain are well underway by many companies in response to the pandemic-triggered supply chain disruptions. Before adopting any new technologies and greater levels of automation, many organizations have taken to heart the lessons learned from the disruptions and put stronger planning and risk management practices in place. Think enabling greater […]

Everyone is having to make smarter use of automation and technology today given labor shortages, high inflation rates that cut into margins, and competitive pressure. In warehousing and fulfillment, the rush is on to further automate and digitize to optimize operations and gain efficiencies with labor and space resources. Demand for fast and accurate order […]

Methods for automating in the warehouse through software and material handling equipment—from tools such as predictive analytics to autonomous vehicles—are evolving fast with the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and its subset machine learning. The integration of AI into warehouse management systems (WMS), labor management systems and other planning software bring efficiencies, allowing warehouse managers […]

For several years, seven Class I railroads have operated in North America*. This changed in April when the Canadian Pacific (CP) purchased the Kansas City Southern (KCS) for $31 billion. On April 23, 2023 the two carriers merged into one entity called Canadian Pacific Kansas City. (CPKC). The merger was approved after a stiff competition […]

During the past 12 to 14 years, millions of words have been written about “big data” and how to manage it. The fact of the matter is that big data is simply a new term for an old condition. Almost from the first day that technology became widely used in managing the supply chain, we […]

Ask a dozen supply chain managers to define “3PL”, “4PL,” and “LLP” and you are likely to get a dozen different answers. We desperately need some standard definitions. Some time ago, as part of a supply chain course I was teaching I decided to introduce the class to the wonderful world of outsourcing. Almost immediately, […]

This week, President Biden approved the proposed huge oil drilling project in Alaska known as Willow. This was done over the protests surrounding its climate and environmental impacts, as well as the objections of those who view it as a broken promise by Biden . Quite probably as an offset to this approval, he has […]

The data suggests that businesses are now recognizing that most functional areas are too business-critical not to consider outsourcing                                                                             -Outsourcing Institute There is no standard response to the question, “What should be outsourced?” Exactly what the firm should outsource will depend on individual needs and strategies. Some will choose to contract for their entire […]

Tuesday night, President Biden delivered the annual State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress. As do most SOTU addresses, it summarized the accomplishments of the past year and outlined plans for the future. The 73-minute presentation contained 9191 words, a record in number of words, and second to Bill Clinton in […]

October 22 began the Chinese Lunar Year of the Rabbit. After the previous hectic Year of the Tiger, the Rabbit should bring us more peace and tranquility, as we continue to manage the many changes in consumer and labor behavior that have caused us supply chain management pain. But as we work through these issues […]