The presence of risk in the supply chain is not new by any means. In fact, there is some degree of uncertainty in everything we do, either personally or professionally. Lately however, there has been an increasing amount of emphasis placed on risk in the supply chain. In the past month I have seen three […]
In one of his brushes with re-engineering, Dilbert pleaded, “If you let me keep my job, I’ll do the work of ten people. Specifically, it would be the ten people in our strategic planning group. They don’t do much.” When it comes to strategic planning for logistics outsourcing, Dilbert probably could do the work of […]
As I was considering subjects for this piece, I received an E Mail announcing a seminar scheduled for next month on the use of blogs, social networking sites, gated communities and microsites in consulting. Once again I was moved to ask myself the question, “Doesn’t anyone talk anymore?” I wrote on this subject some ten […]
On January 9, Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx announced that after years of controversy and debate, Mexican truckers would be allowed to operate on U.S. highways. Up until now, most have been limited to the commercial zones along the U.S. – Mexican border. To understand the real significance of this, one must look back to […]
On January 12, Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx outlined plans for the issuance of a 30 – year blueprint for the overhaul of the country’s transportation systems. The object of the study will be to develop a comprehensive national transportation system, rather than the collection of individual systems based primarily on the wants and needs […]
According to Chinese astrology, on February 19, 2015, we will welcome the Year of the Sheep, sometimes referred to as the year of the Ram or Goat. As we enter this New Year, many supply chain managers will find themselves in a much better position than they were this time last year. The soon to […]
Last week President Obama signed into law the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015. One of the last pieces of legislation passed by the 113th Congress, this 1700 plus page bill allocated $1.1 trillion to keep the federal government open for business until September of 2015. Except for those of us working in, […]
As 2014 draws to a close, supply chain managers still find themselves plagued with some of the obstacles to maintaining a satisfactory level of customer service at a reasonable cost to their firms and their customers. Such things as fewer internal resources, driver shortages, infrastructure issues, and government regulations continue to have a negative impact […]
The grand opening the global shipping community has been waiting for ten years will remain closed for another year. The completion of the $5.3 billion expansion of the Panama Canal scheduled for right about now has been delayed until late 2015, with the ribbon-cutting in early 2016. Actually, that is not too bad, considering the […]
For several years, one of the major concerns of supply chain managers and much of the general public has been the deteriorating transportation infrastructure in the country. The major problem has been not so much the recognition of the road and bridge issue but the fact that Congress has consistently failed to provide a satisfactory […]