Professional Services

Our outlook provides a distinctive analysis of seaport-centric industrial space in gateway U.S. real estate markets, and observes the influence of global economic drivers, including trade and cargo flows, socioeconomic and political factors, as well as port capacity and infrastructure investment.

While vying for business amidst flat cargo volume growth, U.S. seaports also face heated competition for post-Panama Canal expansion market share. JLL’s fifth-annual Seaport Outlook ranks the most prominent ports in the U.S., this year identifying the availability of industrial real estate surrounding the ports as one of three top features shared by successful ports.

The Global Air Freight Logistics industry primarily transports commercial cargo as well as time-sensitive freight and mail; however, because the industry moves goods throughout the world, it is dependent on the level of international trade between countries. For these reasons, industry research firm IBISWorld has updated a report on the Global Air Freight Logistics industry to its growing report collection.

It is essential to identify where you want to be, perform a current state analysis, and drive the organization and supply chain toward that new vision. In many cases, the journey takes 5 – 10 years. Indeed this is a long time to be in a state of change, but when planned and directed wisely, it’s not only bearable, it can be quite liberating for employees and for the organization.

Presentation by Larry Gross, Senior Consultant at FTR during the NITL Spring Policy Meetings.

Have you heard about the looming driver crisis? Or thought about how it could impact your transportation costs?In Mike Regan's 2:00 Minute Warning, he explains why this is an issue and how a potential crisis can be averted.

An Interview by Dustin Mattison with Edith Simchi-Levi, VP of Operations at OPS Rules Management Consultants, who discussed The Role of Analytics in Supply Chain and Operations Strategy.

A supply chain is a complex system with increasing business complexity. The analysis needs to facilitate a clear understanding of trade-offs embedded in day-to-day decision making. It is this clarity that we find missing in many teams that we work with, and it is for this reason we wrote this report.

The SHRM Foundation sponsored two recent studies on virtual teams. Dr. Ben Rosen of the University of North Carolina led a study on Training for Virtual Teams. Dr. Sumita Raghuram at Fordham University headed research on Human Resource Management in International Virtual Systems.

Lora Cecere over at Supply Chain Insights has been writing for some time about Conquering the Supply Chain Effective Frontier. Lora characterizes this as a focus on long term resiliency of the supply chain, not just short term cost efficiency.

Smith & Associates, the largest independent distributor of electronic components, recently announced new information from its Supply Chain Survey and Report. The latest results confirm the prominence of mobile, cloud and social media technologies as those that will continue to most influence the supply chain in the coming years.

A recent survey conducted by Smith & Associates provided significant insights into key issues affecting the semiconductor and electronics supply chain. The survey focused on top industry challenges faced by respondents; issues included counterfeiting, climate change, and various supply chain impacts.

Jim Tompkins, CEO of Tompkins International and noted supply chain expert, will reveal how retailers can tackle roadblocks and ensure successful strategies at the 2013 National Retail Federation (NRF) Global Supply Chain Summit opening keynote on May 20.

Inspiration often comes from the unique vision that a leader brings to the organization. The vision gets energized and transmitted to those who follow. There is an expectation of achievement, of success.

This paper discusses the business realities that drive DC design today. It examines how sensitivity analysis, modeling, and scenario planning can provide new design insights for the DC. In particular, it focuses on how such changes affect material handling equipment design and IT architecture within the warehouse.

Distribution center (DC) and material handling equipment (MHE) design must be flexible to meet the challenges of today’s changing business climate, according to a new paper by Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium.

Procurement leaders face new pressures in 2013 as companies focus on profitable growth and balance local agility with global scale in their value chains, according to new Procurement Key Issues Research from The Hackett Group.

Of all the Hackett Key Issues Studies conducted in the last five years, the 2013 edition shows the greatest year over- last change in priorities for both performance and capability-related issues. As companies adapt their operating models to the globalized business environment, business support functions are impacted in many ways.

Brick & mortar retailers in the grocery, mass and specialty categories have weathered tumultuous years with decreasing sales and increasing pressure from online peers. While e-commerce is not a fading trend, there exists widespread opportunity for improved performance of retail supply chains which will help brick & mortars compete in the new retail landscape.

The availability of downstream data has never been higher, but the efforts to use it are stalled. The answer lies in rethinking processes end-to-end to use the data. The answers fly in the face of traditional thinking and will require active stewardship by manufacturing leaders that understand why it is important to drive outside-in processes.