Trends

Global 3PL Mallory Alexander International Logistics has examined the relative strengths and weaknesses of the transport networks in three major trading nations and points to the complexity U.S. shippers must deal with in the coming years.

Before entering this vibrant marketplace, trade experts advise logistics managers to conduct a careful examination of the region’s transportation and regulatory infrastructure.

For supply chain professionals, the challenges multiply with each passing day. Like everyone else, I see disruptive events such as natural disasters, security breaches, technology failures, political unrest and economic instability in the news 24/7, and these events are greatly affecting today’s global supply chains.

Within UPS, Scott Abell is known as Mr. Peak. He spends the entire year obsessing about Peak Season, the busiest time at the world's largest shipping company. This Peak Season, UPS will deliver an estimated 300 packages per second. So how does it all work? Bloomberg Businessweek takes a look at how the company prepares for the holiday season.

Many U.S. companies sign contracts with Taiwanese firms to have their products manufactured (mainly in China), and then shipped to the United States where they are sold by U.S. firms under their own brand name. In many instances, the level of value-added that occurs in China (often it simply involves assemblage) can be quite small relative to the overall cost/price of the final product.

For companies across all industries, 2013 brought a number of challenges that significantly impacted supply chains and presented even greater uncertainty around the state of the transportation industry. Shippers were forced to adapt to a slowly recovering economy and increased regulatory mandates, compounded by the continued pressure to cut costs and maintain service levels – all while effectively planning for the future.

Today the U.S. and the region are facing a changing international landscape for trade and investment. It brings new risks but also opportunities to strengthen our economic recovery. Nafta at 20 needs Nafta 2.0—a new version of expanded trade and cooperation to help the three member nations better compete with Asia and Europe.

Reshoring is important for rebuilding the US economy and has become appropriate for making products here that will be sold here. Some products have customers only in the US or Western Europe, so why not produce here?

Gamification is the process of applying game theory to everyday life — including business life. The concept is simple: Redesign everyday routines and tasks — in everything from employee training and recruiting to product testing and sales force management — to be more game-like and interactive, ultimately enhancing work experiences to be more engaging, fulfilling, fun, and productive.

We live in a time when talent management tools, the nature of work, and the needs and desires of the future workforce are all converging in a way that enable us to reimagine the ways we hire, train, manage and engage employees. Those that take advantage of this convergence will win the future.

I would be shocked if a companies like UPS and FedEx aren't considering this," says Ryan Calo, a law professor specializing in drones and robotics. "If you want to compete in logistics and delivery, drones and unmanned robots have to be part of the conversation about where things are headed."

Amazon's plans for using drones to deliver packages is just one example of the potential this technology offers consumers, and a reflection of the ingenuity of American business.

Jeff Bezos says we're four or five years from drones being able to deliver small packages right to your house, largely because the company has to work with the FAA to make sure it's legally allowed to run the Prime Air program.

You need to ship before your customer places an order. Some of you may be thinking that this strategy is more ridiculous than the original customer’s unrealistic expectations, and it may be, but there are ways to make it work.

Whether they are opening new DCs, improving inventory control, or turning to 3PLs to improve processes, survey respondents tell that there’s no one prominent way to keep costs in check while simultaneously improving service levels.

Implementing a Big Data project might make sense for your organization. But before you start investing in the time and resources required, make sure the effort will ultimately enable you to differentiate between the beneficial “signals” and the distracting "noise.”

Apple still has the trust of the market and this is a perfect ammunition to defeat competition. What the company needs is lower its cost and up the quality of its products and the market will do the rest.

Our warehouse/DC engineer examines how you can transform your traditional warehouse environment and implement sustainable strategies that benefit your business, your customers, and your planet.

Despite the difficulties of monitoring trends in an industry as large and diverse as trucking, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) continues to proactively monitor the challenges facing the trucking industry.

The ripple effect of small changes in customer demand are magnified upstream through a supply chain all the way from the customer to the retailer to distributor to manufacturer. It is so named because of the resemblance to a bullwhip as the variability of demand increases sharply when you progress up the supply chain.