May 2014

The supply chain technology market is evolving toward platforms and equipment that optimize end-to-end processes. Four top technology analysts offer their unique insight into how the convergence of automation, data, and labor is moving us toward this utopian vision.

Best-in-class private fleets are utilizing a blend of technologies and services that are tailored to mitigate costs. Here’s how some of the most modern private fleets are being managed in the new era of tightening capacity and tougher regulation.

While many logistics professionals took a “wait and see” attitude toward labor management systems (LMS), today they’re hearing stories about significant productivity gains in exchange for a fairly low-cost software solution.

WMS lags behind other categories in cloud adoption, but is poised for growth as solutions scale up to meet the needs of larger sites.

As the EU slowly recovers from its economic doldrums, member nations vie for U.S. investment and logistical services while shippers increase their willingness to enlarge operations on the continent.

The structure of an equipment lease can have a significant impact on operations—and there are ways to ensure the impact is a positive one.

With the Panama Canal expansion planned to meet its deadline in late 2015, shippers are busy determining which top gateways will best serve their future needs. Meanwhile, even more strategic complexity has been introduced with further consolidation of ocean carrier services. Are niche ports ratcheting up their game to catch residual volume?

The terms “convergence” and “collaboration” have been popping up recently in discussions about improving logistics and supply chain management processes and the collection and synchronization of the data that can foster those improvements.

Private fleet operations are faced with more challenges than ever as the three major external cost drivers—hours of service, equipment modernization, and fuel cost—are clamoring for attention.

A growing number of manufacturing companies are warming up to sustainability—taking aggressive steps to soften and shrink their environmental footprints. However, buy-in from those companies’ suppliers has been less encouraging.

Cost conscious shippers understand that fuel comprises between 40 percent and 60 percent of ocean carriers’ operating costs, and bunker surcharges are a similarly important line item on a shipper’s own income statement.