PwC

The first quarter of 2014 did not pick up where the fourth quarter of 2013 left off when it comes to merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the transportation and logistics sectors, according to PwC US’s report, “Intersections: First Quarter 2014 global transportation and logistics industry mergers and acquisitions analysis.”

Everyone knows the importance of both Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) and risk management. Integrating them both makes for a winning strategy.

PwC Manufacturing Barometer indicates hiring plans remain consistent, concerns about available pool of qualified workers on the rise.

In 2014, we expect the transportation and logistics sector to experience 10.5 percent growth in announced volume and 15.5 percent growth in announced value compared with 2013.

The fourth quarter of 2013 was robust by recent historical standards, with the second highest quarterly deal volume and value totals of the last three years.

Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the transportation and logistics sector in the fourth quarter of 2013 fared well, posting the second highest quarterly deal volume and value in the last three years, even though 2013 overall deal volume and value did not fare nearly as well, according to Pricewaterhouse Coopers’ (PwC) report, “Intersections: Fourth Quarter 2013 global transportation and logistics industry mergers and acquisitions analysis.”

Supply chain management is the hot new MBA, according to the Wall Street Journal, or why it was the leading topic of discussion at all four of the Material Handling & U.S. Logistics Roadmap round table meetings last summer.

You can read the experts’ views in this report. And we also present some suggestions on how transportation and logistics companies can position themselves. One thing is clear: the race is a marathon, not a sprint. Talent management will need to be at the very top of the agenda for transportation and logistics leaders for decades to come.

E2open today announced that Stephan Hofmann, Sean Rollings and David Vallejo have been recognized by Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine as 2014 Pros to Know, a listing of top supply and demand chain industry professionals.

I’ve thought long and hard about what to say this year because of all the media buzz around shale oil and natural gas fracking as energy saviors, maybe bringing back cheap energy and rendering the big user oil countries less dependent on oil, and less dependent on OPEC and other oil producing countries. My view has not been altered by the recent news around fracking.

Each segment of the transportation and logistics industries – railroads, trucking, shipping, and airlines – is experiencing the dramatic impact of the shale energy revolution

Chinese authorities in Hong Kong this week discovered a narrow concrete tunnel built by smugglers intending to shuttle consumer goods from Hong Kong across the border to the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen.

A new MIT study on supply-chain risk shows no correlation between the total amount a manufacturer spends with a supplier and the profit loss it would incur if that supply were suddenly interrupted. This counterintuitive finding defies a basic business tenet that equates the greatest supply-chain risk with suppliers of highest annual expenditure.

It comes as no surprise that shale gas has the potential to play a key role in the domestic freight transportation landscape.

As the shale energy revolution is gaining speed in the U.S., transportation and logistics companies are experiencing an immediate and dramatic impact, according to a new PwC US report, Shale Energy: A potential game changer – Implications for the US transportation & logistics industry.