Could you “Bump” Yourself to Some Savings? Dimensional weight is not applicable in LTL…or is it? While, in the truest form, dimensional weight is typically only applicable when dealing with parcel carriers and freight forwarders. However, just as parcel carriers want to invoice for the capacity that the carton occupies and perhaps not the weight, [...]
Differentiating through Resilience Supply chain risk is one of the top 5 concerns in many boardrooms. We live in a world where control and measurement are increasingly dominant and in which many executives believe that everything is within their control. “What cannot be measured, cannot be managed” is the perceived wisdom, so they set out [...]
Logistics Negotiations How did you prepare for your last logistics negotiation? Did you practice your eagle eye glares so you could intimidate your carrier rep? Perhaps you thought positive thoughts and visualized great rates. There seems to be lots of opinions about logistics negotiation, but not very much research. Wouldn't it be nice to enter [...]
Prepare your ERP for 3PL Adopting a 3PL (third party logistics) provider model is common practice as businesses seek to exploit value throughout the supply chain. During adoption, supply chain directors tend to focus on commercial contracts, logistics between the production site and the warehouse, warehouse staffing and training, picking returns procedures and so on. [...]
Customer Service: The Source of Supply Chain Innovation In December’s issue of InBound, editor Keith Biondi cited customer service as the source for supply chain innovation. Not technology. Not business process re-engineering (BPR). Interesting, right? When you focus on your customer, you’re focusing on his/her success. When you make them successful, you become successful. Before [...]
Click to register for this free webinar: Selecting a 3PL: 8 Things the Great 3PLs Do (Wednesday, February 12, 1:00 pm - 1:30 pm) Companies with logistics needs are increasingly using 3rd party logistics providers (3PLs). Contracting with a 3PL is a great choice as long as you pick the right 3PL. The right 3PL can [...]
Transportation and Logistics Industry Trends These trends stand to impact the transportation and logistics industry, with some already taking hold and others unfolding gradually. Each trend has the potential to transform the logistics industry. Trend #1: Cloud Computing Becomes the New Way of Doing Business. Cloud computing shows promise for further growth and transformation [...]
Hottest Growth Sectors in Supply Chain Management Staying ahead of the game with critical information is a key to success. Over the last several months, I have had the opportunity to speak with hundreds of CEOs, vice presidents, directors of operations and various management personnel within the supply chain management (SCM) industry. Thousands of conversations later [...]
“3PLs bundle services to better serve their clients. The logistics industry is huge and the service offerings are very diverse. There are 5 major categories of logistics services: warehousing, transportation, special services, technology and logistics management.” Ultimate Guide to 3PL Services Have you ever nodded your head cluelessly and pretended to know what those [...]
Introduction Today, biopharma distribution is experiencing surging demand and burdening cost. Distribution networks are being asked two opposing options: first, to plan for a 3-4x expansion and secondly, to plan for closing down the activity. Unique to biopharma are two different working parts of distribution - clinical and commercial. On the clinical side, a greater [...]
The Divide How many times have you been pestered to do a survey in the past year? Month? Week? My guess is: plenty! As a professional, you are likely bombarded with survey requests, most of which you may ignore due to sheer volume! Many of these requests probably come from academics, like me, trying to [...]
Importance of Cost Reduction for Shippers Shippers work in a tough environment. Cost pressures dominate, constrain and impact shippers – daily. But shippers have a lopsided preoccupation with costs. In its 2013 Annual 3PL Survey, InBound Logistics found that shippers’ number one concern is transport costs. Specifically, 63% of shippers said their greatest challenge is cutting [...]
