It supply chain | SupplyChainBrain

Rick Blasgen Looks Forward and Back as CSCMP Celebrates 50 Years

January 17, 2014

Rick Blasgen, president and CEO of CSCMP, reflects on the organization's accomplishments over its 50-year history and shares his vision going forward for the industry and its practitioners.

MIT's Hi-Viz Supply Chain Project Aims to Automatically Map Supply Chain Risk

January 17, 2014

SupplyChainBrain

MIT's High-Viz Supply Chain Project is developing a way for companies to automatically map and analyze supply chain risk. Bruce Arntzen, executive director of the Supply Chain Management Program at MIT, explains the methodology underlying this project, progress to date and barriers that still exist.

How to Build a Cost-to-Serve Model

January 15, 2014

SupplyChainBrain

Companies typically spread supply chain costs evenly across customers and products, but that results in some products and services subsidizing others, says Stan Aronow, director of supply chain research at Gartner. Aronow explains how cost-to-serve modeling can provide insights that lead to smarter and more profitable operating decisions.

Annual Study Shows 2012 Was Good Year for 3PLs

January 7, 2014

SupplyChainBrain

The past year was a good one for the third-party logistics industry, according to the14th annual 3PL Study. Shanton Wilcox, principal at Capgemini Consulting, a co-sponsor of the study, highlights year-over-year changes and responses to "deep dive" questions.

Three Experts on How Integrating Mobile Technology Leads to Success

December 19, 2013

SupplyChainBrain

As businesses increasingly become more mobile, integrating different devices, applications and data into a single, seamless network is a significant challenge. In this Power Lunch roundtable, conducted at the annual user conference sponsored by Barcoding Inc., three experts discuss the keys to a successful integration project and identify common mistakes to avoid. They are: Martin Jack, chief technology officer at Barcoding Inc.; Kerry Kulp, network systems consultant at Cumulus Consulting Group; and Kelly Harris, director of program management at Barcoding Inc. The conversation is facilitated by SupplyChainBrain Editor Emeritus Jean Murphy.

Three Trends Transforming Retail: Big Data, Direct-to-Store and Omnichannels

November 13, 2013

SupplyChainBrain

Andrew Roszko, senior vice president of sales at Descartes, explains how three interrelated trends - big data, direct-to-store shipping and omnichannels - are transforming retail.

Finding the ROI in RFID

November 11, 2013

SupplyChainBrain

With RFID, return on investment derives from automated, accurate, real-time inventory tracking, says McLeod Williamson, RFID business development manager at Zebra Technologies. He provides an update on RFID applications in retail supply chains and describes how other industries are starting to leverage the technology.

Surveyed SC Execs Reveal Plans to Expand DC Networks

November 8, 2013

SupplyChainBrain

In a survey of supply chain executives across industries, Motorola Solutions found that more than a third are planning to either expand existing warehouses or add new warehouses to their networks. Mark Wheeler, director of industry solutions, discusses technological and consumer issues driving this and other trends.

RFID's Role in Today's Supply Chain

November 4, 2013

SupplyChainBrain

Use of RFID tags at the item level is upstaging case and pallet tagging among many retailers, says Tom O'Boyle, director of RFID at Barcoding Inc. O'Boyle explains the benefits derived from item-level tagging and looks at other innovative applications for RFID, including hybrid systems that mix active and passive tags.

Successful M&A Strategies for the Logistics Industry

August 12, 2013

SupplyChainBrain

Having completed 16 acquisitions of small logistics companies in the past seven years, Echo Global Logistics knows something about successful takeover strategies. CEO Doug Waggoner talks about the company's growth-through-acquisition initiatives.