South African companies, particularly bigger enterprises, are making significant progress in optimizing their supply chains; however, opportunities for further enhancement do exist even for the most advanced practitioners.

Social and environmental compliance are the main issues facing today's apparel supply chains, according to industry experts consulted by just-style. The continued shift towards faster and faster fashion cycles, along with pressure on retailers to adapt to an omni-channel experience, is also throwing up challenges when it comes to flexibility in global sourcing.

TNT Express has set out plans to make recurring savings of 220m EURO by 2015 with a series of measures, including consolidating services, optimizing its infrastructure and reducing indirect costs. The restructuring is expected to cost 150m EURO by the end of 2015.

Wal-Mart is considering a radical plan to have store customers deliver packages to online buyers, a new twist on speedier delivery services that the company hopes will enable it to better compete with Amazon.com.

A U.S. firm has announced the addition of a driver behavior feature set to its fleet tracking system. The technology aims to help fleet operators identify drivers who are compromising safety and fuel efficiency by their behavior behind the wheel.

A guide for the supply chain disclosure of substances used in packaging for the global sale and distribution of electronic products has been issued by the Consumer Electronics Association, DIGITALEUROPE, and the Japanese Green Procurement Survey Standardization Initiative.

Not all logistics service providers do the same thing, and not all do the same things well, a new report from Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium says.