Analyst Insight: Third-party logistics providers continue to be the recipients of outsourcing requirements and have grown to provide a critical business capability, but the business rationale in selecting an outsourcing partner appears to be changing. The use of 3PLs remains compelling, with shipping companies continuing to report productivity gains - along with cost reduction and service enhancement - but in discussions with clients, increasingly manufacturers are looking to leverage industry best practices and process knowledge as a first priority.
- Simon Ellis, Director, Supply Chain Strategies Practice, IDC Manufacturing Insights
As talks are announced regarding a potential free-trade agreement between the two continental powers, which could simplify and revolutionize the €450 per annum trans-Atlantic trade there are rumblings in UK freight forwarding circles that another agreement, potentially a precursor to the main agreement and involving the security concerns when shipping goods between the partners, does not appear to hold all that it originally seemed to promise.
United Parcel Service of America (UPS) has formed a partnership with electronic circuit boards manufacturer, Jabil Circuit, to provide reverse logistics services globally. Under the partnership, UPS's logistics and distribution business unit and Jabil's aftermarket services division will provide optimized reverse logistics solutions for return and repair programs to original equipment manufacturers, service providers and enterprises.
Swiss manufacturer ABB has said it will focus on reducing cost to offset economic uncertainty. In order to combat the sluggish global economy that has damaged sales for many providers of industrial equipment, ABB has focused on the bottom line. "In the short term, there are still a lot of questions around the pace of growth in Europe and the U.S. and the timing of the rebound in China," said Joe Hogan, chief executive officer of ABB.
Ahold USA plans to launch a vendor collaboration initiative next month that will include sending POS, supply chain and merchandising data via a third-party to some number of its CPG suppliers in order to improve product availability and customer satisfaction.
The Supply Chain Resource Cooperative (SCRC) in North Carolina State University's Poole College of Management is one of several partners in a five- year, $3.9m grant-funded project to build and evaluate supply chains for local farmers and fishers to supply large-scale markets in North Carolina. The project is led by the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) in NC State's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), which has been awarded the first year's funding of the grant by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Shell, BP, Maersk, Stena and the Japanese shipping companies NYK, MOL and "K" Line have announced their joint collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to support job creation and capacity building projects in Somalia.
Moonlighting van drivers are probably to blame for the growing problem of GPS jamming on Britain's roads, the latest survey of the problem by the Technology Strategy Board's Sentinel Project has suggested. In advance of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Vulnerabilities 2013 event, the organization revealed its network of sensors had recently detected up to 100 potentially dangerous jamming incidents a day near one busy UK airport alone.
London Gateway, the new container port under construction on the banks of the River Thames, got a huge vote of confidence recently from an important source. The DP World funded operation is already in talks with several leading shipping lines, but the scheme is two-tiered and the plans eventually are to couple the dockside activities directly with a giant logistics park situated immediately behind the wharves.
FedEx has introduced new features to its Deep Frozen Shipping Solution to provide more options and broader access for its healthcare customers. The company said that the new service helps customers move temperature-sensitive samples and specimens globally using an alternative to dry ice.