Overall U.S. maritime cargo volumes in the Great Lakes region are recovering from extreme lows experienced in 2009, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration.

For a new report on supply chain excellence, an assistant and I waded through spreadsheet after spreadsheet of data for the last three weeks and contrasted the progress of the high-tech, consumer products, food, pharmaceutical and industrial industries. The storyline of the report is that ONLY the high-tech industry is making progress on what I call the Supply Chain Effective Frontier - effectively balancing progress on growth, profitability, cycles and complexity. The rest of the industries are either stuck or moving backwards. Consumer packaged goods, food and chemical manufacturers are stuck and pharmaceutical and industrial companies are losing ground and moving backwards.

Brent Beabout, senior vice president of supply chain with Office Depot, describes how the company slashed packaging waste by switching from corrugated cardboard to paper bags for deliveries to consumers and business. A finalist in the Supply Chain Innovation of the Year competition.

BNSF Railway Co. will add another 14 special rail cars to carry Boeing 737 fuselages in coming months to match Boeing's rising production of its most popular aircraft model. The addition will bring the total number of such BNSF rail cars to 99.

UPS has launched of UPS Access Point, a network of convenience stores, petrol stations and newsagents which consumers purchasing goods on the web can choose for delivery and returns. It is starting with a network of 600 sites with 1,500 set to be in place in the United Kingdom by June 2013.