Technology

Reasons for Selecting 3PLs Are Changing

February 22, 2013

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

How to Extend the Life of Your Distribution Assets

February 22, 2013

SupplyChainBrain

Mike Perkins, vice president of fulfillment and manufacturing with L.L. Bean, explains how the company was able to postpone building a new distribution center, despite an increase in sales.

Middle East to Up Cloud Spending

February 21, 2013

Procurement Leaders

The Middle Eastern and Northern African public cloud services market will see strong growth in 2013, experts predict. The increase in spending will represent a 24.5-percent increase from 2012, with revenue forecast to reach $462.3m in 2013, according to Gartner. The Middle Eastern and Northern African public cloud services market is forecast by the research group to grow 13.4 percent in 2012 to total $371.2m, compared to $110bn worldwide.

UK Freight Forwarding Sector Annoyed by Trade Negotiations

February 21, 2013

Handy Shipping Guide

As talks are announced regarding a potential free-trade agreement between the two continental powers, which could simplify and revolutionize the â‚¬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.

UPS and Jabil Will Provide Reverse Logistics Services

February 21, 2013

TransReporter

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.

ABB To Cut Costs to Counter Market Volatility

February 21, 2013

Procurement Leaders

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 To Share Data With CPGs

February 21, 2013

Supermarket News

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.

$1M in Support of Saudi Supply Chain Students

February 21, 2013

Arabian Supply Chain

The International Supply Chain Education Alliance (ISCEA) announced that the ISCEA Ptak Prize is offering 1,000 scholarships for 3rd- and 4th-year Saudi Arabian university students. The scholarships allow the eligible students to obtain internationally recognized, CSCA (Certified Supply Chain Analyst) qualification free of charge. This initiative is to support the kingdom's supply chain and human capital development goals over the next ten years. Each year ISCEA Ptak Prize will award 100 scholarships with the total value awarded more than $1mn.

USDA Funds NC State Study to Develop Global Food Supply Chain

February 21, 2013

North Carolina State University

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.

UNDP Joins Shipping Industry Initiative in Somalia

February 21, 2013

Supply Chain Asia

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.