Operations & Strategy News Archive
Small and Mid-sized Companies See Signs of Recovery
Despite rising energy costs and dim employment data, small and mid-sized manufacturers see signs for optimism, according to a new survey of CFOs. The top supply chain strategy for weathering the recession has been reducing inventory levels...
Barkawi Opens North American Office
Barkawi, a German-based provider of supply chain consulting services, has launched its North American operation in Atlanta. The new office will be headed by former Servigistics executive Mike Landry...
Air Transport Industry Recovering Faster Than Expected
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) halved its loss forecast for 2010 to $2.8 billion (compared to the $5.6 billion loss forecast in December 2009). The improvement is largely driven by a much stronger recovery in demand seen by year-end gains that continued into the first months of 2010. Relatively flat capacity translated into some yield improvement and stronger revenues...
Schneider Rolls Out In-Cab Technology
Motor carrier Schneider National has equipped 25% of its fleet with driver in-cab technology, and is on pace to convert all of its existing in-cab technology to a new system by this fall...
Caterpillar Shifts from Offshoring to Onshoring Back to the U.S.A.
Caterpillar Inc. has undertaken a study that could lead to a new hydraulic excavator facility being built in the United States, as part of the growing trend toward onshoring—bringing production work back to the United States to reduce global supply chain management costs. Such a move significantly increase Caterpillar’s employment in the U.S. dedicated to excavator production...
Smart Software Awarded Grant to Study Intermittent Demand Forecasting
Smart Software Inc., has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation to extend and improve its current intermittent demand forecasting solution by developing an advanced proprietary method. The new research will aim to improve demand forecasting and planning of service/spare parts...
Economy Is Top Priority for Consumer Goods Companies
Consumer goods manufacturers have a very different opinion about the importance of retail-supplier relations compared to their retailer customers. Retailers rank retail-supplier relations, which covers such issues as trade costs, pricing and collaboration, as only the eighth-most important priority, while manufacturers rank it second...
Industrial Real Estate Market Is Still Way Down
Overall industrial demand for real estate remains weak and occupancy losses in many markets during 2009 could prolong the length of the industrial down cycle. However, increased import activity is helping demand at gateway cities and interior supply network hubs...
How to Enhance Your Supply Chain Visibility
Visibility is critical in optimizing and improving the performance of your supply chain. Ryder’s Control Tower facilitates the centralized collection and distribution of part and SKU level data with an emphasis on visibility and proactive exception management...
RFID Market to Hit $5.35 Billion in 2010
The market for RFID technology will continue to see steady growth for at least the next five years, as new “modernizing” applications come to the fore...
Supply Chains Are Putting Down Greener Roots
Green is the movement of the day for supply chains, as companies are utilizing techniques such as designing a building so that it significantly reduces the amount of water needed for operation, or locating a site so that it does not disturb any nearby wetlands, soil or streams...
Top 10 Predictions for Global Supply Chains
Companies will evolve from a fixed-cost-driven supply network to a variable-cost-driven value network...
Marsh Supermarkets Adopts Promotion Optimization Technology
Midwest supermarket chain Marsh Supermarkets is partnering with Revionics to better price and promote based on advanced pricing analytics and scenario planning technology...
Logistics Expert Tom Mentzer Passes Away
John T. (Tom) Mentzer, noted logistics expert at the University of Tennessee, has passed away...
Walmart Plans to Clean Up Its Global Supply Chain
Walmart has announced its goal to eliminate 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from its global supply chain. The retailer will work with its suppliers to reduce their energy use, costs and carbon footprint...
What Did They Know, and When Did They Know It?
Can you imagine Coke hauling Pepsi into court, or Microsoft conducting an investigation into Apple’s practices, or Target issuing subpoenas against Wal-Mart? Hard as it is to imagine those scenarios, that’s pretty much exactly what’s happening right now in the case of the U.S. Government vs. Toyota...
Tax on Warehouses Will Drive Away Jobs, Says IWLA
The International Warehouse Logistics Association has told Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell that his proposal to impose a 4% sales tax on warehouse services would drive jobs out of Pennsylvania by making it more difficult for warehouse operators there to compete with similar businesses in surrounding states...
Gunther Mele Improves Customer Service with TMS
Gunther Mele, a supplier of brand-building packaging solutions to North America’s retail industry, has deployed Descartes’ Transportation Management solution to help it process and manage its outbound courier and less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments...
Terrorists Are Targeting Gasoline Tankers
Gasoline tankers, and to a lesser extent propane tankers, are the most attractive options for terrorists seeking to use highway-borne hazmat because they can create intense fires in public assemblies and residential properties, according to a study conducted by the Mineta Transportation Institute...
FMC Grants Exemption for NVOCC Tariff Relief
The Federal Maritime Commission has voted to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to provide non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs) with an exemption from the requirement and associated cost of publishing rates under the Shipping Act of 1984...
Domestic Container Traffic on the Upswing in the Fourth Quarter
Domestic container volume increased 9.0% during the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to Q4 08. December volume was nearly 17% above year-ago levels. Total 2009 domestic container volumes were 2.9% above 2008 figures...
Manufacturers Challenge EPA on Clean Air Act
Several manufacturing groups have filed a petition in federal appeals court challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to regulate greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) on stationary sources through the Clean Air Act. According to NAM’s John Engler, the EPA’s regulations could “stifle job creation and harm our competiveness in a global economy.”...
Malt-O-Meal Reverses Sales Decline with Demand Intelligence
Cereal maker Malt-O-Meal is using demand intelligence to identify when and why it experiences losses in sales. The company has been able to reverse those losses and determine which supply chain challenges were restricting its growth in volume...
World Economic Forum Releases Logistics Carbon Emissions Guidelines
The World Economic Forum’s Logistics & Transport Industry Group, supported by Accenture, has agreed to standard guidelines for calculating consignment-level carbon emissions from logistics and shipping operations. The Consignment-Level Carbon Reporting Guidelines were created to help the industry inform consumers and businesses about the carbon impact of product transport...
NITL Supports Senate Rail Competition Bill
The National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) has announced its support for S. 2889, the “Surface Transportation Board (STB) Reauthorization Act of 2009.” This decision was made by NITL’s board of directors after a study of the bill, which was approved by the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee in mid-December. The board’s action endorses the recommendation of the League’s Railroad Transportation Committee...
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