LogFire, a provider of warehouse-management system (WMS) software in the cloud, has created new transload and deconsolidation functionality, designed to meet the warehouse-management needs of third-party logistics providers.
Rosslyn Analytics, a provider of business-intelligence software, has made available a new tool for conducting analyses of supplier risks. RA.Pid Supplier Risk Profile allows finance, procurement and supply-chain organizations to collaboratively evaluate, monitor and mitigate supplier-centric risks in real time in five business days, all from a single screen, the vendor claimed.
One night last January, Mark Shields was home in his kitchen making hummus, listening to This American Life, WBEZ's popular syndicated radio show. He was streaming the podcast on his Mac laptop via Apple's AirPort technology, which turned out to be an appropriate platform for listening to the episode, given that the subject was Apple itself.
There has been a recent renewal of interest in collaboration among supply-chain partners, according to Ann Grackin, chief executive officer of ChainLink Research. Reasons include a greater reliance on outsourcing and the general trend of globalization of trade. Yet another element is the desire to draw on sophisticated technology, including video, teleconferencing and social networks, to link all players throughout the chain. With such factors in mind, says Grackin, "you need working relationships with trading partners to be successful."
Zonar Systems has added fuel as an additional dimension to its suite of tools for electronic fleet inspection, tracking and operations management. Up to now, Zonar's vehicle telematics platforms have utilized four dimensions - latitude, longitude, time and odometer - of global positioning system (GPS) reporting.
The "cloud" can be a difficult concept to grasp, given the various definitions it has been assigned by software vendors and users. Greg Johnsen, executive vice president of marketing and sales with GT Nexus, calls it "an information replica of the physical supply chain." Cloud-based technology provides one place where managers can go to monitor critical supply-chain events. When an element is updated, "everybody gets the information."
Descartes Systems Group has created a pair of cloud-based services to help air freight forwarders comply with U.S. and European security filing requirements.
