Logistics

Commercial Supply Chains Driving Advances in Humanitarian Relief

March 3, 2016

Analyst Insight: Logistics accounts for the bulk of humanitarian relief expenditures. Application of technologies and frameworks used in commercial supply chain activities can reduce costs, increase velocity and save lives during crisis. - Kathy Fulton, Executive Director, American Logistics Aid Network

The Three Rings of Inventory Optimization

March 3, 2016

SupplyChainBrain

Analyst Insight: Ever wonder why a majority of inventory optimization projects struggle to completely realize potential benefits? Most companies focus solely on inventory strategy, without taking a comprehensive, holistic approach. Taking the holistic approach introduces two additional levers to inventory optimization - business alignment and execution excellence - which, coupled with inventory strategy, enable supply chains to achieve strategic and targeted performance improvement goals. We call these the three rings of inventory optimization. - Rodrigo Cambiaghi, Principal; Claudio Menegusso, Senior Manager; Mark Johnson, Manager; and Saurabh Jha, Senior, all in the Advisory Services of Ernst & Young LLP

E-Commerce Growth Notwithstanding, Retailers Expand Their Brick-and-Mortar Presence Worldwide

March 3, 2016

CBRE

Retailers are expanding their networks of stores internationally this year despite the presumed headwind of online shopping, with a greater percentage eyeing growth in the Americas than last year, according to a survey of more than 150 major, international brands released by CBRE Group, Inc.

Personalized Multichannel Logistics

March 2, 2016

SupplyChainBrain

Analyst Insight: Your target customers have completed their research and are ready to purchase your product. Then comes the final step in the purchasing process - selecting the delivery method (logistics channel) that best fits their immediate needs. In today's world, whether customers realize it or not, they are driving companies to become more flexible in their logistics capabilities. - Thompson Brockman, Partner, Tompkins International

The Growing Impact of IoT on Supply Chains

March 2, 2016

SupplyChainBrain

Analyst Insight: The growth of IoT (the Internet of Things) will impact supply chains dramatically in the long run. Increasingly instrumented and connected manufacturing plants, warehouses, vehicles, and the products themselves will provide very precise, real-time 'X-ray vision' into what is happening in the plant, on the road, and in the field. - Bill McBeath, Chief Research Officer, ChainLink Research

Giant Steps Needed for Distribution Footprint Optimization

March 2, 2016

SupplyChainBrain

Analyst Insight: Suppliers competing in a global market grapple with several factors that are pushing them to redesign their distribution footprints. A boom in mergers and acquisitions, increasing delivery demands, and a shift in the locations of supply sources are all converging, requiring reconfigurations of the single or multi-echelon networks of warehouses and cross-docks used to "hub and spoke" products in a cost-effective manner to customers while ensuring the appropriate level of required customer responsiveness. - Michael Albritton, Director, AlixPartners

APIs: Let the Transition Begin

March 1, 2016

SupplyChainBrain

Analyst Insight: At the start of 2016, one quest remains unchanged: how to take cost out of the transportation process. The focus on greater efficiencies and visibility is critical for a well performing supply chain. Shippers, 3PLs and carriers need to embrace new data visibility solutions that reduce costs, serve customers more effectively, and improve operating performance for everyone. APIs are one such solution that will continue to gain traction. - Karl B. Manrodt, Professor of Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Georgia College & State University

Exploiting Digital Business to Transform Consumer Products Companies

February 29, 2016

SupplyChainBrain

Analyst Insight: Digital business creates new opportunities for consumer packaged goods companies to transact directly to their end consumers. Digital business is information-enabled business that employs an abundance of new information in ways that better service customers. Bottom-line digital business offers the potential to transform the way that CPG companies interact with and serve their customers allowing them to create new operating models that tighten the bonds with their end consumer, which has the potential to transmogrify the CPG industry. - Dwight Klappich, Vice President, Supply Chain Research, Gartner

Removing Organizational Silos Positions You Best to Meet Omnichannel Challenges, Study Says

February 29, 2016

JDA

Only 18 percent of CEOs say they have eliminated operational silos and are delivering seamless omnichannel shopping experiences for their customers. This means that the majority of retailers surveyed are still operating in silos, which is taking a toll on retailers' profitability and ability to create a seamless shopping experience for customers.

So Your S&OP Initiative Isn't Working Out? Here's Why

February 29, 2016

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

A lot of companies are falling short in their efforts to derive full value from the sales and operations planning (S&OP) function. But the main reason for their failure might surprise you.