Last summer, we heard from supply chain executives from three small to mid-sized companies on the challenges faced by their organizations and how they’re addressing them. When it comes to managing their order fulfillment and logistics processes, mid-sized companies are, well, caught in the middle. On the one hand, their customers expect the same level
Forget the last mile. One of today’s biggest fulfillment challenges is the short trip from the delivery truck to one of dozens—or hundreds—of possible delivery spots in a building, a plant, a hospital or a campus. The shortest distance could be the longest yard of a delivery. For years, logistics professionals have referred to the
Once slow to adopt automation, 3PLs are now leading the way. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never thought of 3PLs as innovators or early adopters of technology. Given the short-term nature of their contracts, the industry players focused on taking the fat out of processes and being great operators with conventional processes. Based
Last-mile delivery is expensive and complicated. Solutions range from smart lockers to GPS sensors and advanced data analytics look to change that equation. If there ever was a scrum in the supply chain, it’s last-mile delivery. And it’s a worldwide scrum, no less. From China to Europe to the U.S., companies as divergent as Amazon, SF Express, Shipt, Instacart and XPO
What is Amazon’s role in the modern supply chain industry? This month we spoke with Dr. James A. Tompkins, CEO of consulting firm Tompkins International. He has been published extensively, contributing to or writing 30 books not to mention hundreds of magazine articles, and spoken at practically every major supply chain event and conference during his 35
Did you get your package from Amazon today? Good. But did you realize that Amazon is changing how it gets packages to you? If not, it’s worth a few minutes to get caught up here. Every so often it’s good to look in on Amazon and see what it’s doing to change supply chains, especially
3-D printing has come a long way, but has a long way to go. We talked with Scott Schiller, global head of customer and market development for HP’s 3-D printing business unit. He has been with the unit since 2014 after several years working on mass customization solutions for high-volume printing manufacturing. NextGen Supply Chain: Additive manufacturing, also known
Flexibility is the name of the on-demand warehousing game. Sure, it’s in early stages, but the potential is enormous. From Melbourne to Mumbai to Manhattan, it seems the entire supply chain is taking a crack at something new – on-demand warehousing. Actually, the concept is not as new as the name. After all, who doesn’t
On-demand warehousing matches companies with excess warehouse space with companies with short-term excess inventory. It’s a win-win. We spoke with Nick Vyas, executive director and co-founder of the University of Southern California’s Marshall Center for Global Supply Chain Management and assistant professor of clinical data sciences & operations. His most recent publication in Supply Chain Management Review
Long used to handling boxes and some standard shaped items, picking robots are on the verge of moving into a world where they have to distinguish between thousands of quite different items. And they have to make picking decisions faster than people. Getting there will not be in the blink of an eye. In real
