March, 2018

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The Complexities and Challenges of a Fresh Food Supply Chain

All Things Supply Chain

On March 6th, McDonald’s announced the decision to start using fresh beef in the Quarter Pounder at all locations in the contiguous United States.

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The key elements of an effective S&OP mindset

Supply Chain Trend

Most of us like to achieve high performance consistently and at any time. However, often we can be highly effective at one time, and other times we’re very unproductive. Research shows that there are five attributes that either positively or negatively impact our performance variation for a task or a challenge. Abilities : what are the skills and resources I need?

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Trending Sources

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EazyStock vs your ERP: Who wins the inventory management battle?

EazyStock

?. One of the most common questions we receive is “We already have an ERP inventory module. Why do we need EazyStock?” Who could answer better than one of our customers who uses EazyStock with Dynamics NAV? “Through better inventory management, we’ve been able to support our stock management and procurement processes much better, which has even resulted in higher profits!

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Why Your Supply Chain Needs Blockchain

The Network Effect

How blockchain technology can improve your supply chain Today, there is much buzz about blockchains in various industries. Business leaders. The post Why Your Supply Chain Needs Blockchain appeared first on The Network Effect.

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Load Optimization: A Sustainable Way To Reduce Transportation Costs

Discover strategies to optimize load building and achieve significant transportation cost savings. Plus, learn how load optimization can help reduce CO 2 emissions and align with climate regulations and consumer expectations. Finally, discover best practices for sustainable load optimization.

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Food Shippers: Do This One Thing Before Hiking Prices

Supply Chain Collaborator

The lede from a recent Wall Street Journal article blares, “ Some of the biggest food suppliers are struggling to manage soaring logistics costs in a fast-changing consumer market. General Mills Inc. is the latest big company to succumb to tight capacity and rising prices in shipping markets, saying its freight costs neared 20-year highs in February while spending for its ingredients was also on the upswing.

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Effective Traceability for Responsible Pulp, Paper, & Packaging

SupplyShift

Paper and packaging is, in some ways, a unique commodity. Unlike other commodities, paper, pulp, and packaging are critical for every industry, from coffee to furniture. Coincidentally, paper and packaging as a commodity also has an outsized impact on natural resources and is one of the more visible areas of impact for many companies. In the last decade, companies have begun recognizing the importance of responsible sourcing of paper and packaging, and we have seen a more than 10-fold increase i

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S&OP mindset shows a lack of pro-activity and long term focus

Supply Chain Trend

Some companies run their Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) with great effectiveness. However, too often S&OP maturity and performance stalls, even when the supporting S&OP processes and systems are properly implemented. S&OP culture and leadership has often been proposed as a mechanism to improve S&OP performance. More specifically, Tuomikangas and Kaipia (2014) suggest that this includes “ the organizational mind-set and practices that facilitate and advance formal plan

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Air Traffic Control Privatization: Will It Solve Anything?

Supply Chain Brain

Proponents of a privatized ATC say the move is necessary to eliminate the delays and congestion that are plaguing airports and traffic lanes across the country. Opponents call the idea a power grab by airlines, who would be able to discriminate against smaller communities and further disadvantage the beleaguered air traveler. But Michael Baiada has a more nuanced view.

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Blockchain: The Super Spreadsheet for Supply Chains

The Network Effect

Blockchain offers the supply chain a radical upgrade to the old standby of the spreadsheet The logistics industry is notoriously. The post Blockchain: The Super Spreadsheet for Supply Chains appeared first on The Network Effect.

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UltraShipTMS named a “Notable TMS Vendor” in Gartner’s 2018 Magic Quadrant Report on Transportation Management Systems

Supply Chain Collaborator

For the Second Consecutive Year, UltraShipTMS Recognized in Highly-Regarded industry Report. March 21, 2018 – Fair Lawn, NJ – UltraShipTMS has again earned recognition as a notable vendor of enterprise transportation management systems and associated logistics IT solutions in Gartner’s esteemed Magic Quadrant report for Transportation Management Systems.

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Autonomous AI Agents Are the Future of Procurement and Supply Chain Operations

As early as next year, procurement and supply chain operations will begin to adopt AI agents, often called “agentic AI,” to work alongside employees to make and execute decisions with precision across procurement and even the most complex global supply chains. Unlike LLM-based generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, these AI agents do not require prompts from humans.

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4 Elements of a Successful Supply Chain Transparency Strategy

SupplyShift

As corporate priorities evolve , large enterprises have realized that supply chain transparency is not only a critical aspect of brand image, but is also of paramount importance for the bottom line. However, achieving transparency at first appears to be a daunting task, as most companies have little to no visibility of their supply chains beyond their direct suppliers.

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Data Sharing in Procurement – Think Bigger!

All Things Supply Chain

Collecting data is part of what makes the big players like Google and Facebook so successful.

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Mental toughness in business planning; a mindset benchmark

Supply Chain Trend

Some companies run their Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) with great effectiveness. However, too often S&OP maturity and performance stalls, even when the supporting S&OP processes and systems are properly implemented. S&OP culture and leadership has often been proposed as a mechanism to improve S&OP performance. More specifically, Tuomikangas and Kaipia (2014) suggest that this includes “ the organizational mind-set and practices that facilitate and advance formal plan

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Showcase Your Company's Supply Chain Excellence — Three Days to Submit

Supply Chain Brain

Submissions consist of case studies describing your company's supply chain innovation that emphasize innovative and measurable results. Finalists are asked to present their case studies at CSCMP's 2018 EDGE Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Submissions. You must be a CSCMP member to submit a case study. Join today for the opportunity to showcase your innovation to a global community of supply chain leaders.

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Freight Procurement Simplified: Bids from Hours to Minutes

Speaker: Eric Berdinis, Ran Sun, & Chris Chmielewski

Procuring freight can be cumbersome, time-consuming, and error-prone. If you’re frustrated with the complex and manual processes for obtaining bids for your contract and spot freight, you’re not alone. In today’s fast-moving supply chain environment, optimizing these processes is critical to staying competitive and cutting costs. Join this exclusive webinar with experts from Uber Freight to learn how the latest digital tools and automation can transform your freight procurement strategy by strea

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Restaurant Supply Chain: The Secret Weapon Against Diner Defection?

The Network Effect

“Maybe we should try somewhere else tonight.” That’s something you as a restaurant company manager would never want your loyal. The post Restaurant Supply Chain: The Secret Weapon Against Diner Defection? appeared first on The Network Effect.

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UltraShipTMS Releases Update to Award-Winning Transportation Management System (TMS) Software Platform

Supply Chain Collaborator

Significant Updates in Version 5.14 Successfully Deployed – Efforts Already Under Way in Support of Version 5.15 to be Released Later in 2018. March 22, 2018 – Fair Lawn, NJ – UltraShipTMS development teams successfully rolled out UltraShipTMS version 5.14 several days ago and product teams report the new version has achieved stable, steady-state operation for all customers on the platform.

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Effective Traceability for Responsible Pulp, Paper, & Packaging

SupplyShift

Paper and packaging is, in some ways, a unique commodity. Unlike other commodities, paper, pulp, and packaging are critical for every industry, from coffee to furniture. Coincidentally, paper and packaging as a commodity also has an outsized impact on natural resources and is one of the more visible areas of impact for many companies. In the last decade, companies have begun recognizing the importance of responsible sourcing of paper and packaging, and we have seen a more than 10-fold increase i

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PRESS RELEASE: NGO Evaluates & Recommends Best Supplier Sustainability Ratings Tools

SPLC (Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 3/27/2018. CONTACT: Cuchulain Kelly, 803 323 7453, Cuchulain@sustainablepurchasing.org. New Market Research Shows Best Tools for Rating Suppliers’ Sustainability. Washington, DC – The Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC) released a free market research guide that allows organizations to easily identify high-quality tools for rating the sustainability of their suppliers.

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How To Align Product Management And Supply Chain Operations For Successful Product Launches

Speaker: Shalini Dinesh

Effective cross-functional collaboration and communication heavily influence product launch success. Research shows that as many as 70% of product launches fail due to inadequate coordination among stakeholders, including supply chain, product management, legal, marketing, and change control teams (Gartner, 2022). The 2023 Supply Chain Insights Report highlights that 60% of supply chain disruptions are caused by poor communication and misalignment among cross-functional teams.

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5 Things I Learned as a Data Scientist

Solvoyo

If you ask a kid what they want to be when they go grow, is the answer ever “A data scientist?” Well, at least when I […]. The post 5 Things I Learned as a Data Scientist appeared first on Solvoyo.

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Businesses Face Unanswered Questions a Year From Brexit — a Sector by Sector Analysis

Supply Chain Brain

More than half of large companies have already put emergency contingency plans into action, according to a new survey, and in key sectors such as insurance and transport there are warnings of higher prices and disruption for customers if the fragile truce breaks down. British and EU governments last week agreed to postpone discussions over Northern Ireland in order to provisionally agree that a 21-month transition phase could begin after March 2019, but only so long as outstanding disagreements

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How to Optimize Port Throughput in Global Supply Chains

The Network Effect

Ports play a critical role in international trade, yet they remain major sources of friction in global supply chains. It’s. The post How to Optimize Port Throughput in Global Supply Chains appeared first on The Network Effect.

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Blockchain for the Supply Chain – What’s It All Mean?

Supply Chain Collaborator

The biggest bandwagon since the dotcom revolution, companies of all stripes are chanting “blockchain, blockchain, BLOCKCHAIN” in their marketing as if it were a spell they could cast to magically attract business. While most people don’t even understand this exciting new technology beyond the notion of its role in the rise of “crypto-currency”, there are practical uses for it across many critical business functions.

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The Evolution of Control Towers to Command Centers

Are fragmented control towers hindering your supply chain’s growth and response time? Attempting to manage disruptions through various departmental control towers with basic analytic overlays hinders agility and, ultimately, your resiliency. Today’s volatile landscape requires inherent visibility across your entire value chain and the ability to orchestrate course corrections within a unified platform.

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4 Elements of a Successful Supply Chain Transparency Strategy

SupplyShift

As corporate priorities evolve , large enterprises have realized that supply chain transparency is not only a critical aspect of brand image, but is also of paramount importance for the bottom line. However, achieving transparency at first appears to be a daunting task, as most companies have little to no visibility of their supply chains beyond their direct suppliers.

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This May Seem Obvious to Experienced Transportation Managers but…

Supply Chain Collaborator

Question: How will any potential increase in gas taxes be reflected in your fuel surcharge as a shipper? The fuel surcharge in UltraShipTMS is automatically updated based on the published national average. How can transportation managers act to mitigate the cost increase likely to materialize? . Whether you agree or disagree with the idea of raising taxes to fund upgrades to America’s crumbling infrastructure, everyone in the transportation industry can agree the work needs to be done to impr

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Improving On-Time and In-Full Performance

The Network Effect

Ensuring On-Time, In-Full (OTIF) deliveries was a top priority for companies in 2017 and has continued to be the number. The post Improving On-Time and In-Full Performance appeared first on The Network Effect.

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Restaurant Supply Chain: The Secret Weapon Against Diner Defection and Profit Protector?

The Network Effect

“Maybe we should try somewhere else tonight.” That’s something you as a restaurant company manager would never want your loyal. The post Restaurant Supply Chain: The Secret Weapon Against Diner Defection and Profit Protector? appeared first on The Network Effect.

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The Key to Sustainable Energy Optimization: A Data-Driven Approach for Manufacturing

Speaker: Kevin Kai Wong, President of Emergent Energy Solutions

In today's industrial landscape, the pursuit of sustainable energy optimization and decarbonization has become paramount. ♻️ Manufacturing corporations across the U.S. are facing the urgent need to align with decarbonization goals while enhancing efficiency and productivity. Unfortunately, the lack of comprehensive energy data poses a significant challenge for manufacturing managers striving to meet their targets. 📊 Join us for a practical webinar hosted by Kevin Kai Wong of Emergent Ene

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Analyzing Product Costs: A Question of ‘What If’

Supply Chain Brain

The act of divining the future is nothing more than a consideration of possible scenarios, and their impact on a business. For most of human history, the success of that exercise has rested on the appointed seer’s years of experience, coupled with some indefinable grasp of probability. In recent decades, machines have stepped up to aid humans in their efforts.

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Robots in the Warehouse: A Progress Report

Supply Chain Brain

The trend within many warehouses and distribution centers today is clearly toward the use of more robots and fewer people. In fact, the most recent peak holiday shopping season found robots performing better, and in great numbers, than ever before. So what jobs are robots actually doing? And where do humans fit in? On this episode, we get a report card on robots in the warehouse from Karen Leavitt, chief marketing officer with Locus Robotics.

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Cheerios Maker Is Latest Victim of Trucker Shortage

Supply Chain Brain

The maker of Cheerios cereal and Progresso soup lowered its full-year profit forecast, citing higher freight and commodity expenses. Operational costs have also risen as the company grapples with an industrywide grocery price war. General Mills is the latest company to cite higher shipping costs as a major headwind in 2018, joining Hershey Co., Tyson Foods Inc., Kellogg Co. and others.

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Big Health-Care Players Are Turning Their Partners Into Prey

Supply Chain Brain

Then, in 2016, 20 percent of Komoto’s business vanished, practically overnight. The insurer Centene Corp. purchased the health plan that covered his patients — many of them Hispanic farm workers who had developed a level of trust with Komoto’s traveling nurses. Centene had its own mail-order pharmacy, and it told the patients to go there instead, he said.

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The Ultimate Guide to Transportation and Load Building Optimization

Enhance your transportation and load building efficiency with our comprehensive guide. Learn to tackle today's supply chain challenges and optimize your approach with advanced planning strategies. This guide covers: Supply Chain Challenges: Discover how transportation planning can address critical issues and improve efficiency. Load Building Benefits: Understand how effective load building can enhance your transportation processes.