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The Last Mile: Ice Cream Logistics… Licked
When it comes to frozen desserts, ice cream tops the list for U.S. consumers. Here’s how ice cream makers keep churning it out.
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VERTICAL FOCUS: Raw Materials
Insight into the latest supply chain trends for raw materials.
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NOTED: Supply Chain Highlights
From sustainability efforts to recent mergers and acquisitions, here’s what’s new and notable in the supply chain.
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Helping Manufacturers Weather the Storm
The manufacturing sector continues to chug along, with demand and production levels hitting new highs. But economic uncertainty and inflation may soon create some clouds on the horizon.
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Taking the Temperature on Sustainability
Many companies will continue to take sustainability seriously over the next 12 months. A recent Honeywell survey of 600 business leaders finds that 90% are pleased with their sustainability efforts over the prior 12 months, and 97% plan environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) budget increases in the next 12 months.
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Waste Eats Away the Bottom Line
Overproduction and waste may push margins in the wrong direction. A recent Avery Dennison report finds that 8% of stock perishes or is discarded before it reaches consumers–inventory losses worth up to $163.1 billion or 3.6% of annual profits. Of the 8% waste, slightly more than half (53.8%) is lost in the supply chain before products reach store shelves.
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AI and ML in Retail: Help or Hype?
Top-performing retailers are bullish on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), with 71% of respondents to a Retail Systems Research report saying AI-enabled analytics will fundamentally change their merchandising forecasting by 2025.
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Five Trends That Will Shape Logistics in 2023
Amidst concern over the economy and ongoing geopolitical issues, 2023 promises to pose challenges to managing logistics and supply chain operations. To help companies prepare for the new year, Anaid Chacón, head of product for Nuvocargo, a digital platform focused on U.S.-Mexico cross-border trade, identifies five trends to be aware of.
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Turning the Tide on Turnover
The pandemic’s effect on inventory turnover was significant, but more recent data suggests that the situation may be improving for e-commerce brands.
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Pumpkin Spice Pandemonium
Pumpkin spice mania is a fall tradition in the United States. Here’s how seasonality blended with limited supplies jacks up demand.
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Business as Unusual
A new IBM survey of 1,500 chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) reveals that supply chain leaders have accepted their fate: Business will continue to be anything but typical for the immediate future. The main focus for CSCOs now is to prepare for what happens next.
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Nearshoring Picks Up Steam
All of the global supply chain snafus that have taken place over the past two years have caused many manufacturers to reexamine their supply chain and production networks. The question they all seem to be asking is: Should we bring production closer to consumption? A new report from Accenture indicates that answer is “yes.”
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Acquiring Minds Want To Know
A new report by Barclays Corporate Banking finds that nearly half of all UK logistics businesses are likely to make an acquisition in the next 12 months as they look to expand operations and become more competitive—the highest figure recorded in the survey’s 10-year history.
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Manufacturers Feel the Disruption Burden
Supply chain disruptions over the past 12-18 months—including shipping delays and parts shortages due to truck driver issues and congested ports—have heavily impacted manufacturers (see chart). That’s the consensus of Deloitte’s new study, Meeting the Challenge of Supply Chain Disruption, which was conducted in partnership with Manufacturers Alliance. (see chart).
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How Macy’s Avoids Inventory Glut
Retailers across the country are struggling with inventory pileup due to 2021’s massive supply chain delays. Unloading these previous-season goods has become a top priority for the upcoming holiday and winter season. But Macy’s is singing a different tune: the retailer managed to avoid most of this inventory glut, and reported to the Wall Street Journal that more than half of its offerings for the holiday season will be new.
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Land Of The Lost And Other Peak Season Challenges
A whopping 92% of merchants surveyed by UPS Capital report costly impacts to their business as a result of lost, stolen, or damaged shipments. Half of merchants say they lost $50,000+ in the past year.
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VERTICAL FOCUS: Automotive Aftermarket
Here’s a look at supply chain trends in the automotive aftermarket space.
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IN BRIEF: New Services and Solutions
From a lighter refrigerated truck body to a new U.S.-Korea airfreight service, here are some notable supply chain services and solutions that recently hit the market.
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NOTED: Supply Chain Highlights
From philanthropy initiatives to recent mergers and acquisitions, here’s what’s new and notable in the supply chain.
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Why You Should be Spending More on Your Pallets
Sometimes, finding a way to operate more efficiently forces a company to examine processes that haven’t changed for decades. Take the pallet. This simple, but crucial, item ensures stable loads and are essential to moving goods throughout the supply chain. They’re typically made of wood and are inexpensive—maybe about $15 per pallet. This may not seem cost prohibitive, but with up to 2 billion pallets in use in the U.S. alone, businesses must examine ways to reduce this cost without cutting corners.
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