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E-commerce Growth: Slower but Hefty
Even as growth slowed from 2020’s pandemic-fueled explosion in activity, the global e-commerce market still grew a robust 19.9% in 2021, according to Transport Intelligence (Ti). Indications are growth will slow but remain hefty. Ti’s market sizing and forecast data and analysis shows a projected annual growth rate of 11.8% in the global e-commerce logistics […]
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Google Searches for Last-Mile Market
Google is getting into the last-mile game with the launch of two new solutions to help fleet operators improve delivery success and optimize fleet performance through an integrated suite of mapping, routing, and analytics capabilities—Cloud Fleet Routing API from Google Cloud and Last Mile Fleet Solution from Google Maps Platform. Cloud Fleet Routing API focuses […]
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Russia-Ukraine Supply Chain Strain
The commodities markets are the industry category that is experiencing the greatest strain as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a Dun & Bradstreet briefing report released in March 2022. The report, which assesses the global business impact of the crisis, focuses on the businesses and countries that work with Russian and […]
Read MoreConsumers Catch Cold
Growing consumer demand in the United States is impacting the storage and distribution of frozen foods and other products that depend on cold environments, finds the Thomas Index Report. The report examines the shift to buying groceries online during the pandemic, as consumers embraced online ordering and fully filled pantries and freezers. The increased demand […]
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NOTED: The Supply Chain In Brief
Green Seeds CMA CGM Group will no longer transport plastic waste aboard its ships. Ten million tons of plastic waste end up in the sea each year due in part to open-air storage and the absence of processing infrastructure for plastic waste that does not get recycled. CMA CGM’s move prevents this type of waste […]
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Vertical Focus: Toys
Do You Want Sustainability with That? McDonald’s is making its supply chain more sustainable by manufacturing its Happy Meal toys with significantly less plastic by the end of 2025. The fast food chain will make some toys, such as board game pieces, with plant-derived or recycled material. Super heroes and movie characters will be 3-D […]
Read MoreIN BRIEF: New Services & Solutions
Transportation ZIM Integrated Shipping Services introduced the ZIM Ecommerce Baltimore Express (ZXB) service, which offers a fast transit time to Baltimore from Asia, calling on Yantian, Cai Mep, New York, and Boston. Starting as a bi-weekly service, it will become weekly within a few months, offering shippers dedicated out-of-gate lanes to avoid queues in Baltimore; […]
Read MorePRODUCT SPOTLIGHT | AMRs and AGVs
inVia Robotics Picker Robot: Through a robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model, inVia Robotics combines its picker robots with AI-powered software to optimize warehouse operations. The solution uses algorithms to calculate inventory location, the optimal labor needed to complete fulfillment tasks, and the most efficient paths to take items from storage shelves to the central inVia PickerWall where […]
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Digital Businesses Look At the Bright Side
Digitized businesses report even higher levels of optimism than their offline peers, says a report from Alibaba.com, bolstered by stronger sales performance, larger anticipated investments, and more global exports. Key findings from the report reveal: Digitized SMBs far outperformed businesses still operating offline in terms of sales and sourcing: 61% of digitized businesses saw increases […]
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Electric Trucks Save the Planet…and Some Cash
By 2027, electric freight trucks and buses will become less expensive to purchase and operate than their combustion engine counterparts, says a study by Roush Industries for Environmental Defense Fund, with lower maintenance and energy costs. These electric vehicles will not only help save truckers and fleets money, but also provide substantial health and welfare […]
Read More4 Tech Predictions that Came True
From companies spending billions on cybersecurity to the cloud becoming the biggest thing in desktop applications, some of the top tech predictions from those in the know in various tech fields were proved right in 2021. Here are four trends that came true: 1. Natural Language Processing The branch of artificial intelligence that helps computers […]
Read MoreTrucking Influencers Take Over
Trucking influencers on social media, especially women truckers and drivers, are gaining traction and changing up transportation, says a PartCatalog.com report. They teach beginners about their unique experiences of life on the road, review products such as truck bed covers and floor mats, and flatbed trucks, and show off their truck driving skills. Take a […]
Read MoreWave of the Future: 5 Maritime Shipping Trends
From the time sea captains relied solely on celestial navigation to the smart ports of today, technology has continuously changed the shipping industry. Here are some of the biggest trends in maritime shipping to scope out, says a Thomasnet.com report: 1. Autonomous Ships In 2022, the U.S. Navy took over the Pentagon’s ghost fleet system, […]
Read MoreIN BRIEF: New Services & Solutions
Services Gebruder Weiss opened a 65,900-square-foot warehouse in Conyers, Georgia. The new facility provides businesses with storage, pick and pack, retailer compliance capabilities, e-commerce solutions, and value-added services such as kitting. Companies will have rail-served distribution warehouse space in Q4 2022 with a new 393,680-square-foot warehouse located in Bloomingdale, Georgia, just off Exit 148 on […]
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Vertical Focus: Luxury Goods
Shedding Animal Materials Fur Good Dolce & Gabbana joins several other luxury fashion brands in banning fur from all future collections starting in 2022. It will continue to work with fur artisans in its supply chain to incorporate into its designs sustainable faux fur made from recycled materials, the fashion house says. The company has […]
Read MoreReady to Live on the Edge?
Driven by evolving communications networks, such as 5G, 25% of supply chain decisions will be made across intelligent edge ecosystems by 2025, a Gartner report predicts. Edge ecosystems transform operations by bringing decision-making close to the original source of information. They help bring data processing, communications, and storage together to create even workflows and streamline […]
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Direct-to-Consumer Gets Trendy
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) e-commerce has changed the way people shop for everything from razors to sofas, to the point where retailers with more traditional supply chains are catching on. New e-commerce brands and traditional retailers alike can follow these five DTC trends in 2022 to stay competitive, says a Forbes report: 1. Traditional retailers go DTC. […]
Read MoreTop Supply Chain Disruptions in 2021
Supply chain disruptions increased 88% year over year in 2021, says data released by risk management platform Resilinc, with disruptions related to supply shortages increasing 452%, the largest increase across all event types. Although human health disruptions fell 68% year over year, 2021 saw the most factory fires ever recorded in a single year. The […]
Read MoreGlobal Shipping Costs Break Records
Today’s disruptions are even more significant than those during the financial crisis of 2008, says the Thomas Index Report. Prices for ocean freight shifted more than 72 percentage points over the course of the pandemic starting in 2020 to a peak in Q3 2021, when prices were more than 50% higher than average container shipping […]
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The Year of Capacity
All signs indicate that 2022 will be the year of capacity—not just for air, ocean, ground, and final-mile parcel, but also in terms of labor and the customer experience, SEKO executives stressed in a media call discussing Chinese New Year’s impact on the supply chain. Delays are simply routine now, and have steadily increased on […]
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