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Greening the Last Mile

Greening the Last Mile

Last-mile delivery—the end stage of delivery from a pickup point or sortation center to a package’s final destination—is the most expensive aspect of the supply chain, from high fuel costs and address location to labor and first delivery failure. It also has the highest environmental impact of any other part of the supply chain.

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Thinking Inside the Box Truck

Thinking Inside the Box Truck

While most people are at least somewhat familiar with box trucks, these little workhorses don’t get enough credit. Also known as straight trucks or bobtails, they are usually 26 feet long and can carry up to 10,000 pounds of freight. They can also come in small (12 ft.) and medium size (14-18 ft.) configurations.

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Artificial Intelligence in Fleet Management: The Advantages and Disadvantages of Using AI Resources in Fleet Operations

Artificial Intelligence in Fleet Management: The Advantages and Disadvantages of Using AI Resources in Fleet Operations

Today’s highly sophisticated and evolving artificial intelligence (AI)-driven tools and resources, including ones that leverage natural language processing like ChatGPT and Google’s new AI product Bard, are creating many new opportunities for organizations. However, the actual impact AI will have on transportation fleets in the areas of improved equipment asset management strategies, and operations such […]

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This Ain’t Your Parents’ Inventory Cycle

This Ain’t Your Parents’ Inventory Cycle

Speculation has been mounting that the inventory cycle is back. Profit warnings by major American companies such as GAP, Walmart, and Target that had taken on excess inventories and now needed to run them down raised concerns that a concerted drawdown of stocks could make a likely U.S. recession worse.

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Hurricane Season – 11 Questions to Ask Yourself

Hurricane Season – 11 Questions to Ask Yourself

Hurricane season for 2023 is upon us. And it’s never too late to be properly prepared. It’s always better to be over-prepared and then nothing happens than to be under-prepared and a major storm comes your way. Every business owner, regardless of the type of work they do, should address the following 11 questions in […]

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GOOD QUESTION: What one supply chain adjustment would make the biggest impact on ESG?

GOOD QUESTION: What one supply chain adjustment would make the biggest impact on ESG?

Mature your data so you can use it like Google Maps. Sustained ESG marries continuous improvement with reporting and analysis—predicated on trustworthy data. Every company has a different origin, destination, and journey. Equip your organization with dependable navigation skills by building data intelligence and embedding a culture of data-driven action.

–Michael Ochi
Sr. Manager, Sustainability and Digital Manufacturing
QAD

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Warehouse Location Automation

Warehouse Location Automation

If a robot told you where to go, would you listen? Choosing a domestic distribution site is a well-honed science with several schools of thought. Some supply chain practitioners favor the mega-DC approach, while others use retail locations to do double-duty as efulfillment centers. Other practices include a blended approach to match evolving customer demand.

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How to Combat Fraudulent Losses

How to Combat Fraudulent Losses

Retail and ecommerce is experiencing a massive digital transformation, and with this comes an increase in bad actors who embrace innovation and take advantage of the latest digital fraud practices as well.

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If You Don’t Quantify Risk, COVID Didn’t Teach You Anything

If You Don’t Quantify Risk, COVID Didn’t Teach You Anything

No one would argue after the events of the past three years that supply chains aren’t broken. Wild discrepancies between supply and demand resulted in a crazy roller coaster effect that vacillated between too much inventory and empty shelves. Billions of dollars of goods sat for weeks or more on transatlantic barges while consumers cashed their stimulus checks, ready to spend. 

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GOOD QUESTION: How would you describe your job in five words or less?

GOOD QUESTION: How would you describe your job in five words or less?

Keeping it cold, when hot. –Jake McPaul Head of Refrigerated Operations and Product WARP Supply chain innovation evangelist. –Chris Jones EVP Industry Descartes Bringing transparency to carrier negotiations. –Josh Dunham CEO and Co-founder Reveel Fresh challenges around every corner. –Crissy Hatfield Dispatcher Xcel Delivery Services Expanding the potential of automation. –Matt Somerville Director of Sales […]

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4 Reasons for the Warehouse Investment Boom

4 Reasons for the Warehouse Investment Boom

Right behind the frenzied investment in ChatGPT and related AI is an investment boomlet in distribution center and warehouse automation and robotics. Four convergent trends are at work here. 1. Driven by current economic challenges is the necessity to extract every ounce of ROI from each sale’s dependency on inventory and the infrastructure that supports […]

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