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SUMMER 2008 chainalytics.com | contact us |
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Featured Articles Transportunities: Is Truckload Market Starting to Tighten Up? We are getting reports from a number of points in the market that capacity in the TL market has tightened up in a significant way in the past few weeks. There doesn't appear to be a significant demand increase (other then maybe a "blip" due to the tax rebates), but the supply of assets in the market is dropping much faster then earlier in the year. There appears to be a massive exodus of owner/operators from the market as they succumb to the relentless pressure of too many truckers chancing too little freight and rapidly increasing costs, including fuel prices and insurance rates. It is a classic case of Adam Smith's "invisible hand" at work. By Gary Girotti, Vice President Transportation Planning Practice, Chainalytics LLC Transportunities: Two Shades of Green - A Quick Note on Carbon Emissions and Fuel Surcharges In transportation, there is a direct correlation between being Green (environmentally responsible) and saving green (money). As with almost everything else, reducing one's carbon footprint translates to using less energy (petroleum-based fuels). The difference for transportation is that there is a built-in economic incentive for companies to reduce their carbon footprint - it is called a Fuel Surcharge (FSC). By Gary Girotti, Vice President Transportation Planning Practice, Chainalytics LLC |
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Supply Chain Design Fat, agile and green If you want to see true craftsmanship in making silk purses out of sows' ears, look to a logistics pro. The sow's ear I'm referring to is the trend of carrying more and more inventory. This used to be a sign of weakness and cause for shame because it indicated you didn't have a good handle on supply chain information. Now managing more inventory seems to be the new "best practice." By Tom Andel, Modern Materials Handling Supply Chain Managers Are Architecting A Green Future All along the supply chain, costs are skyrocketing and competition is intensifying. The focus on sustainability-focused supply chain strategies allows companies to combine a muscular set of strategic and tactical actions and processes aimed at optimizing overall business, environmental, and social performance. By Jhana Senxian, Aberdeen Group |
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Transportation Logistics News: Rising Diesel Costs May Finally Drive More Transportation Collaboration Mitsubishi Motors says it May Co-Mingle its Inbound Freight with Caterpillar Shipments - While the potential cost savings from "collaborative transportation" have been understood for some time, a variety of factors have consistently blocked any real industry progress towards shippers more proactively sharing capacity. Maybe skyrocketing diesel and fuel surcharge costs will finally do it. By SCDigest Editorial Staff Intermodal Rising Against a Cloudy Economy Intermodal is growing faster than other modes, but capacity problems are lurking in the wings. By Perry A Trunick , Outsourced Logistics |
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Inventory Supply Chain Software News: What Are the Barriers to Adoption of Inventory Optimization Technology Tools? It is not the ROI, says Chainalytics' Jeff Metersky; Companies Sometimes Lack Clear Vision of Inventory Processes and How Decision-Making will Change. By SCDigest Editorial Staff Supply Chain News: Technology and Sales and Operations Planning Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) is fundamentally about the development of a process that integrates the core operational functions of a company, and which delivers a unified plan across supply and demand that meets financial and strategic objectives. By SCDigest Editorial Staff |
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Supply Chain Intelligence Segment Strategically Optimal customer service segmentation should be done formally and purposefully to meet strategic goals. To do this requires segmenting customers on criteria that are both demand- and supply-oriented. This segmentation approach makes more business sense than giving everything away to the biggest and baddest customers. By Larry Lapide, Supply Chain Management Review Supply Chain Complexity Crisis Complexity is simply destroying the profitability at many companies, and that executives often can't see what the true cause is. They blame poor execution of what, in truth, are strategies doomed by the complexity it adds, especially in the supply chain. More suppliers, more parts, more forecasting, more customers to ship to, more returns to manage, etc. By Dan Gilmore, SCDigest |
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Global Supply Chains Addressing the last link in the chain The adoption of a sound strategy at the port-to-destination leg of the supply chain can have a direct impact on the amount and position of inventory, accuracy of forecasting, availability of product at DC, store or manufacturing line, and ultimately the level of sales of the receiving organisation. By Mick Jones, SupplyChainStandard.com Global Supply Chain: Is the World Going Unflat? Supply Chain Professionals should Remember All Things Go in Cycles; Right Now, Barriers and Nationalism are Returning By SCDigest Editorial Staff | |
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Sustainability Carbon-measuring software evolves How do you accurately and meaningfully measure the predicted carbon impact of a new project? After all, you don't want to discover -- too late -- that its environmental impact has made you Public Enemy No. 1 for Greenpeace. By Ted Samson, InfoWorld Eight Steps to a Greener Supply Chain Just the sheer complexity of today's long and global supply chains might be enough to daunt any thought of where to start to implement green strategies and technologies. But there is a lot of help available out there to make the journey an easier one. By April Terreri, WorldTrade Magazine |
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