by Jennifer Hart Yim | Apr 18, 2017 | Blog, Current Events, Logistics, Strategy, Supply Chain
Blockchain is coming, and it offers the potential to shake up Supply Chain and Logistics like few other technologies coming down the pike.
This guest post comes to us from Argentus Supply Chain Recruiting, a boutique recruitment firm specializing in Supply Chain Management and Procurement.
A few months back, we wrote about Blockchain as an emerging technology and tool for Supply Chain transparency. It’s a pretty incredible technology that stands to reshape big aspects of the economy in general and Supply Chain in particular – but it’s also pretty difficult for the common person to understand, which doesn’t help matters. But Blockchain is coming, and it offers the potential to shake up Supply Chain and Logistics like few other technologies coming down the pike.
In the simplest terms possible, Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that allows a decentralized network to track transactions within a system. It’s the technological basis for Bitcoin that solved the problem of how to verify transactions for a digital currency without relying on a central entity or bank.
One of the most relevant parts of Blockchain for Supply Chain purposes is the fact that Blockchains tend to be more open and transparent than other sorts of ledger systems – anyone participating in the network can see the transactions. Which has led Financial Services companies to seek out Blockchain technology to more quickly make cross-border payments and verify contracts. It’s also led to companies using Blockchain’s openness to redefine transparency about where they source their products. For example, seafood companies and other food production companies with overseas sourcing can use Blockchain to keep a solid record of every transaction along the Supply Chain, so that consumers can rest assured that the fish they’re buying was farmed sustainably, without using human slavery.
Here’s another new application: shipping giant Maersk is partnering with IBM to use Blockchain to track shipping containers. The goal here isn’t as much transparency as efficiency – which is a much-beloved quality in contemporary Supply Chains. Tracking shipping containers can involve dozens of people and hundreds of individual interactions as it makes its course along the Supply Chain from, say, China to the West Coast of the U.S. Maersks’s new Blockchain program will allow all stakeholders to witness the shipment’s progress and status at all times. The idea is to cut down on paperwork involved and allow both suppliers, buyers and shippers to streamline the process.
At the same time, Wal-Mart is delving into using Blockchain for food safety. Whereas merchants traditionally struggle with unfortunate product recalls that happen from time to time – pinpointing a specific SKU, a specific shipment, a specific vendor, of a product that’s made a customer ill and then taking it off the shelf – Wal-Mart is hoping that Blockchain will help it glean important data from receipts all up and down the Supply Chain: where was the food grown, who inspected it, etc.?
This can help the company be more strategic in removing items from shelves, avoiding the kind of broad-brush recalls (“pull all the spinach!”) that can cost a company millions.
With Wal-mart, Maersk, IBM, and other companies like Nasdaq and BHP Billiton starting to make their way into using Blockchain, it’s clear that the burgeoning tech has finally arrived on the scene.
Any Blockchain experts out there? Are there other applications or implications for Procurement and Supply Chain that we might not be thinking of? Let us know in the comments!
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by Jennifer Hart Yim | Apr 13, 2017 | Blog, Logistics, Strategy, Supply Chain, Transportation & Trucking
This guest post comes to us from Adam Robinson, director of marketing for Cerasis, a top freight logistics company and truckload freight broker.
Growing woes over a forthcoming capacity crunch are not going away anytime soon. But, the capacity crunch may have a major impact on the freight driver shortage and vice versa. In a sense, fewer drivers mean that capacity will grow tighter. Yet, as capacity shrinks, the incentive for drivers increases. As 2017 moves forward, it may be a year that the driver shortage comes to a head, but it might not be as dismal as some shippers have been led to believe.
The Freight Driver Shortage IS BAD and Getting Worse.
The American Truckers Association cites approximately 48,000 unfilled trucker positions, reports Saul Gonzalez. Since 2005, the freight driver shortage has grown from 20,000 unfilled positions to 70,000, and some reports suggest the shortage may worsen to more than 170,000 vacancies by 2025. Meanwhile, the average of age of today’s trucker is 49, and more truckers are aging out and retiring from the industry. This contributes to a growing bleakness among the trucking industry, causing turmoil among shippers and logistics providers. But, there is a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.
Could Automation Reduce the Impact of the Driver Shortage in 2017?
Politicians and industry experts have claimed for more than a year that automation and drone delivery will be able to handle the driver shortage, and while this belief may hold true, the widespread deployment of driverless trucks is still far from reality. As explained by Sean Kilcarr of FleetOwner®, the political discussion seems to continue pointing toward more affordable and available education of futuristic technologies.
This might be true in the future, but current political turmoil suggests that any such move will be met with extensive resistance from the opposing political party. In other words, education and re-skilling of workers to service autonomous vehicles and automated technology is not ready for widespread deployment. However, the answer to the growing driver shortage might lie in the capacity crunch itself.
How Could the Capacity Crunch Help the Driver Shortage?
It sounds insane; tightening of the capacity crunch could help solve the driver shortage. Look at the historic tightening of capacity in the shipping industry. In 2004, 2011 and 2014, capacity reached a critical point. Yet, major carriers, reports Jeff Della Rosa of Talkbusiness.net, met the increased demand by increasing trucker wages by 7-percent per loaded mile. Consequently, the overall annual wage of drivers increased during these three years, providing temporary relief for a looming driver shortage.
2017 appears to be another year in the lineup of driver wage increases too. Companies, including Crete Carrier, Baylor Trucking and Shaffer Trucking and CFI have implemented per-mile rate increases. Meanwhile, Swift Transportation, Schneider, and CGI have unveiled $4,000 – $8,000 bonuses for new drivers. So, the wages are starting to reflect the demand for drivers. In fact, Delco expects industry-wide wage increases among trucking companies throughout the remainder of 2017.
Will the Driver Shortage Succumb to Capacity Crunch After All?
It’s easy to gain a false sense of security as wages climb among the trucking industry, and for shippers, this means that they may be considering abandoning previous preparations for worsening of the shortage. However, shippers need to continue working to help the freight driver shortage. Yet, shippers want to pay the least cost possible for transportation of goods, which results in lower profits for carriers and wages for drivers. So, how do shippers help prevent the driver shortage from worsening?
The answer is working with multiple carriers to find the best rates without undercutting the industry. In other words, more shippers will turn to third-party logistics providers (3PLs) who offer more than just shipping management, to increase profit margins across their enterprise, allowing for more expendability among the actual freight costs of shipping. In other words, savings found from auditing and eliminating redundancies in paperwork frees funds for use among actual freight costs. To shippers, the overall costs decrease, but to truckers, it means more money available for use as wages, benefits, and better equipment.
In a Nutshell.
As capacity tightens in the industry, shippers will face the challenge of reaching more customers with fewer resources, and the freight driver shortage may spike temporarily. However, the capacity crunch itself will help curb the driver shortage, and reaction to capacity issues will further the cause of better wages and incentive for more drivers to enter the industry. Of course, nationwide low unemployment and better wages among other industries will still draw people away from the trucking industry, reports the Journal of Commerce (JOC). Remember the saying, “it’s always darkest before dawn.” The driver shortage may not come to a head just yet, provided the industry continues to increase wages and work to increase driver retention.
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by Fronetics | Apr 3, 2017 | Blog, Logistics, Strategy, Supply Chain, Talent
Hoping to draw more millennials to your talent pool? Implementing these three ideas might help win them over.
By the year 2020, millennials are estimated to make up a majority of the workforce. In addition, a 2014 study found that 46% of B2B buyers were millennials, and that number is on the rise. This seismic shift in workplace demographics calls for a new approach to attracting and retaining talent.
There are all kinds of stereotypes about this up-and-coming generation, many with a basis in truth, and just as many without. It’s crucial for your business to get to know this demographic group, both in terms of how they behave as consumers, and how they operate in the workplace. To that end, here are some ideas for attracting this talent pool to your company.
3 ideas for attracting millennial talent
1) Green technologies
Millennials are a generation saddled with all kinds of debt — from student loans to the ecological damage done by previous generations. Studies, not to mention voting behaviors, have shown that this generation is avidly interested in improving the planet’s future.
To win the hearts and minds of millennials, it’s time for your business to consider “going green.” Of course, green technologies can be prohibitively costly on a large scale — but many small changes can save you money in the long run. Not to mention, they will make your business a more attractive place to work for eco-minded millennials.
Consider making the switch from conventional to LED light bulbs, for example. If you have the resources, coupling smart thermostats in your facilities with higher-efficiency windows and doors is a great way to improve your carbon footprint, as well as your credentials among younger employees. Whatever your capabilities, making an effort to go green will go a long way toward making your business attractive to this generation.
2) Work-from-home options
Millennials are digital natives, accustomed to technology at their fingertips, with all the options that opens up to them. This often means the expectation of being able to work from a location of their choosing, whether it be home, a library, or a coffee shop. Millennials rank this kind of flexibility highly among factors that make companies appealing places to work.
Employers are increasingly answering the call, and even massive corporations like Wells Fargo and Aetna are finding ways to allow employees the option to work from home. These employers are finding that, often, what sounds great for employees also works to their advantage: A change of location can freshen thoughts, increase creativity, and lessen burnout that can slow down work for a team or entire company.
3) Opportunities to learn
Millennials are highly educated, and thirsty for knowledge — left unquenched, this thirst can lead them to job-hop frequently. At any given moment, 60% of millennial workers are open to pursuing a new employment opportunity. So how does your business combat this tendency and reduce turnover? One place to start is by offering continuing education to your workforce.
There are all kinds of ways to do this, and all kinds of benefits — including benefits to your bottom line. Making your employees more well-rounded means that they are more likely to be creative and flexible, able to respond to the needs of the constantly evolving supply chain industry.
Relating to millennials
Here’s the open secret: While each generation might have its quirks, millennials aren’t really all that different at the core than previous generations. They may express it in different ways, but they essentially want what workers have always wanted: interesting work, the opportunity to better themselves regularly, and to be treated with respect and dignity.
At the end of the day, you don’t need to be overly concerned about “relating” to millennials. According to one millennial writer, Sarah Landrum, “Millennials are in tune with current events, interested in getting involved with charity, and more interested in the world outside their heads than you might suspect.”
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by Fronetics | Mar 23, 2017 | Big Data, Blog, Current Events, Data/Analytics, Internet of Things, Logistics, Manufacturing & Distribution, Strategy, Supply Chain, Talent, Warehousing & Materials Handling
Our series by MBA students and graduates at Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics highlights some of the most pressing issues in supply chain management today.
A few years ago, the Wall Street Journal called supply chain management the “hot new MBA.” Many universities have been introducing related degree programs, majors, and concentrations in response to a growing demand for new hires with supply chain expertise. Graduates of these programs are heavily recruited by employers, which is helping to attract ambitious, young talent to the industry.
Fronetics had the opportunity to collaborate with some of these rising stars by inviting MBA students from the University of New Hampshire Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics to author guest posts on our blog. They covered a variety of pertinent topics, from the Internet of Things and Big Data to pet food and Chipotle. Their pieces are summarized below.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be partnering with another MBA class at UNH to author a second series of posts covering some of the most pressing issues in supply chain management today. Make sure you receive our blog e-newsletter (sign up to the right) or follow us on social media so that you don’t miss out.
Steve Mondazzi writes about how the Internet of Things is now being used to improve factory workflow, increase material tracking, and optimize distribution to maximize revenues. Everything from turning lights on and off to security systems can be controlled from your smartphone, and that technology is moving to the manufacturing industry. Mondazzi examines Mark Morely’s theory that the IoT will impact the industry in three main ways: pervasive visibility, proactive replenishment, and predictive maintenance. He also explores hurdles to implementation — such middleware and a common protocol for businesses regarding IoT. Read article
Mikayla Cadoret focuses on the barriers to entry in the pet food industry. New brands have three options: manufacture product themselves, choose a co-packer who uses a private label, or choose a co-packer who will manufacture the food to the specifications of the brand. She discusses the challenges of those choices as well as high-profiles recalls resulting from co-packer error. She recommends strategies that companies implement to keep tabs on co-packers’ sourcing and manufacturing. Read article
Nicole Brooks explores Amazon’s mission to be earth’s most consumer-centric company. The e-commerce giant not only offers low prices, it also exceeds consumer expectations and shifts industry standards with benefits like same-day shipping. Brooks examines Amazon’s biggest technological assets, and looks forward to up-and-coming innovations like Kiva robots in warehouses, drones, Prime Air, and Amazon Business. Read article
Corey Ducharme discusses the traditional four-step problem-solving method and how it isn’t effective in solving needle-in-a-haystack issues resulting from limited business resources. Six sigma can address these issue with its six-step process. With the addition of an analysis phase, solutions become more effective, leading to better results and higher revenue for businesses. Read article
David Chadwick explores whether advances in radio-frequency-identification technology (RFID) will render humans obsolete in the supply chain. RFID could dramatically improve efficiency and accuracy in warehouses by reducing the need for human interaction. But it is uncertain to what degree this technology will be implemented in all aspects of supply chain management. Read article
Dario Cavegn discusses how increasing size and complexity of global supply chains open them up to increased risk. Supply chain disruptions can vary from insignificant to extremely threatening. But regardless of disruption size, supply chains can remain resilient with a business continuity plan, which acts as a road map to continue operations during or after a disruption. Cavegn outlines the development process from analysis to feedback. Read article
Josh Hutchins explores the limitations of big data. The real value lies in the analytics applied to the data. As an example, Solid Gold Bomb drove its prospering t-shirt business into the ground from an oversight and misapplication of data. Hutchins concludes that companies must have an intimate understanding of big data applications to avoid a similar fate. Read article
Michael Hickey discusses third-party logistics providers as a resource for a company’s operations arm. 3PLs offer an outsourcing opportunity for order fulfillment, inventory and warehouse management, as well as transportation of finished goods. But businesses should ask themselves these questions when determining whether a 3PL is a good fit for their needs. Read article
Sarah Hebert discusses Chipotle’s high-profile pork-supplier conundrum. The chain cut their pork supply by a third due to a supplier’s violation of their animal welfare standards. While this affected sales by 7-8%, Chipotle embraced the situation as a strategic PR opportunity. But behind the scenes, the company was scrambling to address long-term supply concerns associated with its rapid growth. Hebert asks, “At what point do you scale back the growth for the sake of maintaining brand integrity?” Read article
Connor Harrison discusses GM’s recall of 2.6 million vehicles. The company’s faulty ignition switches were linked to 13 deaths and 31 front-end collisions, but the company managed to contain the crisis. Harrison examines the root causes of the issue, including faulty ignition switches from GM’s supplier Delphi, a strained business relationship, and legal complications. Read article
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by Jennifer Hart Yim | Mar 22, 2017 | Blog, Leadership, Logistics, Supply Chain, Talent
By calling them “soft skills,” are we shortchanging competencies that are critical for supply chain and procurement professionals to succeed?
This guest post comes to us from Argentus Supply Chain Recruiting, a boutique recruitment firm specializing in Supply Chain Management and Procurement.
One of the biggest stories in the world of Supply Chain and Procurement talent over the past few years has been the emerging importance of Soft Skills. Time was, the business world saw Supply Chain and Procurement as highly analytical fields, where the ability to organize and interpret data was paramount. Analytical skills are still important, of course. But as the field has become more strategic — with a greater impact on wider areas of business — professionals in the field have had to become stronger at advocating for it. No senior Procurement professional is going to get very far into a Procurement transformation without being able to advocate for their Procurement method and what it can deliver. No one is going to transform their organization’s Supply Chain without being able to explain whatever insights they’ve gleaned from data to senior management.
When we say “Soft Skills,” we generally mean:
- Verbal communications
- Written communications
- Relationship-building skills
- Presentation ability
- The ever-elusive and hard-to-define-but-you-know-it-when-you-see-it “polish”
There’s no doubt they’re important, especially when it comes to moving into the senior ranks of leadership. But by calling them “soft skills,” are we really shortchanging them and treating them as ancillary to the “main,” “vocational” skills we ask for? Maybe it’s time to put them front and center.
They may be skills, but they’re not soft
Marketing guru and entrepreneur Seth Godin had an interesting post about the concept of “Soft Skills” and whether the way we think about them needs a revamp: “Let’s stop calling them ‘soft skills.’ They might be skills, but they’re not soft,” he says.
Godin’s basic point is that soft skills build a great workplace culture. And workplace culture isn’t an ancillary bonus to a business’s core function. It is a business’s core function. Godin doesn’t discount the importance of vocational skills. You can’t make a Supply Chain run without data. But for all the talk about strategy, a truly successful company succeeds not because of its strategy, but its culture — just like a truly successful career in business is often driven by soft skills rather than vocational skills.
His point is also that we don’t put as much effort into training soft skills as we do vocational skills, which might be because vocational skills are easier to measure. For example your typing speed (or for a Supply Chain role, your facility with SAP or JAD software) is much easier to measure than the kind of empathic awareness that makes a team sing. The result?
“Organizations hire and fire based on vocational skill output all the time, but practically need an act of the board to get rid of a negative thinker, a bully or a sloth (if he/she is good at something measurable).”
Rebranding soft skills as real skills
Godin’s suggestion is to rename soft skills “real skills” and break them down into new categories by which we might assess them:
- Self Control
- Productivity
- Wisdom
- Perception
- Influence
He breaks these categories down into an exhaustive list of skills (“diplomacy in difficult situations,” “etiquette”) that’s definitely worth checking out, and worth assessing in new hires. It gets a little abstract, but we couldn’t agree more with Godin’s core point: It’s time to put “soft skills” front and center.
In Supply Chain and Procurement, which are the areas we recruit for, soft skills are taking on more relevance as automation begins to handle the nuts and bolts of how products come to market, and how companies work with suppliers. The function is becoming more nimble and more strategic, and the future belongs to those who are able to be strategic advocates — and the companies that prize this in their hires.
Yet in a field that is, by its very nature, obsessed with efficiency, measurement, and data, soft skills sometimes take a back seat.
We think it’s time to change that.
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by Jennifer Hart Yim | Mar 16, 2017 | Blog, Logistics, Strategy, Supply Chain, Transportation & Trucking
Try these affordable online tools and mobile applications to help the logistics professional control their business.
This guest post comes to us from Adam Robinson, marketing manager at Cerasis, a top freight logistics company and truckload freight broker.
Logistics professionals require exemplary international online logistics tools to help them carry out their daily businesses with ease and deliver the best for their customers. For any developing business, adopting the widely used and affordable technologies is more economical. Mobile phones can offer incredible services in any business from inventory tracking and shipments to the execution of procurement transactions. Let’s base our discussion on online trucking logistics and mobile applications that can be used in supply chain management on a global basis by the logistic professional to control their business.
Top 8 Online Logistics Tools For Logistics Professionals
1. The Scandit mobile application software
Scandit is one of the top mobile online logistics tools used in international logistics in supply chain management. It is an advanced barcode scanner that is capable of extending bar code scanning to technology savvy inventory manager. Unlike other scanners, the scan in Scandal doesn’t have to be perfect to process data as it can scan hard to reach the barcodes with ease. It is also cross-platform enabled to facilitate ease of data sharing across other networks online.
2. The Easy stock mobile application software
This optimization tool for inventories is cloud based. It systematically limits access from the warehouse locations to minimize cost while maximizing on the availability of highly profitable items. It is one of the essential online logistics tools that can help managers forecast, plan the inventories, and a budget for the available resources. Most logistics prefer integrating the use of this app to automate procurement and replenish other processes to raise the profit margins.
3. The Web fleet Android application
The web fleet Android application is an incredible mobile application suitable for retaining control of the daily operations of your workforce. This app can be accessed through web browsing, where the logistic professionals can manage their business in real time just from their phones or laptops at the comfort of their seats. This application will help you track the daily operations 24 hours to ensure the credibility of your workforce and efficiency in your operations.
4. Service Max mobile app
Service Max mobile app is one of the best and top-selling apps in service management field that every logistic professional should consider using. The app combines the integration of service contracts, management of orders, workforce optimization and monitoring of social media customers. It builds an end-to-end service organization view of your relations with the clients who help you analyze the quality of your services and the reactions of the customers towards them. The feedback shared through social media, such as Twitter, by the people using your services helps you to gauge yourself and point out the areas that require improvement.
5. The Co-pilot Android mobile app
Co-pilot Android mobile app is an incredible online logistics tool employed in international logistics. It offers mapping and direction routing. It facilitates navigation through online tracking of your vehicle for efficiency. The application has additional algorithms that help the truck drivers follow efficient routes to avoid traffic and other obstacles that can delay the delivery. It is with a 100% surely that every logistic will be interested in the quick delivery of his/her business services within the shortest time possible which can be catered for using this application. The app also gives the dynamic information of the various navigation routes such as truck height and weight to ensure smooth navigation in the designated routes.
6. The Logistics mobile app
Logistics is a multipurpose free on-line Android mobile application used for on-line tracking logistics. It can be used to track drivers, shipment of goods, vehicles and client’s operations. Every logistic professional should look for this app to increase the visibility of the entire supply chain with the use of a smartphone. This incredible app will help you monitor and track your logistic operations with ease and confidence.
7. The Evernote online mobile application
Evernote, as well as Eduzaurus, has been rated as the best tool used by professional logistics in organizing important files, documents and images and is, therefore, a widespread global application in the field of supply chain management. It is widely known and used in online filing and storage of documents used in the supply chain. It has an added advantage as compared to other supply chain mobile applications due to its ability to record voice memos when you are away through an inbuilt voice recording technology. This helps the manager to track the success of the workforce when away. With this mobile application, it is a guarantee of success to the managers and logistics in file organization field.
8. The Cerasis Rater — A Web-Based Transportation Management System with Companion Mobile App
The Cerasis Rater allows you to process shipments for the following over-the-road modes:
- Less than truckload
- Small Package, also known as Parcel
- Intermodal
- Full Truckload moves
The Cerasis Rater eliminates the manual process of booking shipments. Before using online logistics tools, you’ve most likely wasted time, energy, and money trying to maintain your carrier rates, calling carriers to try and get the best price, and lost efficiency from having to keep up with paper bills of lading. The Cerasis Rater offers many automation & efficiency benefits to include:
- Process your own shipment, at any time, 24/7 through our web-based portal.
- Upload, store, and maintain your shipper address book with pre-population to maintain accuracy and save time.
- Store your custom commodities, and over time the Cerasis Rater puts the most commonly used to the top of the list for faster processing.
- Choose from multiple carriers whose rates are negotiated specifically to your needs within the system, allowing you to not waste time or energy, and to not leave money on the table at the time of shipment.
- Choose carriers based on rate, transit time, and limit of liability to ensure your cargo and your peace of mind are covered.
- Print batch freight quotes, bills of lading, invoices, and labels all within the same system.
- Create, email, and print bills of lading when you are done processing your freight shipment.
- E-mail notification options customized to your needs.
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