Its safe to say that we can add our annual Best Practices in Logistics Awards to the long list of editorial traditions we've created at Logistics Management. In 2005 the number of entries more than doubled from 2004, the first year we presented the awards. And judging from the number of inquiries I've received concerning the official start of our 2006 program, I'm confident we'll set another record this year.

Shippers can submit their entries at www.logisticsmgmt.com/bestpractices until March 1. The Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners, chosen by the editorial staffs of Logistics Management and Supply Chain Management Review,will be featured in the June issue of LM. To sweeten the deal, the Gold winner will be on the June cover and will win a coveted iPod nano.

What makes a good entry? We're looking for innovative best practices that shippers have implemented over the past year: efforts that have shaved shipment times, slashed freight costs, improved inventory turns, or efficiently and effectively stretched supply chains from Cheyenne to Shanghai.

It doesn't matter how large or small your budget and staff may be. Past winners have included such billion-dollar players as Boston Scientific, International Paper, and Lexmark International, as well as smaller manufactures such as Hendrickson International and Allied Air Enterprises. (To read about past years' winners, search "Best Practices" at logisticsmgmt.com.)

All of those companies serve different markets, but each one solved problems that are familiar to most logistics managers, using tools that are available to all shippers. One winner, for example, used a sophisticated, home-grown RFID solution. One got its internal teams and their service providers to communicate better. Another simply used a roll of tape to better organize a warehouse. But there's one thing they all had in common: Good, old-fashioned common sense.

The toughest part of our job is winnowing down the entries to three winners. Last year, each of us came up with a list of five or six that could easily have made the cut. Several of them, in fact, later found their way into the pages of LM. For example, "Imagination Pays Off" (January 2006) featured the cost-saving strategies of Easy Gardener and Metal Essence—both 2005 "honorable mentions."

This month's cover story, "Leiner reshapes fulfillment operations" (Page 26) was one of my top five selections in 2005. The passion Leiner Health Products' Director of Corporate Logistics Phil Gard holds for his work and the success his team has achieved in challenging conditions will inspire shippers facing a tough logistics landscape in 2006.

So go on—fill out a Best Practices entry form. And even if you don't land on the cover of LM in June, you may get a call from us later in the year.

Comments? E-mail me at michael.levans@reedbusiness.com