Filed in May 2012

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

Savvy shippers have found ways to put the nation’s rails back to work—and the railroads have flourished. But while current market conditions are favorable for shippers, questions remain over how the nation’s rail and intermodal network will respond when volume ratchets up past pre-recession levels.

Five leading technology analysts explore the roles ERP, business analytics (BI), RFID, TMS, and social media are playing to help logistics professionals capture and utilize data to improve supply chain visibility—and their careers.

This year’s findings indicate a leveling off from last year’s welcome spike, but also indicate a higher overall investment by those firms that are buying new or upgrading software. For 2012, the market appears to be progressing on a slow-and-steady growth path that isn’t expected to let up anytime soon.

Most enterprises have logistics and transportation risk management protocols that can address localized disruptions. Global supply chain risks, however, can have cascading and unintended consequences that no one organization can mitigate. Here are recommendations for managing the vulnerabilities.

With a few simple prescriptions, lift truck fleet managers can plan for the unplanned, reduce costs, and ramp up productivity and safety measures.

The recent surge of U.S. exports has created a more balanced trade picture for U.S. ports and the stakeholders they serve. If this is a sustainable trend, analysts expect to see more investment in infrastructure and increased competition among the leading gateways.

New and innovative technology-driven concepts are brought to my attention on nearly a daily basis. When something really lands with us for the first time, that concept is simply comprised of words on a page or vibrations hanging in the air. We nod, say that sounds interesting, and then quickly dive back into our day-to-day grind to practice “business as usual.”

By understanding the markets and how oil prices are set, shippers and carriers will more aggressively look for ways to increase the fuel efficiency of logistics operations. Along these lines, the second part of this series, next month, will dive deeper into how futures markets work and why they are nothing to be feared or loathed.

in 2012, the prudent shipper has to be looking for options to traditional long-haul trucking in an attempt to control costs and ensure that capacity is available to sustain operations.

This month we reflect on the views of the businesspeople, government policy makers, and academics that participated in the World Economic Forum (WEF) study of supply chain risk.