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Helpful Articles - Supply Chain

To anyone outside the industry, logistics professionals often appear to be speaking a language all their own. Amidst all the industry jargon, abbreviations, acronyms, and shortcuts, you’ll also find a few words that are in a category of their own. These words hint at the future of logistics and, often get thrown around in conversations where visionaries discuss what might be possible in the next five, ten, or even fifteen years. And while some may know exactly what these terms mean, you might see other people pull out their phones and surreptitiously Google the definition so they can join in the conversation. We’re talking about […]

Online shopping is on the rise and, with it, comes the rise in returns. Although the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 holiday shopping season have both contributed to the growth of online sales and returns, these two events merely serve to underscore the increasing overall importance of reverse logistics and its role in the supply chain. In this article, we’ll explore this under-examined and under-appreciated link of the supply chain and highlight its impact across your business as a whole. First, let’s make sure we’re clear on terminology. Reverse logistics, as we’ll discuss in this article, refers to moving goods from their final destination back […]

PPE and toilet paper shortages, air freight capacity crunches, blank sailings, last-mile delivery overloads, and supplier struggles (just to name a few!)—2020 was a year full of challenges within supply chain management. Many companies who relied on a single supplier (especially one in China) struggled, as did those who didn’t have the technology or the systems to give them up-to-the-minute insights across their supply chain. As many professionals look back over the year’s events, a few key questions emerge: What have we learned from all of this? How can we apply it to our supply chains to make them more resilient to unexpected events in […]

2020 has been the year of the curveball—a year in which seemingly anything could happen. Even just in the world of logistics and supply chain management, this year has seen dramatic shortages, supply chain disruptions, air freight capacity crunches, ocean freight blank sailings, and much more. (The list goes on!) As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the globe, most experts agree that the 2020 holiday season will look a little different this year for consumers, retailers, and logistics providers alike. But exactly how will it be different? Obviously, that still remains to be seen. However, in this article, we’ll take a look at some […]

If your business hasn’t already embraced the concept of sustainability, what’s holding you back? Is it: Lack of clarity around what “sustainability” really means? The fact that it’s a challenging and slippery goal to measure? The impression that it will cost your company money without much benefit to speak of? The concern that it’s not a value that your customers will support—or even care about? These and many other concerns have made some businesses and brands hesitant about pursuing sustainability initiatives. If this is the position you find yourself in, we’ve got some resources to help you take a deeper dive into this topic, including […]

Conversations that center around the supply chain inevitably get stuffed quickly with buzzwords, ones that we don’t always stop to consider carefully. So when we decided to spotlight supply chain efficiency, we thought it was important to get back to basics by asking ourselves the most fundamental question: What is efficiency, really? We turned to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary to get us started. Something that’s efficient, the dictionary stated, is “capable of producing desired results with little or no waste (as of time or materials).” When you put it that way, it’s no wonder that professionals all over the world are chasing this ideal when managing […]