Early this week, basketball legend and all-around great guy Bill Walton passed away after a battle with cancer. Tributes came pouring in from past and present NBA players, broadcasters, fans, and the surviving members of the Grateful Dead. While that last bit may surprise you, Bill Walton was one of the biggest Deadheads around. He […]
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Global Trade Compliance (GTC) solutions automate and streamline processes related to customs and regulatory compliance. GTC solutions automate the discovery, creation, retention, analysis, and communication of information about international supply chains that is of importance to customs and other government authorities responsible for regulation and taxation of cross-border trade. These solutions also enable companies to […]
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In late 2023, Descartes conducted a survey of 1,000 supply chain and logistics decision-makers across North America and Europe across three sectors: manufacturing, distribution and retail; carriers; and logistics services providers. The study showed that the workforce problem is pervasive, with 76% of respondents indicating they are facing notable shortages. The study also provided insight […]
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In 2020, Microsoft committed to become carbon negative by 2030, and by 2050, the company aims to remove historical emissions since its founding in 1975. The company is operationalizing this target by reducing emissions as much as possible, increasing use of carbon-free electricity, and removing the emissions that remain. Meanwhile, Microsoft opened roughly 100 new […]
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Last week I attended the Blue Yonder ICON conference. My write-up gets into all of the great things I saw while at the show. But there is an underlying benefit to work travel sometimes – watching movies on my flight that I might not otherwise have time for. On my flight to Dallas, I finally […]
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Situation Companies are increasingly confronted with complex planning scenarios due to predictable events such as mergers and acquisitions, category expansions, supplier changes, and distribution evolution, as well as disruptive events including demand volatility, material shortages, capacity constraints, and logistical surprises. These challenges necessitate extensive configuration within Advanced Planning Systems (APS) test environments to assess their […]
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AI shows extreme promise for software and product development, manufacturing operations, and engineering and design. Industrial AI, a subset of the broader field of artificial intelligence (AI), refers to the application of AI technologies (including Generative AI) in industrial settings to augment the workforce in pursuit of growth, profitability, more sustainable products and production processes, […]
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Warehouse management systems, once known as supply chain execution systems, have evolved significantly. They have transitioned from mere work executors to planning solutions with optimization capabilities. This transformation was brought about by the incorporation of algorithms that enhanced worker productivity. Today, for many professionals, “WMS” is synonymous with “warehouse optimization.” It shouldn’t be. Optimization is […]
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This weekend the PGA Championship, the second of the 4 Majors, is taking place in Louisville, KY. Heading into the tournament, all eyes were on Scottie Scheffler, the world’s number 1 ranked golfer, winner of four of his last five tournaments including the Masters, and one of the favorites to win his third major. This […]
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I am writing this from the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, TX while attend the 2024 Blue Yonder ICON conference. I believe this is my 10th time attending ICON, and every year it is worth the visit. This year’s conference brought together nearly 2,000 attendees for thought-provoking sessions, networking and learning opportunities, and a concert with […]
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In December 2022, Thomas Bravo acquired the public company Coupa and took it private. In November of the following year, Leagh Turner became the new chief executive officer of Coupa. Coupa is a supplier of spend management solutions. New CEOs are brought in to drive change. Coupa grew quickly for years, but Thomas Bravo sought […]
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People buying tickets online for concerts, sporting events and other live events in Minnesota will be guaranteed more transparency and protection under a new bill signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Tim Walz. The law, which has been dubbed the Taylor Swift bill, was prompted by the frustration Democratic Rep. Kelly Moller felt at not […]
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In our everyday lives, we often navigate uncertainty using a probabilistic approach without even realizing it. Take weather-dependent activities, for instance. When planning your weekend, you might check a 5-day weather forecast, which provides probabilities of rain, sunshine, or cloudy skies. Armed with this information, you make decisions like whether to have a picnic, garden […]
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In March 2024, the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation released the National Zero-Emission Freight Corridor Strategy, which aims to decarbonize and advance zero-emission freight along the United States main shipping corridors. This plan’s goal is to advance the deployment of zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (ZE-MHDVs) and the infrastructure needed to enable ubiquitous access […]
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One-number plans are bad plans. A one-number forecast, for example, looks across the range of demand that might emerge in a period and decides to create a forecast that is mid-way between the most and the least demand that is apt to emerge. A probabilistic approach to planning would be better, but our supply chain […]
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I was hoping that my news roundup would lead off with a comment about Boston sports going two for two in the playoffs. After Wednesday night’s blowout of the Miami Heat, the Celtics won their opening round series and had me in a good spot. So it all rested on the shoulders of the Bruins, […]
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Following 45 days of negotiations, the European Council approved a watered-down version of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. The EU CSDDD has had a difficult journey, facing delays, changes, and hurdles to overcome. Nonetheless, the direction of travel of European governments is clear: companies need to do more to identify their exposure to unethical […]
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In 2022, I wrote an article called The Best Supply Chain Company You Have Never Heard Of. The article was about Ferguson PLC, a value-added distributor of plumbing and heating products. Ferguson has an extensive and complex supply chain. When I had an opportunity to catch up with Michael Jacobs, the senior vice president of […]
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When it come to smuggling, drug dealers are taking things to a while new level. Colombian drug smugglers are disguising cocaine as “fake coal” within major bulk consignments to try to dupe port surveillance operations, according to a new report. Anti-narcotics investigators have uncovered substantial amounts of the disguised drugs in the past two years […]
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Managing yard and warehouse operations has long been one of the thornier aspects of transportation logistics. A recent conversation with a major distributor of consumer beverages encapsulated many of the most common issues. Yards are a choke point between transportation and warehousing — and wherever you have choke points, you have a higher risk of […]
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