(Editors’ note: This is the first of a five-part series of articles about the journey to creating an end-to-end (E2E) business network that enables demand-driven supply capabilities.)For all stakeholders in traditional supply-chain ecosystems, and specifically in life-science supply chains, en

Warehouse automation is a major topic of conversation today. Many in the industry are wary of its implications, however, particularly with regard to the issue of jobs. Yet the technology goes well beyond robots taking over tasks that were once done by humans.Automation can be incorporated into almos

Picking is one of the most intensive processes within the warehouse, and it’s also one of the most likely to result in a mistake that ends up costing time and money. Often a mispick isn’t discovered until an inventory count is wrong, or the customer sends the order back.Thankfully, most

The quest for supply-chain sustainability requires paying as much attention to the package as the product inside it.That necessity that doesn’t escape global life science leader MilliporeSigma. The company has launched a four-year effort to enforce green packaging for well over 300,000 product

The global supply chain has become extremely complex. Proctor and Gamble has more than 75,000 suppliers, while Walmart counts more than 100,000. With so many suppliers in the mix, companies are finding it extremely challenging to keep tabs on their shipping containers.Estimates indicate that roughly

In the online retail industry, mega-sellers like Amazon and Walmart set the standard for what consumers expect in terms of service, ease of use, fulfillment, shipping and more.Amazon recently announced free one-day shipping for Prime members, with the service already rolling out on select products.

Managers and workers are embracing digital technologies, as the fourth industrial revolution reshapes the global economy.The trend has led to the merging of the internet and factories, giving rise to smart factories and more efficient and cost-effective manufacturing. New data-driven production syst

More than 70 percent of all freight tonnage moved in the U.S. goes on trucks, according to the American Trucking Associations. With 3.6 million heavy-duty Class 8 trucks on the road and 3.5 million drivers, safety and efficiency is of the utmost importance.Telematics is one solution that will contin

When it comes to assessing progress toward digital transformation of the procurement function, a lot of companies appear far less advanced than they think they are.That’s the conclusion of a recent survey of supply-chain and procurement leaders by Forrester Consulting. It finds 65 percent of r

Consumer demand for ease and efficiency is affecting all types of companies and industries. In the age of Amazon.com and ultra-fast delivery, food is one of the categories that’s most impacted by the trend.While restaurants are struggling to keep up (and make a profit) from third-party deliver

The source of many issues in supply chain and logistics management often can be traced to underperforming, overburdened information technology systems.In fact, degraded I.T. system performance is just as much of a threat as cyberattacks, trade flow and climate change, which were recently cited

The complexity of cybersecurity has grown exponentially as the number of interconnectable digital devices has risen. Because interdependent computer infrastructures support almost every organization today, protecting digital data has become crucial.Thirty-seven percent of CEOs surveyed say sign

Small and mid-size businesses that expect to compete in today’s fast-evolving e-commerce marketplace need to be nimble when it comes to warehouse and supply-chain operations.The greater one’s agility, the better the ability to address a plethora of challenges, including sky-high consumer

Effective collaboration between independent entities is the key to unlocking the value of supply-chain processes.The race to push I.T. applications to the cloud isn’t enough to improve collaboration within the supply chain. The shift away from on-premise apps is often sold with the promise of

Consumers with a high degree of social and environmental awareness will change their behavior and brand choices to match their values. Yet most brands operate on a linear “make, use and dispose” business cycle.Now, however, leading companies are pulling away from that model, embracing a

Robotic technology and automation are having a transformational impact on warehouse operations.Earlier generations of robots used to be quite bulky and extremely limited in what they could do. However, the technology has come a long way over the years, and robots have gradually become a common sight

Traditional hiring is typically conducted in a Cartesian way: interviewer vs. interviewee. The interviewer evaluates the interviewee for skills and experience, and finds the best possible fit given the job requirements. While Cartesian hiring is effective in terms of filling job positions with the a

Your lengthy career in procurement has consisted largely of being beaten up by top management over the need to constantly cut supplier costs. Along comes digital technology to make your job easier — or take it away.That, at least, is the fear of procurement professionals in the age of art

Earned value management (EVM), which involves the comparison of planned budgets with actual cost and work performed, has been a core project-management technique for over half a century. Combining measures of project scope, time and cost, it came to prominence following the U.S. Navy’s Polaris

Customer experience (CX) professionals love survey scores. After all, what tells you more about the customer than its own words? Survey scores offer numerical evaluations, analytics, and scores trending over time, all of which makes them, hopefully, meaningful.CX professionals employ a net