A growing body of research sheds light on how the downward pressure on blue-collar wages is bad for the overall U.S. economy. While supply-chain employers have enjoyed a rebirth and reinvention of the sector, it comes with increasing competition to manufacture and deliver goods faster and cheaper. T

Phillip D. Yeager never gave serious thought to walking away from the family business. He’s part of the third generation to work at Hub Group, Inc., the Chicago area-based transportation management company with current revenues of nearly $4 billion.Recently named president and chief operating

The logistics industry is about speed, efficiency and accuracy. Warehouses strive to turn trucks around swiftly, keep the dock doors filled, and process as many loads as possible. The same goes for truck drivers and carriers – if they’re not on the road, they’re not generating reve

Supply chains are the lifeblood of any company. Yet disruptions are an inevitable part of doing business globally. Whether it’s a devastating natural disaster such as 2018’s Hurricane Michael, or political events such as the recent trade wars, it’s a question of when, not if, the n

The supply chain as we know it is on the precipice of tipping from decades of steadily accelerating “push” dynamics to a new “push-and-pull” model.Four main factors are contributing to this global, industry-wide change:Today’s increasingly savvy shoppers. Customers live

U.S. manufacturers are lagging their European counterparts in the adoption of creative approaches to supply-chain finance. But three companies are demonstrating the varied ways in which that tool can be effectively deployed.The German engineering and technology giant Siemens ventured into the financ

What’s the single most important development shaping the future of how companies drive business value from their data and analytics capabilities?According to MIT Sloan Management Review, it’s the convergence of big data with artificial intelligence. Yet many companies, when presented wit

The hidden risk of a protracted trade war goes beyond the most obvious downside of losing valued trading partners, disrupting the supply chain, and increasing costs.The greatest risk is that an organization, facing the unpredictable nature of a trade war, will be unable to sustain its primary goal o

Manufacturers, retailers and distributors looking to make better use of working capital have a number of creative options at their disposal. But many prefer simply to slow-pay their suppliers.A recent survey found 33% of suppliers in the U.S., 34% in Canada and 40% in Mexico expecting an increase in

The Financial Accounting Standards Board’s new lease-accounting standard, ASC 842, went into effect for public transportation and logistics companies last year. FASB recently proposed extending the deadline for private companies for one year to annual periods beginning after December 15, 2020,

Detailed location technology can have a significant impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of supply chains. Here are four ways in which the technology can prove critical to business operations.Streamlined delivery. Logistics and supply-chain professionals need to move goods from distribution hu

With advances in technology driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and the creation of data lakes, organizations are coming to recognize their value to industrial production.Enterprise AI can be embedded in fundamental business models to augment decision-making. It focuses on outcomes rather than th

Force majeure clauses are intended to protect parties to a legal contract from losses caused by disruptive events beyond their control. But supply-chain partners might be surprised to learn what such language doesn’t cover.Force majeure applies to a wide range of circumstances, from wars and p

Companies can’t afford not to put a premium on the safety of their workers in global supply chains.This month, a Brazilian mining company agreed to pay $107m in damages and $186,000 to each family of the nearly 300 people killed when a tailings dam failed at its iron ore mine on January 25, 20

Reoccurring events such as the year-end holiday season used to provide a level of predictability to ocean-shipping trends in the transpacific eastbound trade lane. Typically, holiday peak-season volumes ramped up in July, with August and September being the busiest months, and volumes tapering off i

It’s a common misconception that procurement in business is all about saving money.While savings do play a role in procurement, there are many other factors that business executives must pay attention to in order to continue to deliver successful results.Progressive chief procurement officers

The U.S. has historically enjoyed a global economic advantage in part due to superior supply chains. In 1956, Malcom McLean invented the modern intermodal shipping container. Beginning in 1979, deregulation of the U.S. transportation sector enabled companies to thrive in non-asset truck brokerage. F

Suppliers existing on already thin margins are fearful of being beaten down on price by powerful buyers. So why would they embrace reserve auctions, which end up awarding contracts to the cheapest bidder?Traditional auctions involve driving up the price of an object or service until just one high-ro

Reverse logistics is nothing new to manufacturers and retailers. For decades, businesses have managed the flow of returned goods and materials, but this process has often been overlooked in favor of order fulfillment and forward logistics.A market projected to reach $603.9bn by 2025, reverse logisti

Consumers around the world know Gap Inc. for its timeless clothing that appeals to many generations. After more than 50 years in business, Gap Inc. has also honed its supply-chain systems to process millions of items each year at maximum efficiency. Given its scale, the company actively researches a