As we come to the end of 2019, the technologies behind mass-scale digitization aren’t slowing down at all.Within the next five years, 85% of industrial companies are expected to have implemented Industry 4.0 technologies in all key business divisions. The trend is producing practical digital a

In today’s workplace, predictability isn’t a guarantee. Research from the Economic Policy Institute found that around 10% of the U.S. workforce deals with irregular or on-call scheduling, while 7% works split or rotating shifts. No one wins with this lack of stability, which creates chal

Everywhere you turn these days, there’s a blockchain pilot underway for the supply chain. But they’re all missing one crucial element: a single, coherent set of standards.Blockchain technology as we know it is already 11 years old, conceived as a transactional ledger in support of bitcoi

According to a survey published by Dresner Advisory Services, over 50% of companies are using big-data analytics. A closer look reveals that the adoption rate varies significantly by industry, with financial services and telecommunications leading the way, followed by education and healthcare. But t

The trade standoff between the U.S. and China has yet to seriously impact the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. But as neither side shows signs of backing down, and tariffs continue to be levied on virtually every segment, those sectors are preparing for a major supply-chain disruption.Th

The past decade has seen a monumental shift in the requirements placed on distribution centers. As customers continue to trend toward online sales and demand faster delivery times, retailers and wholesalers are feeling the pressure.Retailers must manage existing store volumes while accommodating the

The digital economy is disrupting the world as we know it. The meteoric rise of business-to-consumer retail e-commerce has sent shock waves throughout the industry. Now, the impact is reverberating beyond Amazon and eBay to affect business-to-business companies everywhere.While retailers scramble to

Inventory investments are often considered a necessary evil required to satisfy customer service requirements and maximize revenue. When managed correctly, inventory can be a strategic asset to drive profitable revenue growth and competitive advantage. The challenge is to establish a sustainable fou

Digital transformation within the supply chain is well underway. But consumer-products companies are lagging many other industries in progressing toward that goal.That’s according to recent research from AlixPartners LLP, which finds that a large portion of the investment by consumer-products

It will surprise no one to learn that the time of year with the biggest impact on supply chains is the year-end holiday season. According to Statista, buying activity during that period surpasses all other seasonal events combined. The National Retail Federation (NRF) reports that retailers rely on

From marketing consultants and supply chain partners to accountants and IT service providers, organizations today depend on all kinds of third parties for virtually every conceivable business function.According to recent Ponemon Institute research, the unintended consequence of third-party dependenc

The pace of change within global supply chains continues to accelerate. It’s driven by ever-growing customer expectations (the so-called “Amazon Effect”), making weekly, monthly and yearly periodic planning processes insufficient. Business leaders are confronted with a new normal:

While there are similar regulations and overlapping requirements governing both Mexico and U.S. customs import processes, there are drastic differences that savvy shippers should be aware of. Only by knowing what differences exist between the two countries can you to successfully navigate importing

It’s been two years since Amazon bought Whole Foods. At the time, analysts touted the deal as an Amazon initiative to dominate food retail. But is that what really happened?Looking back and looking forward, what can we learn about Amazon’s goals and strategy? In short: It’s al

Total cost of ownership (TCO) was popularized by Gartner in the 1980s. The basic idea is that the value derived from a product involves more resources than what you pay the supplier. Take the modern-day smartphone. Why do you have one? Presumably to communicate, but there are many other uses it play

Most supply-chain professionals would agree that the traditional annual, full-network carrier-procurement process has inefficiencies. Access to better data is changing the way organizations operate, and it’s time transportation strategies changed as well. Yet many transportation departments co

The digitization of today’s world calls for an ever-increasing number of changes to the way that business is handled on a daily basis. Today’s consumers have every type of information at their fingertips with just a Google search away. As this trend continues to grow, so does the consume

Is blockchain technology a natural fit for the supply chain? Or is it just “a solution looking for a problem”?That second possibility is raised, ironically, by a blockchain proponent: Ajay Chidrawar, vice president of global product management and customer success with CGS, a provider of

For years, the belief that the seamless, transparent, and real-time flow of communication can improve the results of supply-chain collaboration has been the holy grail of business: frequently aspired to, but seldom achieved. Yet the benefits are indeed possible, and in some cases have even been real

Cyberattacks have become common to the point of being considered one of the strategic risks that businesses across all industries face today.In recent years, there’s been an upsurge in hacking incidents targeting organizations both large and small. Typically, attackers are driven by the intent