U.S. retailers and manufacturers are increasingly turning to transloading to optimise their supply chains, a new report reveals.
There is a substantial increase in the practice of transloading on the West Coast over direct shipping to the Midwest via intermodal rail, according to The Journal of Commerce.
The report explains that, by repacking inbound container shipments into larger domestic containers, shippers save on inland transportation costs and gain more inventory flexibility. Read more here.
(Industry Week – David Blanchard) Probably nobody knows exactly how many suppliers make up the global supply chain, but according to one recent estimate, there are nearly 5 million unique suppliers in use by Fortune 1000 companies. Based on its multi-year analysis of suppliers to the Fortune 1000, CVM Solutions says that roughly 310,000 (6%) suppliers were used by two or more companies in 2009. And that number is down 15% from 366,000 in 2008.
“The overall number of relevant and highly used suppliers is significantly smaller than many believed,” says Mike Anguiano, chairman of CVM Solutions, a provider of supplier management solutions. “We also noticed that, despite the disappearance of certain suppliers, a new crop of suppliers were being added. This trend leads us to believe that there is a Darwinian effect occurring in the supply chain as Fortune 1000 companies cut weaker suppliers and replace them with stronger ones.” Read more here.
The 18th edition of the leading third-party logistics providers guide, Who’s Who in Logistics, has just been released. The new edition, in two volumes - The Americas and International, has been expanded with in-depth profiles of 273 3PLs.
New 3PLs added this year include: Con-way Multimodal, enVista, Fidelitone Logistics, GLOVIS, Hercules Logistics & Forwarding, IMPERIAL Logistics, ITG GmbH Internationale Spedition + Logistik, Odyssey Logistics, OOCL Logistics, Pantos Logistics, Qingdao Smart Cargo International Services, Sataria Group, Shangdong Jiayi Logistics, Topocean Group, Universal Traffic Service, Wared Logistics, and WLG.
Of the 3PLs profiled, over 73% are private versus publicly traded companies. Who’s Who in Logistics profiles individual 3PL financial information, key personnel, information technology, and service capabilities. In addition, editorial evaluations, case studies and important news events are reported. Information is presented in sufficient detail to allow companies to quickly evaluate providers for logistics outsourcing initiatives. Read more here.
Supply chain management researchers from around the world will be joining practitioners in Toronto for the 8th Annual International Symposium on Supply Chain Management Sept. 26-28.
Hosted by the Purchasing Management Association of Canada (PMAC), this year’s theme is Exploring the Leading Edge in SCM: Innovation, Sustainability, Performance Measurement.
Practitioners and researchers from around the world will be represented at the event, including those from Australia, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Qatar, Switzerland, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the U.S.
“The symposium encourages thought leadership in the field of strategic supply chain management on a global level,” said recently appointed PMAC president and CEO Cheryl Paradowski. “Practitioners and researchers benefit greatly from each other. Practitioners are well-versed in current best practices but are rarely exposed to emerging research, which can provide profound advantages to organizations who are early adopters.”
“Practitioners are encountering problems in the field that they do not have time to address. Bringing together academics and practitioners ensures that academics are studying real problems and generating solutions that are useful and not just theoretically neat,” said Dr. Steven A. Melnyk, chair of this year’s event and professor of operations management at Michigan State University’s Eli Broad School of Business.
Dr. Linda Sprague, first emeritus professor at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai, will deliver the opening keynote. In her speech, Dr. Sprague will discuss China’s rapidly evolving supply chain infrastructure.
The symposium program also features presentations and in-depth panel discussions on current and emerging issues in SCM, including:
• Integrating sustainability into strategic purchasing; • Sustainability metrics for supply chains; • Impact of supply chain strategy and structure on firm performance; • Integrated new product development on a global scale; • Contractor incentives: Introducing performance-based logistics; • High performance in procurement risk management; and • Supply chain sustainability through supplier development.
New to this year’s symposium is a plant tour that will take delegates to the Daily Bread Food Bank for a behind-the-scenes look at its complex supply chain. The central distribution centre for southwestern Ontario, Daily Bread is responsible for receiving food products at multiple locations, sorting, transporting and tracking all donations.
American Shipper is pleased to invite you to attend Bringing Compliance into the Boardroom, hosted by associate editor Eric Kulisch. This free webinar will broadcast live on September 15th at 2 PM ET. Please register here.
This 60 minute roundtable discussion will include the following expert panelists:
• Beth Peterson, President of BPE
• Nathan Pieri, SVP of Marketing & Product Management for Management Dynamics
• Virginia Thompson, Director of Import/Export Operations and Int. Trade Compliance for Crate and Barrel
Our panel will discuss the best strategies for compliance professionals to get executive level cooperation and sponsorship of their initiatives. Our focus will include:
• The pain points of each member in the boardroom and how they relate to compliance issues - Key messaging to use when speaking to each board member
• Tools to use in your presentation, such as quantifying compliance and its effect on the bottom line
• How automation can contribute to your efforts by adding value and saving money
This webinar, sponsored by Management Dynamics, is a must-attend event to help you learn how to get the attention your compliance department deserves from your C-level executives.
Please feel free to reach out to our help desk if you have any questions at HelpDesk@shippers.com
American Shipper’s “2010 Transportation Procurement Benchmark Study: Leveraging Automation to Manage Market Volatility” is now available on our Website. Register now to download your complimentary copy.
This benchmark report, produced in partnership with Retail Industry Leaders Association made available free of charge courtesy of our sponsors CombineNet and GT Nexus, studies 200 transportation buyers and sellers and their procurement processes, practices and technology enablers. The report separates the top 15% of performers by examining negotiated freight rates, the ability to measure carrier bids beyond price, speed to contract implementation, and much more.
In this volatile market the procurement process has become a vital part of supply chain management. This report offers actionable guidance to transportation buyers, demonstrating how the most successful companies approach procurement of freight services from RFQ through the contracting process
Please feel free to contact our Help Desk at any time if you have any questions, comments, or feedback. HelpDesk@Shippers.com
Companies are now more likely to have executive-level supply chain leaders, according to a recent Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium survey of leading retail and manufacturing companies. The executive briefing – The Structure of Today’s Supply Chain Organizations, based on the survey – notes that throughout the past five years, the organizational level of the senior-most supply chain executive has gradually moved higher. Today, nearly half the retail and manufacturing companies surveyed have a supply chain leader at or above the executive vice president level. This has major implications for material handling managers, says Bruce Tompkins, Executive Director of the Consortium and author of the briefing.
“Now people with a general supply chain background are finding themselves in the C suite reporting to a president and that will make opportunities for people to move up into those levels where there weren’t such levels before,” he told MHM. “As organizations become more matrixed they have multiple hats on and that means there will be an opportunity for material handling people to branch into other areas of supply chain as well.” Read more here.
The main challenges facing supply chains are managing external factors, such as the global economic crisis, and addressing green issues, says a new report, ‘Transportation Management: Lessons from a Difficult Two Years’.
The report, from AMR Research in collaboration with RedPrairie Corporation, indicates there are three key external events that have affected transportation in the consumer products, food and beverage, and chemical manufacturing industries. These include oil price volatility, the recession and major catastrophes, such as Hurricane Katrina. More recently, the disruption caused by the much-publicised Icelandic volcanic ash cloud had a similar impact.
Developing more sophisticated and flexible transportation systems to reduce risk is an area consumer product manufacturers and the food and drink industry need to address, whereas the chemical sector appears to have established systems more able to cope with re-routing due to its history of dealing with natural disasters. Read more here.
Global consultancy IDC Manufacturing Insights has recently conducted a worldwide study of over 700 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing industry on behalf of Infor and IBM.
One of the key results of the study found that manufacturers, while pressured to reduce costs, have pulled back on the prevalence of low-cost country sourcing. According to the survey, there seems to be an increased focus on the importance of customer fulfilment in contrast with a previous emphasis on low-cost sourcing strategies.
The consultancy asserted that low-cost sourcing could result in lower responsiveness and poor customer service, higher costs, and additional risk factors such as supply chain disruptions, diminished IP protection and environmental concerns. The study indicated that North American and European manufacturers would focus on improving their own operations for the medium-term as opposed to aggressively looking to sourcing partners to cut costs. Read more here (subscription required).
Equipment shortages could remain a feature of the container shipping landscape for up to two years, pushing shippers to use those supply chain providers still able to secure adequate capacity, according to one logistics major.
Claus Schensema, MD of GAC Forwarding & Shipping (Shanghai), told IFW equipment shortages were now so acute that rates had become a secondary concern for many shippers.
“In central and northern China, the bargaining tool is [now] equipment, not rates,” he added. Read more here.
SCM World has released its 2010 Chief Supply Chain Officer Report which revealed how companies are redefining the role of the supply chain officer. The report, designed and developed to draw out critical insights that drive C-level supply chain executives in 2010, surveyed 400 senior global supply chain and procurement executives.
It uncovered how companies are redefining the role of the Supply Chain Officer in the rapidly shifting macro economic climate. In turn, the report reveals how executives are positioning their organizations to remain competitive in an increasingly globalized and complex operating environment.
One of the report’s key findings revealed that 49% of respondents will increase investment in supply chain related technology this year. The study also found that Best-in-Class firms are 50% more likely to have an executive position with end-to-end SCM responsibility. Read more here.
For the third year in a row, managing costs tops the list of healthcare companies’ supply chain concerns, according to a new survey by UPS.
Sixty-four percent of respondents report being “very” or “extremely concerned” with managing supply chain costs, up from 55% in 2009. At the same time, only 44% of companies report success in addressing cost management.
Of the senior supply chain executives surveyed, a third said reform would either open up new markets or create new customers. But 20% doubted the ability of their companies “to afford to operate” in the future; 26% said reform would hamper their research and development programs, and another 22% said their firms did not have the infrastructure needed to compete. Read more here.
Reports in the press this week indicate that the giant Wal-mart chain may be changing its policy with regard to deliveries from its hundreds of suppliers. It is quite common for large corporations to switch transport and warehousing strategies every few years, often following management changes. After a review companies which handle their own logistics often conclude that a specialist supply chain company would be more cost effective and palm off property and staff in an effort to reduce costs. A few years later someone concludes that the subcontractor is growing fat on the proceeds and an ‘in house’ operation would raise extra revenue, and so the cycle continues.
The Wal-mart scenario, whilst not precisely like this, bears the same hallmarks in that with almost 7,000 trucks the marketing giant has doubtless found itself with spare transport capacity during the downturn and has taken the view that by utilising their own vehicles for collections from suppliers they will get a free ride. This effectively means goods purchased by Wal-mart will switch from a free delivered basis to ex works or subcontractors will simply get less business from the company. Read more here.
In procurement it’s always best to expect the unexpected but, even after the cataclysmic economic conditions experienced over the past two years, only the most ardent pessimist could have predicted a volcano in Iceland bringing the world to its knees.
The wholesale closure of European air space did more than disrupt an already ailing airline industry, it disrupted supply chains to an almost unprecedented extent.
Potentially disastrous it might have been, but what the latest crisis did was to offer procurement operations the opportunity to show that the painful lessons handed out on a regular basis throughout the credit crunch have been learnt and, more crucially, acted upon.
So, as Eyjafjallajokull continues to spew out ash and the dust steadfastly refuses to settle, do the supply chain risk pledges made by some of the biggest names in the corporate world amount to anything more than hot air?
“A couple of things have happened (as a result of the eruption),” Gary Lynch, global leader of Marsh’s global supply chain risk management practice, tells Procurement Leaders. “One of the major challenges that businesses face is to define their business continuity strategies and resilience in the supply chain — and a great many are beginning to realise that the way they approach the problem isn’t good enough.” Read more here.
The Purchasing Management Association of Canada’s (PMAC) professional accreditation program has received recognition from the international purchasing body as meeting the highest global standard in supply chain education.
The International Federation of Purchasing and Supply Management (IFPSM), a union of 43 national supply chain associations, has awarded PMAC’s Strategic Supply Chain Management Leadership Program (SSCMLP) its Certificate of Competence. This affirms that the PMAC program, which leads to accreditation as a Certified Professional Purchaser (C.P.P.), reflects current practices, learning methodologies and assessments. Officials say it is the only program in Canada to achieve this distinction.
New study found rate of payments speed up, delinquencies decline
Measuring payment activities of approximately 350,000 businesses, the March 2010 SCI dropped to 7.65 days beyond terms (DBT), its lowest level – and best reading – since August 2008. The Supply Chain Index (SCI) is a monthly index of accounts receivable activities covering manufacturers, distributors & wholesalers, retailers, services and transportation companies. It is created by Cortera, a community-driven business credit bureau. Read more here.
The Canadian Supply Chain Sector Council (CSCSC) is now accepting applications for the second year of its Career Focus Program, which gets underway April 1. Under the program, companies that hire a new employee in a supply chain role can receive up to $12,750 from the CSCSC to help pay his or her wages for a year. More information about supply chain roles can be found on pg. 2 of the CSCSC’s Supply Chain Sector Facts and Figures document.To be eligible, the employee must be a post-secondary graduate of a university, college, association or private-sector program, and be between the ages of 15 and 30.
To participate, companies first enroll in the program, then select a candidate, complete an application form and, if approved, submit proof of wages paid in each pay period. Approval of applications takes just one or two days, according to the CSCSC. Applications are assessed on a first-come, first-served basis.
Economists are in broad agreement that a recovery is under way, but that's not to say our troubles are over. In fact, it's likely the logistics/supply chain community will continue to experience difficulties throughout the year.
What are the biggest concerns? With apologies to David Letterman, I have developed a "Top 10" list of issues that bear watching in 2010. In no particular order, they are as follows:
1. The precarious health of the LTL industry. Weak volumes and cut-throat pricing have taken their toll on the LTL sector, which continues to struggle with inadequate earnings. YRC is the best-known example, but there are others as well. Con-way, for instance, lost $110 million in 2009. This will not change without a significant improvement in the economy.
2. The price of diesel fuel. After a temporary dip, fuel prices are once again on the rise. According to Department of Energy projections, the average retail price for diesel this year will be $3.00 per gallon. Although that's way down from a few years back, it's still high enough to be a major factor in the cost of moving goods. And we still have $80-a-barrel oil.
3. Rail regulation. A bill currently in Congress would eliminate antitrust law exemptions for railroads and change the way the industry is regulated. While captive shippers certainly deserve protections, I believe this bill, if passed, could be a dangerous first step toward more regulation.
Whether it’s the result of the weak economy, the increased efficiency of thieves, or better reporting, freight thefts increased dramatically in the U.S. in 2009 — and that raises concerns about the integrity and safety of the supply chain.
A report by FreightWatch showed cargo thefts in the U.S. up 12% in 2009 over 2008 — but that figure doesn’t tell the full story.
The total value of these thefts, $487 million in 2009, represents a 67% increase over 2008.
While a variety of overt and covert methods can be used to identify stolen goods after the fact, whether in black or gray market outlets or in more legitimate channels, preventing theft — or identifying it early enough to stop goods from entering a distribution channel — is more effective. But whether it’s preventing thefts or tracking goods after the fact, RFID can be a valuable tool.
The FreightWatch report showed that an increasing number of thefts, mostly truckloads, were from supposedly secure lots. On the one hand, that’s good news because it means that hijacking, with the greater possibility of personal injury, is on the decrease in the U.S. (although it is higher in other parts of the world). On the other hand, it means that “secure lots” really aren’t all that secure -- whether because of gaps in security procedures or complicity on the part of employees or others with access to lots. Where does RFID fit in? In virtually every aspect of shipment identification.
Glen Hodgson, senior vice-president, and chief economist at The Conference Board of Canada, was the keynote speaker at the Conference Board’s Supply Chain Management Forum, held March 2 in Toronto.
Hodgson spoke about the state of the US and Canadian economies going forward into 2010 and beyond.
Technically, he said, while economic growth has returned in the US, reaching 5.7 % in the last quarter, Hodgson said there has yet been no strong recovery in private investment and consumer consumption.
The US will pay a high price for the heavy government investment that has taken place to boost the economy, he said.
“At the peak of the housing bust in the US, one third of mortgages were subprime, ‘NINJA’ mortgages, i.e. no-income, no-job mortgages. The one piece of the US financial workout that’s not yet been settled is the housing market. There’s no true stability,” said Hodgson. Read more here.
