Six months ago, the U.S. Census Bureau noted that a quarter of our nation’s population is now made up of 83.1 million millennials (born between 1982 and 2000). So, it should be a snap to fill those 1.4 million new supply chain jobs the U.S. Roadmap for Material Handling & Logistics predicts our industry will create by 2018—right? Well, maybe. ...

Supply chain is the ‘it’ degree of the moment.” That’s according to Dana Stiffler, Gartner’s vice president of supply chain research. She spends her time looking at how supply professionals are being developed and, just as importantly, how the field is evolving even as you read this. And while supply chains have been in place just short of forever, the ...

When it comes to material handling and supply chain in apparel, the systems may be as outdated as bell bottoms and paisley prints. A confluence of trends affecting retail more broadly may require a bit of a makeover. Much of the change relates to omnichannel, a retailer’s ability to create a seamless experience for shopper in a bricks-and mortar store, ...

When faced with a risk to your supply chain, you really only have four options. You can ignore it, and hope that it goes away. You can accept it, and deal with the consequences. You can transfer the risk to someone else, often by buying insurance. Or, you can choose to mitigate the risk by doing something that reduces the ...

People and equipment share the space in a warehouse with product inventory. When anything moves from one place to another, there is the risk of accidents, injuries or product, equipment and facility damage. By installing appropriate protective barriers, many of those negative consequences can be prevented. Protective barriers are typically installed to designate the edges of pedestrian walkways and paths ...

If you have not read the 2015 MHI Annual Industry Report, let me play the spoiler and give you the keys to where solutions reside. In the report, which is based on comprehensive surveys of more than 400 supply chain professionals ranging from engineers to CEOs, the following comment is made: “The number one barrier to investing in new technologies ...

Distribution centers are growing massively in size due to the explosion of SKUs and increasing demands to supply goods to customers as soon as possible. There are many reasons for this change. New online portals into supply chain visibility allow consumers to see inventory availability, order status, as well as product evaluation prior to the final purchase, says Brian Keiger, ...

Many of us, from early on, are captivated by the feats cranes can accomplish— from the monstrous machines towering over construction sites like modern-day sauropods to those swingy, jerky (and more than occasionally confounding) arcade claws. The earliest cranes date back to ancient Greece. Imagine what those industrious minds would make of today’s machinery, which has now evolved to the ...

About a year ago, a copy of The U.S. Roadmap for Material Handling & Logistics made its way into the hands of supply chain leaders at P&G. After reading it, they had this to say: “You may think you have a U.S. Roadmap here, but you don’t. What you have is a global Roadmap.” To tell the truth, it was ...

Ever since the 2011 Japanese tsunami shut down much of Toyota’s parts and manufacturing capabilities, logistics managers have been looking more closely at the vulnerabilities in their own supply chains and searching for ways they can quickly rebound from both large and small disruptions to them. It begins with assessing potential risks—economic, political, environmental and social. This can include everything ...