Supply Chains Worldwide Are Coming Up With Innovative Solutions to Address the Environmental, Financial and Logistical Aspects of Parcel Delivery * By Sheryl S. Jackson * The cost of global parcel delivery, excluding pickup, line-haul and sorting, is more than $78.5 billion, with last mile delivery costs reaching or exceeding 50% of the total, according to a McKinsey & Company ...

Supply Chain Sustainability Goes High Tech * By Mary Lou Jay * The promise of improved efficiencies and reductions in operating expenses are usually the major drivers when supply chain companies adopt digital technologies. But there’s another benefit that they should consider. Tech advances like the Internet of Things (IoT), data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), 3D printing, robotics and blockchain ...

Competing for Talent? Better Take a Closer Look at Your Supply Chain Brand * By Sara Pearson Specter * Attracting and recruiting the talent needed to run the digital supply chain has become one of the top priorities of many chief executives and chief supply chain officers (CSCOs). With the most heavily recruited of that talent being Millennials (and the ...

When weather patterns change or extreme weather occurs, be sure your “umbrella” covers your entire supply chain—not just select pieces of it. * By Fiona Soltes * Marcel Proust famously quipped that “a change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves.” There’s no doubt that the weather keeps changing. So how are supply chains doing with ...

6 Lesser-Known Ways Supply Chain Sustainability Contributes to Business Success * By Mike Ogle * The word sustainability makes most people think about the environment and green initiatives. Business people may quickly think about costs and regulations. Supply chain sustainability articles often focus on sourcing, energy savings, packaging and reducing physical waste. All these things ARE part of supply chain ...

It seems clean energy has finally hit its tipping point. * By Sarah B. Hood * It seems clean energy has finally hit its tipping point. The University of Michigan’s Center for Sustainable Systems finds that about 800 U.S. utilities offer renewable-energy options, and in April 2019, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that, for the first time, more electricity ...

Defining and Embracing Unified Commerce * By Sandy Smith * Those who have been in the retail industry for any length of time no doubt remember the transition from single channel to multichannel, so retailers could sell via the internet. Multichannel gave way to omnichannel, which promised a seamless experience no matter how the shopper encountered the retailer. Enter unified ...

A System of Systems to Guide the Development of Sustainable Solutions * By Bill Ferrell, Ph.D., PE, Fluor Professor of Industrial Engineering, Associate Dean of the Graduate School, Clemson University * When you saw that this issue of MHI Solutions was focused on sustainability, what thought first crossed your mind? Reducing your carbon footprint? Adopting the right technology to effectively ...

Women in the Supply Chain Are Embracing Its Opportunities * By Maria Leggett, MHI Director of Education * In April, Gartner released its fourth annual report on women in supply chain, produced with Achieving Women’s Excellence in Supply Chain Operations, Management and Education (AWESOME). Among its findings, more supply chain organizations have been setting goals and launching initiatives specifically to ...

An Outlook With Risk              * By Jason Schenker, Prestige Economics * Economic risks were high going into 2019. And the outlook for 2020 presents further risks. On the upside, monetary-policy hawkishness has vanished, and the U.S. economy is in a better place than many other economies. But global economic risks abound even though U.S.-Chinese trade relations have cooled off significantly ...