Industry Trends

Feature End-to-end supply chain visibility increasingly is seen as the means to achieving critical business goals, from boosting operational efficiency and the bottom line to meeting sustainability targets and building the resilience needed to weather future disruptions. Collaboration with supply chain partners and ‘data democracy’ are key prerequisites. BY DAVID COBURN When Bill Wappler thinks about the current state of ...

By The Numbers Accenture considers two forms of visibility. Structural visibility is achieved through supply chain mapping, classic risk management, network assessment and modeling. Dynamic visibility is gained through monitoring of the supply chain in real time, leveraging predictive and prescriptive capabilities to gauge and avert potential supply chain disruptions, and autonomous execution utilizing artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotic ...

Feature BY SHERYL S. JACKSON As supply chains have become more complex and handle greater volumes of goods at a faster pace, sensor technology has emerged as one way to improve efficiency, optimize employee skills, address labor challenges and meet customer expectations. “Over the past 15 years, it has been startling to see how demand on warehouses and distribution centers ...

Feature ProMat showcased the latest technological achievements advancing the supply chain industry. Here are some of the top innovations seen at the show. BY NICK FORTUNA ProMat may have been a four-day event, but with more than 1,000 of the world’s leading manufacturing and supply chain solution providers exhibiting under one roof, even the most caffeinated attendees were guaranteed to ...

Industry Focus BY TOM GRESHAM As with many other sectors, the supply chain of the automotive industry has come under increased scrutiny in recent years. Before the pandemic, “things had sort of been humming along,” said Edgar Faler, senior analyst for the Center for Automotive Research. Then the industry experienced a myriad of fresh challenges associated with the pandemic—from production ...

Feature The manufacturing and supply chain community came together in a big way after four years for a record-setting ProMat event, according to show producer MHI. With an overall registration count of 50,924 and 1,051 exhibitors, the event featured 562,700 net square feet of exhibit solutions and over 150 educational sessions encompassing 1.2 million square feet at Chicago’s McCormick Place. ...

OCTOBER 1-4, 2023DIPLOMAT BEACH RESORT, FORT LAUDERDALE, FL Learn more & register today at mhi.org/conference. The 2023 MHI Annual Conference is an interactive thought leadership event for manufacturing, material handling and supply chain professionals that focuses on the technology innovation taking place across the supply chain industry—and the associated workforce challenges highlighted in the 2023 MHI Annual Industry Report. By ...

Feature Does the customer remain at the center? BY FIONA SOLTES ISTOCK.COM/IPOPBA Action and adaptability, said speaker and author Garrison Wynn, create opportunity. After years of experiencing the former, it’s surely the time for the latter. With pandemic-related disruptions and reactive solutions increasingly in the rearview mirror, has there ever been a better season for re-evaluating overall supply chain strategies ...

By The Numbers BLUE PLANET STUDIO/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM It’s an increasingly common refrain: 83% of supply chain practitioners surveyed by Gartner say they’re being asked to improve customer experience as part of their organization’s digital business strategy. The most common priority is developing a customer-centric culture. According to the Gartner for Supply Chain Report “Four Steps to Becoming a Customer-Centric Supply Chain,” ...

Solutions Community BY CHRISTIAN DOW, MHI EXECUTIVE VP OF MEMBERSHIP AND INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP ISTOCK.COM/JAY YUNO As the rate of change in the logistics industry continues to grow exponentially, companies across the supply chain are increasingly partnering to find solutions that allow every aspect of the market to perform more effectively and efficiently. Industrywide collaboration is necessary, but ensuring a successful partnership ...