Technology

The machines that move material and product along supply chains are getting smarter—increasing efficiency, eliminating monotony and collecting mountains of useful data. By Amy Drew Thompson— The Internet of Things (IoT) may sound a bit like just another industry buzz word, but it’s not. Nor is it above your tech-knowledge pay grade. Not really, anyway. The phrase was actually coined ...

When it comes to last mile delivery, partnerships are helping organizations of all sizes compete. By Fiona Soltes— Long gone are the days of believing the personal doesn’t bleed over into the professional. Recent years have proven that solid relationships are key to business success. Call it partnership. Call it collaboration. Regardless, today’s companies are learning the importance of working ...

Driverless vehicles or drones? Choices for home delivery methods are expanding, but there are challenges and new aspects to take into consideration. By Michael G. Kay— Given the rapid recent development of driverless vehicle technologies, it is interesting to speculate as to what their impact will be with respect to the last mile delivery of goods to homes in urban ...

These Integrated, Smart Transportation Systems Use Data, Applications and Technology to Help Move Goods More Quickly, Cheaply and Efficiently — By Mary Lou Jay — Last-mile deliveries to consumers and merchants in urban areas pose a variety of challenges for logistics companies. Today’s consumers have very high expectations when it comes to product deliveries. “There are a lot of customers ...

Companies Are Only Beginning to Leverage the Advantages, But the IIoT Is Already Producing Tangible Benefits for Many Corporations By Carol Miller, MHI Vice President of Marketing and Communications When the 2017 MHI Annual Industry Report, “Next-Generation Supply Chains: Digital, On-Demand and Always-On” was released last April, it included—for the first time—research and insight into the Internet of Things (IoT). ...

Anyone who attended ProMat 2017 experienced it. Technology is disrupting supply chains and transforming them into more digital, connected and intelligent models. And there is no end in site. Consumers are driving this trend as they demand more buying options and faster service from supply chains that are always-on. Sensors that enable the collection of massive amounts of supply chain ...

The next generation models of the supply chain will be “successfully combining automation and digital technologies to drive superior performance,” according to MHI’s recently released 2017 Annual Industry Report titled “Next-Generation Supply Chains: Digital, On-Demand and Always-On,” developed in collaboration with Deloitte Consulting. The Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0 are concepts that are key to gaining the efficiency, ...

At ProMat, people were saying: ‘That’s the future!’ I was saying: ‘That’s the present,’” says Rafael Granato, marketing director for MHI member PINC Solutions. He’s referring to the company’s drone systems, which can fly through a manufacturing or distribution center facility under their own direction to take inventory. Automation and robotics have come of age; they’ve reached the tipping point ...

This Emerging Technology Making Inroads within Specific Supply Chain Processes If seeing is believing, then manufacturing, warehousing and distribution facilities throughout the supply chain can expect to be taking a closer look at the latest wearable technology emerging as a viable competitive advantage in operations: smart glasses leveraging augmented reality. Augmented reality (AR) is a term often used interchangeably with ...

When Each Piece Complements the Whole and ‘Failure’ Isn’t a Bad Thing It wasn’t that long ago that the concept of predictive analytics was the stuff of thought leadership pieces and futuristic white papers. The recently released 2017 MHI Annual Industry Report, “Next-Generation Supply Chains—Digital, On-Demand and Always-On,” however, places predictive analytics squarely in the category of here and now. ...