Technology

On “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Captain Jean-Luc Picard often pondered the week’s signature conundrum over a cup of comfort. “Tea. Earl Gray. Hot,” he’d say to the Replicator, and a moment later it would materialize. We’re not quite there just yet, but at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, we got one giant step closer with the ...

Predictions about the future of logistics often include scenarios of driverless trucks loaded with goods cruising effortlessly down the highway and flying drones departing from warehouses to make last-mile deliveries of consumer goods. Will such visions become a reality? Despite anticipated benefits to automated driving and delivery systems, technological, legislative and other barriers could slow their adoption. Assisted not autonomous ...

Cloud computing has played a critical role in the improvement of supply chain management by supporting an enterprise’s efforts to share data with multiple partners across many different locations throughout the world. While the benefits of cloud computing include improved collaboration among supply chain partners, cost-effective use of staff resources and the ability to adapt to changing business needs quickly, ...

With all the hype about the Internet of Things, it wouldn’t take much to feel, well, left out of things. Before panic sets in, a word from the experts: Even though the idea of an interconnected—and perhaps automated—world of sensor-led devices that can freely transfer data over a shared network keeps making headlines, it’s still not reality. “To be clear, ...

Big data—the vast amounts of information that businesses, companies and organizations collect and store about inventory, operations, customers, vendors, sales and other transactions—and the challenges associated with strategically processing it play a key role in the operation of today’s most successful supply chains. Companies that figure out how best to harness the capture, storage, management and analysis of big data ...

Those brown UPS trucks have been doing more than hauling online purchases and wedding gifts. For the past few years, the delivery company has used tens of thousands of its trucks as “rolling laboratories,” analyzing data from on-board sensors and using the findings to optimize routes, cut idling time, assess driver safety and make vehicle maintenance more efficient. This “telematics” ...

3-D printing isn’t a new technology but it’s recently been gaining more attention in the business and popular press. Companies like GE are incorporating it into their manufacturing processes; NASA is planning to send a 3-D printer to the International Space Station; and UPS will be introducing 3-D printing services into some of its stores. Gartner, a market analysis and ...

Having the right item in stock when customers are ready to purchase is an essential component of customer satisfaction. Customers have a wide range of choices, so whether they are looking for clothing, appliances or electronics, there is always another business ready to sell to them if their first choice cannot deliver. The good news is that every business has ...

Until two years ago, Moosejaw Mountaineering & Backcountry Travel, an online and brick and mortar retailer specializing in outdoor recreation apparel and gear, relied on a paper-based warehouse management system. Plans to add four additional stores to bring the number to 11 and an increasing volume of online orders spurred the move to automate the process. “We’re a small information ...

New methods of harvesting natural gas and oil from shale formations through fracking (hydraulic fracturing) have already provided several benefits to the U.S. But how widespread and long-term will those effects be, and how will they impact the companies that make up the supply chain throughout the U.S.? Lower energy prices Unconventional production methods have produced an abundance of natural ...