By Carol Miller Big Data—the massively complex and exponentially generated data businesses generate and gather from multiple sources (including structured databases, unstructured machine outputs, and semi-structured records) at an increasingly fast pace—has long been on the radar of supply chain organizations as the source of potential competitive advantages for those who leverage it successfully. The organizations that harness, process, and ...
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New Role Materializing: Communicator-in-Chief
By David Coburn Over the span of a few days last March, COVID-19 created an urgent need for organizations of all kinds to communicate critical information to their employees. Suddenly, the economic and operational challenges presented by the virus had workers fretting about everything from new sanitizing and social distancing protocols for offices, distribution centers and factory floors to the ...
Read More »Delivering a Miracle: Overcoming the Supply Chain Challenges of Manufacturing and Distributing the COVID-19 Vaccines
. By Sara Pearson Specter Before the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus was declared a pandemic by The World Health Organization on March 11, 2020, pharmaceutical companies and governments worldwide were already creating plans to develop, manufacture and distribute vaccines to the global population. Within two months, the U.S. had announced the formation of Operation Warp Speed, ...
Read More »Transparency: The ‘First Pillar’ of Sustainability
By Tom Gresham In today’s corporate landscape, sustainability has fast developed into a necessary point of emphasis. Experts say a key ingredient to pursuing sustainability in a meaningful way is transparency in the supply chain, where much of a company’s environmental impact lies. Gopal Iyer, supply chain delivery lead at procurement consultancy 4C Associates, said he has seen estimates indicating ...
Read More »Powering Up: Battery and Charging Innovations Support Productivity Improvements
By Sheryl S. Jackson In the quest to improve productivity, decrease costs and enhance safety in the warehouse or distribution facility, owners and managers look to a variety of equipment, technology and training. There is, however, one area that usually does not top the list of actions considered essential for performance improvement. “Batteries and battery charging technology are often overlooked ...
Read More »By the Numbers: Achieving Transparency Through Technology
Companies big and small continue to invest in emerging supply chain technologies in a major way. Blockchain along with radio frequency identification (RFID) asset-tracking technology, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and quick response (QR) codes are all technologies promising to provide transparency, efficiency and cost savings to players at each end of the supply chain and every ...
Read More »Quantum Computing: The Future’s Coin Toss?
By Nicole Nelson Scott Shaw recalls a time in the not too distant past when he attempted to help a food manufacturer calculate an optimal scheduling scenario to grind grain. As the Clarkston Consulting senior consultant was well aware, the utilization of big hammer mills was extremely energy intensive, yet inevitable, as said grain served as the necessary basis—mixed with ...
Read More »Robotic Flexibility
By Sara Pearson Specter Today’s robotic solutions—both fixed and autonomous mobile robots—are increasingly being built as a platform upon which application-specific solutions can be built to handle unique manufacturing and warehousing tasks. But, in today’s highly dynamic, ever changing world, needs and strategies may likewise shift. Fortunately, due to their inherent flexibility and versatility, robots can be adapted to accommodate ...
Read More »The Power of Partnerships
By Nick Fortuna Modern supply chains are too complicated for any one company to do everything well, so strategic partnerships are key to solving the big problems facing the material handling industry and its customers. The right partnerships make business relationships more transparent, resilient and sustainable because customers get to work with best-of-breed providers working in their individual areas of ...
Read More »Industry Focus: Retail
By Sandy Smith One of the first casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic was in-person shopping. With mandatory shutdowns of non-essential retail and customers fearful about being in public, necessities moved to e-commerce. As the pandemic lingered, it shifted habits in ways that aren’t necessarily changing back. “People are saying, ‘When are we going to get back to normal?’ That’s like ...
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