Arguably, one of the most overworked words in the English language is networking, particularly in business. Most of us talk about building a network, networking, etc. but many of us don’t have a grasp of what it really means. Webster defines if as the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business. In my mind, […]
A late fall issue of Bloomberg Business Week featured an interesting article describing how the introduction of Apple’s iPhone 5 jumpstarted their Asian supply chain. One of the Apple subcontractors in Malaysia immediately contacted job brokers in Nepal seeking 1500 men to assemble cameras for the iPhone. These brokers in effect “sell” the jobs for […]
In the several decades I have been in the supply chain industry, I have seen any number of changes in almost every aspect of the industry. However in my opinion, there are just three developments that have made more of an impact than everything else combined – globalization, technology, and Walmart. All three have influenced […]
As we discussed in one of our June blogs, the Highway Trust Fund was quickly being depleted, and by most accounts would be empty by this month if Congress did not act. As predicted, they did act, but not in a terribly responsible way. On July 31, the day before they were to leave […]
For some time now we have been reading about what could happen to freight costs as the economy improves. Most forecasts have suggested that capacity will become tight, which in turn will result in higher rates. The ironic point here is that economic conditions don’t have to get much better for that to happen. The […]
The outsourcing of logistics services is not a new concept by any means; and for the past 50 to 60 years it has seen a consistent growth. While this growth was steady, it was moderate until the early 1990’s when management guru Peter Drucker published his book, Post-Capitalist Society. There he described outsourcing as a […]
As October 1 approaches, most supply chain eyes will be turned toward Washington to see what Congress does about the transportation spending bill scheduled to expire on that date. By now, most of us are aware of our deteriorating infrastructure and the billions of dollars it will take to bring highways and bridges up to […]
The June issue of Maxim magazine ran an ad placed by a San Antonio law firm which had a picture of the front of an over the road tractor with the tagline, “Serial Killer”. Below the photo the ad stated “3561 people died on America’s highways last year. Another 2.36 million were injured. You need […]
For several decades the rates for less than truckload shipments have been based on “classes” published in the National Motor Freight Classification. There are 18 of these classes, ranging from Class 50, the lowest rates to Class 500 which are the highest. In 1983, the Interstate Commerce Commission mandated that these classes should be […]
So said Captain Kirk when he wanted to make a quick trip between the starship Enterprise and a nearby planet. When you think about this logically, it sounds a little ridiculous, doesn’t it? But maybe not……For the past two years, the concept of 3D printing has been getting an increasing amount of press in […]