Supply Chain Monthly

 

THE VERY BEST IN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ... DESIGNED EXCLUSIVELY FOR YOU
Welcome to Anaheim, California, and to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ (CSCMP) EDGE 2019 Supply Chain Conference. This conference is the largest of its kind in our discipline, and for the next three and a half days, you and more than 3,000 of your peers from around the globe—leading supply chain authorities, practitioners, and thought leaders—will take part in the most innovative and exciting supply chain experience in the world.
 
EDGE is built by members, for members, and all of those attending will walk away with ideas and connections to be utilized throughout their careers. This year’s conference provides attendees the opportunity to be immersed in more than 30 hours of high-quality education and more than 20 hours of dedicated networking time to engage, debate, and collaborate with supply chain management leaders. Sessions will investigate some of today’s top issues and trends, exploring topics as diverse as order fulfillment and customer service, manufacturing and service operations, supply chain leadership, transportation and logistics, and current research and surveys.

 

Are we headed for a recession? Many leading indicators point to ‘yes’. In this article, Truckstop.com Chief Economist, Noel Perry, looks at six of the reason a recession is likely, some potential good news, and what happens if there is no recession.

 

In an increasingly interconnected world, it is more important than ever to evaluate the digital resiliency of an enterprise – the capability to withstand and operate right through a cyber threat or a verified incident. Digital resilience processes ensure that an organization’s infrastructure and services can operate with minimal disruption during a cyber threat or incident. Unfortunately, modern digital networks are rarely built with resilience in mind.

 

Loving EDGE 2019? Full of ideas? Now is your chance to join the EDGE 2020 volunteer team!*

 

EDGE Track Chairs build and organize the educational sessions that make EDGE a valuable source of innovations and ideas. Each track (C-Level Discussions, Transportation and Logistics, Technology and Innovations, etc.) is built by a dedicated CSCMP member volunteer who selects topic ideas and sources talented speakers that engage, excite and educate EDGE attendees. If you are at EDGE right now, ask a Track Chair about their experience.

 

Apply by Oct. 1, 2019 and let us know how you would take EDGE content to the next level!

 

Please note, this is an important role that requires time and commitment—serious applicants only please!

 

*EDGE Track Chairs must be CSCMP members at time of selection. Applicants must have attended at least two EDGE conferences by October 1st in order to be eligible.

Once in a lifetime
 
For supply chain professionals, 2018 was a year unlike any other as they tried to navigate through tight transportation capacity and high rates. Now shippers and carriers alike are trying to dig their way out of the aftereffects and bring back a sense of normalcy.
 
LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN PROFESSIONALS will not soon forget 2018.
Rate increases and capacity constraints were the name of the day across all segments of the logistics market last year. As a result, overall U.S. business logistics costs jumped 11.4% in 2018 to a total of $1.64 trillion, or 8.0% of the U.S.’s $20.5 trillion gross domestic product (GDP). (See Figure 1.)
In spite of early warning signals in 2017, many shippers were caught by surprise by the intense rate hikes. As a result, many major shippers—such as Kraft Heinz, General Mills, Whirlpool, and Coca-Cola—reported that they exceeded their supply chain budget spending in 2018 and that freight rates resulted in a negative impact on earnings. And for many logistics and supply chain professionals, 2018 (at least in terms of cost and capacity availability) was the most challenging year of their career—the equivalent of a 100-year flood.
 
So maybe the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ (CSCMP’s) “30th Annual State of Logistics Report,” presented by Penske Logistics, should come with a warning label. Written by the global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, the report provides an overview of industry trends and U.S. business logistics costs of the past year as well as a review of macroeconomic factors affecting logistics costs, analysis of each major logistics sector, and insights from industry leaders.  All of this may make the report uncomfortable reading for those shippers who would rather not relive the past year. Indeed, Ken Braunbach, vice president of U.S. transportation at megaretailer Walmart, said that reading the report was like “watching a bad movie again.”