Supply Chain Monthly

A recent study by the Auburn University RFID Lab explored the use of blockchain and RFID technology to share serialized data, which can help alleviate efficiency challenges in the retail supply chain. The GS1 data-sharing standard, EPCIS (Electronic Product Code Information Services), was found to be the key enabler of flexible, event-based data sharing between participating brands and retailers. Learn more about how EPCIS works and the benefits of usage to increase supply chain agility and resiliency.
 
Thank you to Susan Pichoff for sharing this Hot Topic. Susan Pichooff leads the GS1 US Apparel and General Merchandise Initiative—an industry group that works to solve supply chain challenges such as data accuracy, inventory visibility and efficiency through GS1 Standards. She is a seasoned veteran of retail operations, having spent 20+ years at Macy’s Systems & Technology, managing product databases, merchandise suppliers, and software suppliers to build systems that improved the customer experience. 

It is a complex and often confusing landscape of software for distribution centers: Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), Warehouse Control Systems (WCS) and newer Warehouse Execution Systems (WES). This article sorts out the functionality and boundaries of three inter-related types of warehouse software, with a special focus on WES, which is changing the dynamic through orchestration and optimization of order picking processes. From automated order release to dynamic resource allocation, WES is moving the industry down the path of the autonomous warehouse system.

^{June 2, 2020 – Gail Rutkowski, Executive Director – NASSTRAC}
In May, NASSTRAC along with six shipper associations, filed an Amicus brief supporting the California Trucking Association in an appeal currently pending in the 9th Circuit Court that presents an important labor-law question whose resolution will significantly impact trucking companies and their customers in California and beyond. It is our hope that the brief will help the 9th Circuit understand shippers’ needs for reliable, efficient, and cost-effective trucking services and the adverse impacts that application of the ABC test would have on their supply chains and interstate commerce.

While the current crisis is unprecedented, logistics and supply chain scholars have conducted research over many years that can meet our recurring call to illuminate practice—to inform those on the front lines tasked with ensuring that the needs of business and society are met—under both normal circumstances and during not-so-normal times. Perhaps this is why supply chain management is portrayed so often in the mainstream media these days, as all come to realize the importance of what we do.

Presented annually, ALAN’s Humanitarian Logistics Awards are open to any logistics professional, academic, organization or department.
 
“Our profession has always been full of selfless people who have gone above and beyond to help during disasters,” said ALAN Executive Director Kathy Fulton. “However, over the past 12 months the logistics industry has been especially heroic and deserving. Thanks to the pandemic, Hurricane Dorian, Puerto Rico earthquakes and Southeast tornadoes, it seems 2019-2020 has had even more amazing stories than usual. We’re really looking forward for the chance to acknowledge them via our 2020 awards.”   
 
They are awarded in four key categories, each of which can have multiple honorees.   

Established in 2017, ALAN’s Humanitarian Logistics Awards recognize companies and individuals who exemplify the best that the supply chain has to offer by assuring that aid and comfort are rapidly delivered to communities in crisis. Previous winners have included Phil Palin, Disaster Relief by Amazon, Total Quality Logistics, Dr. Nezih Altay, Dr. Allison Thompson, The Shippers Group, Estes Express Lines, The Home Depot, MIT’s Humanitarian Supply Chain Lab, LIFT Non-Profit Logistics, The Performance Team, International Paper, Saddle Creek Logistics, Kane Is Able, States Logistics, the UPS Foundation and Jock Menzies. 

"Recruiting is all about networking and being connected. Given our laser focus in the Logistics/Transportation/Supply Chain industries, it was a natural fit for us to join CSCMP in 2017. This will be our third year of gaining value from the annual conference, industry news, ongoing content, and the vast networking opportunities that the CSCMP membership offers."

"I joined CSCMP November 4, 2019. I have been in Banking for more than 11 years now, and I am looking at growing a career in supply chain. What I would say to new members, is that we are in the right place for networking and building a great career."

LMI is a consultancy dedicated to improving the business of government. LMI helps federal agencies with acquisition services and lifecycle management, operations, supply chain resiliency, risk management and mitigation and sustainment.

Softeon is a global supply chain software company with a broad suite of solutions anchored by their Warehouse Management System (WMS), Warehouse Execution System (WES), and Distributed Order Management (DOM) system.

Webinar ︱ Thursday, June 25 ︱ 11 AM CDT
Carrier safety standards are critical to keeping our roads safe and reducing risk to shippers’ bottom lines. But with more than three million trucks in the U.S., it’s not feasible for shippers to navigate the complexity of carrier quality and compliance on their own. That’s why Convoy uses machine learning and big data to set a higher standard for the carriers in its network and automates the process to ensure compliance in real time.

In this webinar from Lorin Seeks, Director of Carrier Quality and Compliance at Convoy, you’ll learn how this novel approach to safety standards is an improvement over the FMCSA’s safety measurement system, reduces the risk of crashes and claims, and provides a foundation for the future of freight risk management.

According to the recent May LMI® report, in a shift from April’s all-time low overall score of 51.3, May’s Logistics Managers’ Index (LMI) is up to 54.5, a score much more in line with the previous six months of logistics activity (recorded overall scores were between 54.0-54.4 from October 2019 to January 2020). Similar to April’s report, the Index observes a somewhat bifurcated logistics industry, as Warehousing and Inventory metrics come in high, and Transportation 2 metrics continue to struggle. This is likely because firms, particularly those upstream from the consumer, are saddled with high levels of unsellable inventory, driving up their storage costs. Transportation remains slow, although it seems it has stabilized since last month. 

 

CSCMP will be offering the SCPro™ Bridge Exam at EDGE 2020! The SCPro™ Bridge Exam was created for professionals that already hold a previously earned credential or advanced degree similar to SCPro™.