MHI Blog—Peak shipping season for holiday packages runs from Black Friday through early January, allowing for the increasing number of returns that occur after Christmas. This leads to three of the most popular US shippers, UPS, FedEX, and USPS, hiring thousands of seasonal workers to fill out their workforce for the rush of 2016
Visit http://s354933259.onlinehome.us/mhi-blog/fedex-ups-usps-ramp-hiring-holidays/ to view the full article online.
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Bloomberg—China’s factories may be on the cusp of delivering a new shock to the global economy after years of undercutting rivals with cheaper costs. This time, increases in prices could reverberate around the world.
To understand why, consider the dilemma facing Jiangmen Luck Tissue Mfy Ltd., now caught in a squeeze between surging wages and tepid demand. The company has already slashed staff by half, shaved prices and automated production to survive. Now, with margins razor thin, it’s weighing the first price increases since 2010.
Visit http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-30/china-s-factory-to-the-world-mulls-the-unthinkable-price-hikes to view the full article online.
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EBN—At one point in history, parents wanted their offspring to become doctors or lawyers. In the 1980s, the must-have job was computer programming. Now, however, savvy mothers and fathers may suggest their kids look at training for a job in the supply chain. Some of the most well-known universities in the country offer undergraduate programs to get students started down the supply chain path.
Visit http://www.ebnonline.com/author.asp?section_id=3219&doc_id=281985& to view the full article online.
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ZDNet—The use of robotics is expanding in a number of business environments, but warehouses seem especially well suited to the adoption of autonomous machines of various types.
Visit http://www.zdnet.com/article/automating-the-warehouse/ to view the full article online.
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Forbes—Over the past six months, a revolution has begun in the world of planning. New technologies for enhanced visibility offer previously unimaginable granularity, timeliness and subtlety in both demand and supply awareness. At the same time, faster, richer and most amazingly, self-teaching analytical methods are increasingly in use in making sense of all this new supply chain awareness.
The big question is whether our business decision-making abilities will keep pace with the power of our tools.
Visit http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinomarah/2016/10/27/the-future-of-supply-chain-planning/#27fa878e6815 to view the full article online.
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MHI Blog—If you missed Friday’s post, I ran wild on some (I think) fun Halloween facts. But while Halloween and other holidays are fun, we also need to remember people that can’t celebrate because of their circumstances. Recently on the East coast of the US and in the Caribbean, Hurricane Matthew created a need for goods and services to be rushed to people. Many of us may have moved on from that because it’s no longer in the news, but help is still needed, and it takes logistics to make it work.
Visit http://s354933259.onlinehome.us/mhi-blog/humanitarian-logistics-red-cross-red-crescent/ to view the full article online.
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The Wall Street Journal—This holiday season one way traditional retailers hope to wrestle sales from Amazon.com Inc. is by making it easier for shoppers to buy items online and pick them up in stores.
Retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. are investing heavily to smooth pain points that have kept store pickup in the shadows of home delivery, Amazon’s sweet spot.
Visit http://www.wsj.com/articles/wal-mart-target-invest-in-store-pickup-for-holidays-1477576472 to view the full article online.
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Forbes—Holiday shopping season is upon us. Gone are the days when logistics companies could get by simply focusing on operations. The ability to provide on-time deliveries now meets only a minimum standard of success, despite extreme weather and increased volumes going through the same infrastructure. Today’s empowered shoppers are demanding more (e.g., lower costs, increased control and more options), and logistics companies that don’t prioritize technology in order to meet that demand will likely be left behind.
Visit http://www.forbes.com/sites/currentaccounts/2016/10/27/how-technology-is-driving-logistics-this-holiday-season/#7c64b2e86e57 to view the full article online.
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Material Handling & Logistics—Historically, machine builders all had one common challenge: Once a machine is delivered to an end user, it can be difficult to determine how it is being used and whether or not it is performing to expectations. Traditionally, machine performance has been measured by "fire drill" when something goes terribly wrong or during regularly scheduled maintenance visits. Remote monitoring technologies have changed all of this. Machine operators are leveraging existing technological tools, including the Cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT) to differentiate their offerings and work closely with their customers to improve overall machine performance.
Using technology to create smart machines, builders can tell exactly how a machine is being utilized, bringing builders and end users together to solve challenges in real time.
Visit http://mhlnews.com/technology-automation/remote-control-leveraging-automation-technology-enhance-machine-performance to view the full article online.
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