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Tag: supply chain

Real-time visibility enhances sustainability

Posted on by David Priestman

The IPCC’s most recent assessment on the extent to which human activity affects the climate is bleak, writes Vernon O’Donnell, Chief Product Officer at project44. It calls for quick action and reminds us that “every tonne of CO2 emissions contributes to global warming.” The supply chain sector is being scrutinised because it currently accounts for approximately one-fifth of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. While other industries have already begun to reduce emissions, albeit slowly, supply chain transportation is lagging behind.

This is frustrating because supply chains are well positioned to assist in meeting sustainability goals. While many in the business are waiting for electric vehicles to be a silver bullet, others are acting immediately. There are immediate and cost-effective solutions that can be implemented when time is of the essence. Greater visibility and interrogation of supply chains, as well as lowering inefficiencies and emissions through smart data utilisation, must be the first port of call.

From Ikea to Unilever, Apple to Coca-Cola, many of the world’s most recognisable names have publicly stated their net zero target timeline. While this is admirable, it doesn’t tell us how targets will be measured – not least within the supply chain. As research suggests, while 36% of supply chains have just started to measure their sustainability or climate impact, over a quarter are not measuring impact at all.

There is a glaring lack of visibility across supply chains, which by their nature are often complex and multifaceted. Measuring the total environmental impact of a supply chain is a complicated task, but one that must be undertaken in order to deliver sustainability targets. If we don’t know our current baseline, how can we know when we are moving in the right direction?

Achieving supply chain visibility requires a multifaceted approach. As the World Economic Forum estimates, digitisation has the potential to reduce emissions from logistics by 10% to 12% by 2025, however, 50% of organisations still have to embark on supply chain digitisation and visibility enablement. It is only with high-quality visibility data that supply chains can improve practices that lead to waste. For example, new software platforms are emerging to help with sustainable sourcing, supply chain emissions visibility, supplier management and monitoring as well as ensuring products re-enter the value chain through a circular economy.

Corporates are increasingly feeling pressure from consumers and governments to have more comprehensive, real-time visibility at every step of the value chain as well as utilise more sustainable materials and production practices. For example, smarter use of such visibility technology can enable companies to analyse shipments to identify areas for improvement, choosing the routes and modes that will create the least amount of waste. These technologies are ambitious. Most Transportation Management Systems currently in use only contemplate two factors when selecting a carrier – cost and performance. A third dimension illustrating the carbon footprint should be added so a balanced decision can be made that aligns with emissions targets. While this is a challenge that is still a way off for many companies, it is a model that all should aspire to and is a solution that is closer than ever.

While this level of insight may still be aspirational for some, there is still much that can be done with data visibility. For example, long-duration truck idling results in 11 million tons of CO2 and 180,000 tons of NOx each year. Magna International, a global automotive manufacturer that has produced more than 3.5 million vehicles including models for brands like BMW and Jaguar, analysed their visibility data to identify possible process improvements. They found that shipments were late 2% of the time and early 50% of the time, and both scenarios were causing missed dock appointments. Having access to this information allowed them to improve processes to ensure an additional 40% of their shipments arrived in the 30-minute appointment window, significantly reducing dwell time.

Better together

If the shipping sector is going to decarbonise, it will take a combined effort. The Digital LTL Council in the US, of which project44 is a founding member, is a great example of how industry leaders can come together to tackle issues faced by the industry. The council focuses on creating standardisation across the sector, which will be key in the fight against climate change.

Such collaborative efforts demonstrate the determination of the industry to play its part in this challenge. However, to harness the power of data to drive sustainable supply chains, this collaboration must go further. Visibility can only be attained when each player shows their hand and is playing the same game. In other words, greater openness and standardisation of green data is required within the supply chain to realise the benefits of data-led sustainability strategies. With the willingness of all parties involved, this will be a first step towards a more sustainable industry. This buys the transportation sector time while technologies such as electric and hydrogen vehicles remain in development.

And, when those green technologies are ready for mass adoption, we will be ready as an industry to measure their impact. Only once we have established a baseline for now can we ensure that they are playing as transformative a role as possible in the future.

A cleaner, brighter future is dependent on sustainable data visibility in supply chain transportation.

At the moment, we aren’t seeing emissions data used at scale, but the tide is turning. More organisations collaborating to bring change, share ideas, and make data public, which is critical for analysing impact and developing strategy. Our future is one in which businesses can continue to prosper and satisfy customer expectations, fuelled by efficient procedures that are ready to welcome the hydrogen ships, electric lorries, and drones that will propel us forward. For the time being, though, we must rely on what we have – data, analytics, and each other – to turn the tables.

The true cost of food waste in the UK supply chain

Posted on by Keith McKinley

According to recent research conducted by supply chain specialists Balloon One, 4.8 million tonnes of food are wasted in the UK supply chain every year. That’s enough to feed approximately 2,646,000,000 people each day, or everyone in the UK for 39 days.

Food waste is not only an issue for your bank balance, but the environment too. When we throw food away, we’re wasting the water, energy, and space that’s been used to grow, produce, and transport it.

Not only that, but according to FareShare, approximately 8.4 million people in the UK are living in food insecure homes. The amount of food waste produced by the sector is enough to feed everyone in the UK and tackle the country’s food poverty crisis.

Using statistics from WRAP’s report on food waste in primary production in the UK, Balloon One analysed food waste data across four main industries – retail, manufacturing & processing, agriculture & primary production, and hospitality & food service – to discover the truth behind the UK’s waste problem.

It compared WRAP’s data with the average amount of food each person needs per day, to work out the true cost of the UK supply chain’s food waste problem.

The supply chain’s problem with food waste

The waste produced by the supply chain is significant, but if we break the data down more, we can work out exactly which sectors hold the most responsibility.

Manufacturing and processing produced the largest amount of food waste. The 1.9 million tonnes created by this sector is enough to feed approximately 1,047,375,000 people every day. That’s the equivalent of feeding everyone in the UK for 16 days.

Following closely behind is agriculture and primary production. This sector’s 1.6 million tonnes of food waste could feed 882,000,000 people every day, or provide almost two weeks’ (13 days’) worth of food for everyone in the UK.

Not far behind is hospitality and food service, which produces 1 million tonnes of food waste — enough to feed 551,250,000 people in just one day, or everyone in the UK for approximately eight days.

Of all the sectors, retail produced the lowest amount of food waste, but the amount still remains high. At 0.3 million tonnes, this sector wastes enough food to feed approximately 165,375,000 people per day. That could feed everyone in the UK for three whole days.

Balloon One’s results showed that there’s still a very long way to go to reduce food waste in the supply chain, but what can you do to help?

When dealing with perishable items such as food, effective stock control is vital. Monitoring your stock turn and waste, automating your processes, and improving storage can all help to reduce your food waste in the supply chain.

Monitor your food waste

The first step towards reducing your food waste is taking a closer look at the problem within your business. Monitoring your current waste levels and measuring your stock turn means you can set targets for your operation. For example, you may wish to halve the percentage of food wasted in your factory, warehouse, store, or restaurant. This allows you to effectively plan your next steps if you’re working towards a clear goal.

Capturing this data also means you can track which foods are commonly wasted, along with information on expiry dates and storage times, so you can take steps towards reducing your waste. For example, if a certain product or ingredient is commonly thrown away, then you can order fewer units in the future.

While monitoring your food waste, it’s a good idea to also track your receipt accuracy metrics. This will tell you how accurate the orders that you receive from your suppliers are, so you can identify whether the issue is an internal one or a problem with your supplier. For example, if you commonly receive orders with short expiry dates, then you may need to speak to your supplier about organising longer timescales.

Automate your processes

When shipments come into the warehouse, a lot of information needs to be stored about each one. Things like quantities, SKU numbers, batch or serial numbers, and expiry dates all need to be logged, which can take a lot of time to do manually and can put your lead times back. And, the longer it takes for your products to reach your shelves, the longer it will be before it can reach the customer — increasing the risk of spoilage.

This is where automation comes in. Advanced shipping notice (ANS) can help reduce the time it takes to get your products onto your shelves. ANS will notify you of a pending shipment and allows you to receive data on your delivery, such as expiry dates and storage conditions. This means you can accept your order while it’s on its way, meaning it can be booked in much faster.

By investing in barcode scanners, you can quickly and efficiently log each unit as it comes in, saving you time and resources. Barcodes and QR codes can contain a multitude of data, including expiration dates and storage conditions, which allows you to maximise the shelf life of each product. Having this information immediately available ensures consistency across the entire supply chain, and minimises the likelihood of the cold chain being broken.

All of this information can also be imported over to your warehouse management system (WMS), so you can see how long you have to move your products. This automation and can monitor if any stock is due to expire soon, so you can make decisions accordingly. This data can also be transferred over to your customer. Whether it’s a retail customer or hospitality client, giving them up-to-date reports on expiry dates allows them to plan and reduce food waste in their own business too.

Improve inventory management

One major factor in food waste is planning for demand that never comes. Having a flexible supply chain is vital. There’s no real way to predict what will happen in the future, but by monitoring analytics throughout the supply chain, you can track when supply isn’t keeping up with demand, or vice versa, so you can amend your processes to suit.

For example, instead of manufacturing or keeping excess stock of a particular product just in case demand rises, you can use real time analytics to monitor trends. This means you can quickly react to a surge in demand and can produce, order, or send out extra shipments when you can be sure it’s needed.

The layout of your warehouse, stock room, or store can also go a long way towards reducing your food waste and improving efficiency. If your WMS flags that a particular unit is due to expire, this can be moved into a marked area ready to be discounted. This makes it more likely to be sold rather than wasted. Alternatively, consider donating this excess food to a local charity or food bank to do your bit to tackle food poverty and reduce your impact on the environment.

Commenting on the data, Craig Powell, Managing Director at Balloon One, said: “The true cost of food waste in the supply chain really is shocking. With so many families going without meals, the food we’re wasting is enough to feed everyone in the UK for over a month! Clearly there are steps we need to take as an industry to reduce our waste.

“The sheer amount of food we’re throwing away is enormous, and it’s vital that every business does their bit if we want to make a difference, and each sector must work together to have the biggest impact.

“The good news is that most of our food waste can easily be avoided and is largely due to an inefficient supply chain holding things up and wasting valuable time. And, when it comes to perishable items like food, time is of the essence at every stage.

“We’re lucky enough to have innovative technology right at our fingertips, and this tech can drastically change our processes for the better. By investing in WMS and automated systems, warehouses, transport management companies, retailers, and hospitality venues can all collaborate and reduce lead times. That means food can get from farm to fork much more quickly.

“There are a few changes that every business can make to tackle the problem. So, whether you lower your inventory levels or automate your processes, every company, no matter their size, can get involved and have an impact.”

Seeking a more sustainable supply chain

Posted on by Keith McKinley

In light of COP26 taking place in Glasgow, Eddie Capel (pictured), CEO of supply chain software solution provider Manhattan Associates, looks at the importance of sustainable supply chains.

Over the last two centuries, the worldwide economy has experienced prolonged and sustained growth. Over the same period, this process of economic growth has been accompanied by even faster growth in global commerce.

The integration of national economies into a global economic system has been one of the most important and significant developments of the last century, with globalisation resulting in remarkable growth in trade between countries, with exports now 40+ times larger than in 1913.

This continued surge in globalisation post WW2 has seen international trade grow more rapidly than ever, and today the sum of exports and imports across nations amounts to more than 50% of the value of total global output.

While the increase in global commerce in general is regarded as a positive development, (you can now buy New Zealand grown apples in the USA, 365 days a year and they are delicious!), it has also brought challenges of its own; not least increasing moral, ethical and environmental questions, such as, ‘just because you can, does that mean you should?’

Furthermore, with much wider networks of international trade, there are now more and more questions around the challenges of increasingly complicated supply chains; not least, the impact that both globalisation and the fulfilment of global commerce presents to our environment.

With supply chains underpinning the very foundations of trade, the last two decades have understandably seen an increased impetus on supply chain gains such as speed and efficiency in order to maximise (often) squeezed margins.

These types of operational efficiencies are clearly important to the global markets we serve and over the last three decades we’ve thrived in this space.

However, today, not just from an industry perspective, but also at a societal level, there are more pressing priorities and sustainability and environmental awareness need to be high on the agenda for every organisation. As an industry leader in such a high-profile space right now, and with COP26 rapidly approaching, the time is right that we start talking about the topic of supply chain sustainability more actively.

Empowering greener consumer buying decisions

Most brands that offer direct-to-consumer (D2C) selling channels don’t have the ability to allow the consumer to aggregate orders over a multi-day period or change an order beyond maybe a 30-60 minute ‘remorse’ period. Essentially, it’s a case that after you have hit the buy button and completed the transaction you no longer have the ability to change, cancel or even add to your order.

This inflexibility inevitably leads to situations where purchases made over multiple days or even the same day end up being delivered by multiple couriers across multiple deliveries.

Thanks to advanced capabilities available with Manhattan Active Omni, there is a smarter way to manage D2C operations, allowing the customer to have more influence over their own retail supply chain decisions.

These capabilities essentially create an order as a ‘draft status’ when it is in the warehouse, allowing the customer to make changes and additions, right up until the moment it leaves on the truck – far more flexible than the traditional 30-60 minute grace period currently offered by most retailers.

This approach can help eliminate excessive delivery miles, along with the dunnage and packaging associated with multiple smaller orders; also reducing the carbon footprint associated with the returns process too.

Our goal is to allow our customers to give consumers the ability and options to influence the fulfilment process, in the hope that they will ultimately make more informed and ‘greener’ choices in the long-term.

Wasted space is bad for the planet not just your P&L

Smarter Pallet Fill Algorithms (PFA), such as those that are part of the latest release of Manhattan Active Inventory can provide as much as a 7% increase in the truck fill ratios (TFR). While the relative delta might seem small at first glance, when you have a fleet of thousands of trucks, travelling millions of miles each year, marginal gains can add up to significant reductions in an organisation’s overall carbon footprint.

If by having more efficient fleet loading capabilities, we can reduce the need for just one truck per month, we could reduce overall CO2 output by almost 40 metric tonnes each year. That is a significant reduction in CO2, acknowledged to be one of the most harmful green-house gases to the planet.

Smarter, greener approaches to transportation

If we continue with the transportation and delivery theme for a moment, let us consider strategy transportation management. Having a modern, effective TMS in place is another key consideration when addressing the environmental impact of your supply chain.

Manhattan Active Transportation Management is a powerful optimisation engine that makes transportation planning faster, smarter and easier. But it’s not just fast, it is also more intelligent, and here in lies the key to making transportation planning and networks less carbon intense.

At the heart of the solution is a multi-modal optimisation core that utilises cutting-edge, in-memory computing. This advanced optimisation engine uses machine learning to give brands and transportation managers the computing power they need to quickly process and analyse large volumes of data in order to create the ideal and most environmentally conscious logistics plans.

So whether it’s incorporating real-time weather, traffic, city-specific low emission zone data, or simply providing up to 80% faster solve times, a smarter, more data-driven transportation management solution is not just good for bottom-line profits and overall customer experience, it can also have a significant and positive effect on the environmental impact of a brand too.

Choosing the right partners

Let’s consider the role of the cloud in sustainability. While the cloud can certainly streamline organisations from both a practical and operational perspective, it is important to recognise that any IT deployment, be it ‘as a service’ or on-premise, will always carry an associated environmental cost.

As supply chain solutions increasingly become cloud-native, the nature of the clouds being used to deliver them therefore becomes more relevant.

Apart from being a market leader and innovator in the cloud space, our partner, Google Cloud’s platform is powered by 100% renewable energy.

Manhattan and Google Cloud’s commitment to ongoing innovation, plus its net carbon-neutral cloud, means that the working partnership between both industry leading teams continues to be a perfect match of brand and environmental values.

Shipping less air is good for everyone

Advances in the use of smarter algorithms are now having significant, positive impacts when it comes to reducing the amount of packaging used in warehouse and outbound delivery processes.

Whether it be Manhattan’s unique approach to three dimensional cubing (packing goods for shipment and shipping less air). Smart packing, dunnage utilisation or order fulfilment optimisation, with less packaging used throughout the supply chain, and less air (effectively) being shipped, volume per shipment is reduced and transportation becomes more efficient, meaning less trucks on the roads and fewer planes in the skies.

It’s a win, win for not just bottom-line profitability, supply chain efficiency and customer experience, but crucially the environment too; just another example of how the application of ‘smarter’ technology can drive ‘greener’ outcomes across entire supply chain networks.

The path towards a more sustainable future

At Manhattan Associates, we believe that the path to a cleaner, more sustainable future for the planet begins with the small decisions we can all make each and every day. That’s why we’re committed to building sustainability into the supply chain solutions we deliver to thousands of household brands all over the globe and incorporating more environmentally aware and sustainable approaches into our organisation too.

Whether it’s empowering consumers to make ‘greener’ buying decisions; creating smarter algorithms that allow organisations to reduce CO2 emissions by filling trucks more efficiently; partnering with carbon neutral brands like Google Cloud to power our cloud-based solutions; or simply designing products that place both people and planet, front of mind, Manhattan Associates is as committed to helping our customers run their supply chains in more sustainable ways.

We must not lose sight of the fact that global commerce is vitally important to the livelihoods and well-being of billions of people around the globe, and although the inherent nature of the movement of goods can never be entirely ‘green’, we must acknowledge that this does not mean it cannot be more sustainable for our planet than it has been in the past.

As an industry leader in the (supply chain) space that underpins the flow of global goods, we have a duty to recognise the challenges presented by climate change, to act responsibly and proactively, and to play our part in a coordinated effort towards a more sustainable and environmentally aware future.

Improve exception management with supply chain visibility

Posted on by Keith McKinley

It’s not a matter of if disruptions will occur in the supply chain, it’s only a matter of time until the unexpected strikes and creates an exception. An exception does not necessarily guarantee a late delivery; it simply means a roadblock or challenge has arisen that requires immediate attention. This is why end-to-end visibility in a supply chain is so important, according to Boston (US)-based asset tracking company Tive.

The more real-time information you have regarding the location and condition of shipments the more proactive you can be with exception management. Immediately informing customers of any issues and the steps being taken to mitigate them will go a long way toward nurturing customers into brand ambassadors that will help grow your business.

Let’s take a closer look at shipping exceptions and the need for strong exception management in supply chains and how a lack of end-to-end visibility can hinder those efforts. As an added bonus, we offer five sure-fire ways an end-to-end visibility solution can help improve exception management in any supply chain.

Exception management in supply chains

There are plenty of reasons why delivery exceptions occur with in-transit packages. Here are a few of the most common:

Inaccurate shipping labels – Among the most common of all delivery exceptions occurs when the address on a package’s label is incorrect, unclear, incomplete, or undeliverable. It can take several hours or even days to track down the correct information manually.

Missed drop-off – Even when the delivery driver shows up on time and to the correct location, an exception occurs because no one is there to sign for a package that requires a signature to complete the final-mile delivery process.

The package goes MIA – Arguably the most severe exception, a package that goes missing for whatever reason could take days, weeks or even longer to locate.

Inclement weather or another force majeure – Winter storms, tornadoes, flash floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires are just a few examples of the things Mother Nature can dish out that lead to delivery delays.

Damaged packages – Sometimes it’s the shipping label that either gets knocked off or becomes illegible while in transit. Other times it is damage to the packaging itself that renders a shipment undeliverable. With the latter, a replacement should be sent out immediately.

Federal holidays – Major carriers most likely will operate with bare minimum staffs, if they operate at all, on days that are designated as federal holidays and observances.

Customs and clearance delays – International shipments often get stuck at the border due to missing documentation, labelling issues, or a staffing shortage.

Yard exceptions – Deliveries are often marked as completed because the shipment is within a certain distance of the destination when, in fact, the truck is sitting at a truck stop.

Lack of End-to-End Visibility = Exception Management Struggles

Normally exception management is tough enough. Without end-to-end visibility, it’s almost impossible to gain meaningful insights that need to be communicated to customers. The lack of real-time location and condition data in visibility solutions slows down response times and puts stakeholders in a reactive rather than proactive mindset. Having to send emails, make phone calls, and interpret legacy data associated with past shipments compounds the level of complexity. An end-to-end visibility solution that does not include configurable real-time status alerts (location, temperature, humidity, shock events, light exposure and more) is of little or no use when trying to prevent:

  • Destroyed shipments, such as pharmaceuticals and vaccines
  • Rotten perishables, such as fruits and vegetables, dairy products, and meats
  • Loss of upset customers
  • Fines and legal action from the Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory agencies.
  • Lost revenue

5 tips to improve exception management

In general, customers want their stuff when they want it, and they don’t really want to hear excuses why it will or might be late. That said, most will appreciate a heads-up when things go awry. They realise that stuff happens that is beyond anyone’s control. While it’s impossible to know exactly when and where disruptions will strike, it is possible to flag potential exceptions early. Here are five ways end-to-end visibility can help improve exception management:

Real-time tracking functionality – Best-in-class trackers provide real-time insights, such as location and condition (temperature, humidity, light exposure, vibration, shock events, tamper detection, and more).

Configurable alerts – An end-to-end visibility solution should include robust software that focuses on showing the real-time location and condition of shipments, providing alerts if there are issues with any shipment (temperature, delays, etc.)

Single source of truth – To maximise exception management capabilities, all systems and software in an end-to-end visibility solution should be collaborative and integrated with all the parties involved: shippers, receivers, carriers, and logistics service providers.

Route optimisation – Combine data from multiple shipments and analyse patterns of damage or delays, determine root causes of problems, and optimise future routes.

Send backup shipments – Early detection via end-to-end visibility provides the opportunity to send a replacement shipment, just in case the first one is indeed compromised.

Take exception management to the next level

Implementing in-transit end-to-end visibility will improve overall proactiveness in supply chain exception management. Tive’s proprietary multi-sensor trackers use global cellular connectivity and on-onboard sensors to provide real-time monitoring of shipments to keep all stakeholders informed regarding the location, climate and integrity of their shipments.

Tive’s cloud-based software platform gives stakeholders access to that information in real-time and from any device. The ability to configure custom climate and temperature thresholds, along with real-time alerts that will trigger when a shipment exceeds the acceptable ranges puts you a step ahead of the disruption and provides a powerful leg up in exception management.

Pharma company quadruples tenders via Transporeon

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Boehringer Ingelheim was the first pharmaceutical company to fully outsource its operative tender management process to Transporeon in 2020. One year later, the benefits of this step have become clearly visible.

In the current volatile market situation characterised by fluctuating prices, Boehringer Ingelheim was able to quadruple its logistics tenders and ensure the robustness of its logistics processes. At the same time, Boehringer Ingelheim retains full control of all strategic decisions: the schedule, the scope of the tender, and the pool of service providers are managed by the pharmaceutical company itself.

By working with Transporeon, Boehringer Ingelheim receives better service at a lower cost. Even in times of reduced transport capacity, the pharmaceutical company obtains attractive offers via Transporeon’s active tender management. In parallel, costs and effort for the internal coordination of the tendering process decrease.

In addition, the logistics experts from Ulm regularly supply market insights to Boehringer Ingelheim to facilitate navigating the current volatile market situation, as part of their procurement excellence programme. These analyses by Transporeon have proven essential for making long-term strategic decisions.

Sören Brodowy, Head of Global Sourcing Logistics at Boehringer Ingelheim, said: “Working closely with the Transporeon employees is of paramount importance for us. They are the logistics experts for the execution of the tendering process, as well as data processing, validation and analyses.”

Expanding this partnership in the future is highly likely. Boehringer Ingelheim successfully introduced Transporeon’s spot tendering tool at a site in Belgium to bridge the shortage of air freight capacity during the pandemic. Due to this success, the pharmaceutical company is considering deploying the spot tool developed for air and ship freight across the entire company in the medium-term.

Boehringer Ingelheim and Transporeon have been working together as trusted partners in the field of contract tendering since 2010.

Prologis report lays bare supply chain crisis

Posted on by Keith McKinley

New research by Prologis, a global leader in logistics real estate, has highlighted the global supply chain crisis, with logistics space at an all-time low, a slowdown in the flow of goods and rising construction costs.

Prologis‘ Research team’s new paper, Persistent Disruption,  explores the shift logistics customers are making from “just in time” to “just in case” – or a permanent shift toward resilience. This shift will create powerful demand tailwinds in logistics real estate and could prolong or worsen the current shortage of space.

Highlights include:

  • Robust inventory-to-sales ratios are key to the future supply chain. Disruptions in the flow of goods will persist beyond the pandemic, driven by structural forces in climate, geopolitics and labour.
  • Higher inventories will require 800 million sq ft (74.3 million sq m) of logistics real estate or more to fix the shortage and build in resilience. Logistics real estate leasing is not yet reflecting this demand because companies need to first focus on immediate inventory challenges.
  • Gateway locations are poised to benefit as the first step on the consumption end of supply chains. Because these locations generally have high barriers to new logistics development, demand is expected to outstrip supply.

Eva van der Pluijm-Kok, Director, Research & Strategy at Prologis, commented: “During Q3, we saw a record low of 3.0% in vacancies in Europe. This trend already pointed towards increasing demand for space and for inventory stock up early on.

“In the UK, due to Brexit, the urgency to build supply chain resilience has been somewhat expected but we also saw that the disruption was more severe than predicted In Europe, demand to build inventory has been traditionally low. This is now slowly changing and leading to shortages.

“Both across Europe and the UK, findings show that the demand for logistics space and to increase inventories will continue as part of customers’ aim to build resilience.”

Furthermore, Prologis’ current Industrial Business Indicator (IBI), the company’s proprietary quarterly survey of customer activity and sentiment, reveal that strong retail sales and supply chain challenges are driving urgency in leasing. US net absorption reached a record high of 115 million sq ft (10.7 million sq m) in Q3 2021 and 280 million sq ft (26 million sq m) year-to-date – more than double the same period last year, pushing vacancy to a new low of 3.9%.

CLICK HERE to download the Persistent Disruption report by Prologis.

 

Milestone partnership enhances supply chain visibility

Posted on by Keith McKinley

A sensor-driven supply chain visibility leader, Roambee, and a leading digital freight platform, Transporeon, have announced a partnership that aims to bring the best of both worlds in real-time transport visibility: carrier telematics visibility through Sixfold and high-fidelity, real-time multimodal shipment visibility and intelligence via Roambee’s platform.

“Roambee and Transporeon joining forces denotes unified access to two major and unique global supply chain visibility platforms for customers across industries,” said Sanjay Sharma, CEO, Roambee. “Roambee’s sensor-driven visibility will enrich Sixfold’s telematics data with multimodal location accuracy and offer condition visibility, so customers can more actionably address supply chain risk around spoilage, damage, theft, missed connections, and more. The partnership’s substantial joint data set results in end-to-end, item-level visibility, globally, with 100% coverage of lanes and shipments regardless of the transporter or load size.”

Transporeon currently tracks approximately 20 million transports annually. Fast-moving goods such as food or electronics, slow-moving consumer goods including white ware/consumer durables, automotive, chemicals, and big logistics organisations are some of the industries that seek both telematics and sensor-driven visibility. Customers of all sizes across industries and across all modes of transportation (air, ocean, rail, road, and parcel) can now determine the level of visibility they need for specific shipments, then access it via one portal that integrates both companies’ capabilities.

“Whether a customer wants to track sensitive parcels from India to the U.S. or commodities going through Russia, this partnership can enable them to profit from the insights provided by one joint solution,” said Stephan Sieber, CEO Transporeon. “Our goal is to strengthen the native visibility network that is represented by Sixfold. We are developing solutions to the world’s top supply chain challenges by seeking out the strongest, most aligned partners possible. No single company delivers the best of both worlds – but this partnership does.”

 

Easier pharmaceutical packaging with optimised supply chain

Posted on by David Priestman

Pharmaceutical manufacturers face numerous challenges ranging from decreasing batch sizes and increasing item diversity to massive time and cost pressure. These challenges also make the procurement of packaging materials more complex. Packaging specialist Faller Packaging supports its customers in making these processes faster, more efficient and at the same time more sustainable with the help of digitalisation and networking. Users benefit from better forecasts, simpler quality assurance and less work thanks to automated processes.

Increasing customisation and more and more therapy and dosage forms are causing the variety of pharmaceutical industry products and variants to rise rapidly. The demand for medicines and healthcare products is growing, while manufacturers must also bring their new developments to market much faster if they are to gain an advantage over the competition. The digitalisation of the supply chain offers manufacturers great potential, enabling them to meet these challenges.

Production and logistics processes can be made faster, more efficient, more reliable and more sustainable. In concrete terms, this means that users can plan better and more precisely and make quality assurance along the supply chain easier. Automated processes also reduce the analogue effort.

Faller Packaging has a vast wealth of experience in this field. The specialist company for pharmaceutical secondary packaging has tackled the issue of digital supply chain solutions for the industry in depth – and has established a broad product and service portfolio to that end. The company has now published a new white paper to show how the digital transformation of the supply chain works in practice.

In the white paper, readers will learn which technologies and concepts can help to digitally connect all the elements of the supply chain, namely material, product, people and information flows. This results in better understanding and coordination of processes, faster use of information and more efficient scheduling. The result is significant improvements that enable manufacturers to save time and costs in equal measure.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE WHITE PAPER

Asda accelerates multi-channel offering with Blue Yonder

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Leading British retailer Asda will leverage world-class Blue Yonder capabilities to optimise its end-to-end operations and deliver ambitious business transformation.

The UK retail market is one of the most dynamic markets in the world, where consumers demand great products and an excellent customer experience, through any channel at any time. That is why Asda, one of Britain’s leading retailers with a unique position in the market, has selected to digitally transform its end-to-end supply chain and retail operations with Blue Yonder.

Asda will implement several SaaS-based capabilities within Blue Yonder’s Luminate Planning, Luminate Commerce and Luminate Logistics, as well as Luminate Control Tower, all running on the Luminate Platform.

Asda consists of supercentres, superstores, and smaller supermarkets. The retailer also runs petrol filling stations and Asda Living stores, which offer its popular George clothing and home merchandise lines. The company employs more than 140,000 colleagues serving more than 18 million customers who shop in its stores and online weekly.

With the company needing to transition from its legacy solutions as a result of moving to a UK-based ownership, Asda was looking for end-to-end retail solutions that would cover commercial, supply chain, logistics, and retail operations. This includes artificial intelligence- (AI) powered forecasting, end-to-end supply chain visibility, omni-channel fulfilment, and workforce management capabilities.

With Blue Yonder, Asda will be able to:

  • Use machine learning (ML) at scale to provide a demand projection with calculated business impact and risk that enables better inventory management, waste reduction and an improved understanding of demand drivers and customer behaviours.
  • Leverage ML to optimise pricing strategies reducing excess stock and avoiding waste.
  • Deliver efficiency and value across the entire omni-channel retail business with a connected platform.
  • Horizon scan thanks to visibility into forecasting, fulfilment and transportation, leveraging Blue Yonder’s automation while keeping a high level of control.
  • Gain inbound visibility for both domestic and import orders ensuring products are available to meet consumer demand at the right place, at the right time.
  • Provide Asda colleagues in stores and in distribution centres with a robust workforce management capability.

“We are embarking on a large-scale, exciting business transformation project to build our Future, in which we want to work with the very best retail technology providers in the market with proven experience and world-class capabilities,” said Carl Dawson, chief information officer, Asda. “We are looking forward to implementing this project with our strategic partner Blue Yonder, as we continue to build a fast, effective and agile business.”

“We are looking forward to supporting Asda with our innovative capabilities and experience,” said Johan Reventberg, president, EMEA, Blue Yonder. “We have built a strong relationship with Asda over the years, and we have consistently demonstrated how our advanced capabilities can help them fulfil their potential and drive value, early and often. Not only are our solutions a fit for Asda’s long-term goals, so is our culture and our values. We are honoured to embark on this exciting journey with Asda and look forward to bringing value to both Asda, their partners and their customers.”

 

Cranfield logistics MSc graduates ‘most employable’ in the UK

Posted on by David Priestman

Graduates of the Cranfield Master’s in Logistics and Supply Chain Management are the most employable in the UK, according to the latest QS Global Rankings.

The Cranfield MSc was rated first in the UK and 7th in the world for employability, and was named in the UK top 10 for diversity (3rd), thought leadership (3rd) and alumni outcomes (5th) in the 2022 rankings.

Course director Dr Hendrik Reefke said: “Our MSc in Logistics and Supply Chain Management aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to make a significant difference in the global marketplace.

“We know our students go on to achieve some amazing things in their careers as a result of studying at Cranfield, and are delighted that this has been recognised in these latest rankings.

“My thanks go to the whole teaching team for their continued dedication to ensuring the very best outcomes for all our students.”

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