Importing From China! The Essential Guide!

China has fast become a key player in the world’s economy. Since 2012, China has been the world’s number one trading country, and it shows no signs of moving from this spot anytime soon.

China is now the leading exporter of many items and Chinese products have become absolutely ubiquitous. In America alone, consumers purchase more than $500 billion worth of Chinese goods per year.

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5 E-Commerce Order Fulfillment Choices! (Infographic)

Businesses have long since entered the E-Commerce marketplace. But how do you physically fulfill all of those online orders?The age of technology and innovation has made E-Commerce order fulfillment business processes and solutions so readily available that it has become highly competitive.  

This competition is especially apparent in the area of E-Commerce  Third-Party Logistics (3PLs).

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Supply Chain Predictions!

As to Supply Chain predictions, in the book The Living Supply Chain, the authors argue that, “Speeding up the supply chain is at the root of everything that is good: improved revenue, reduced working capital, higher profitability, and less obsolete inventory. Conversely, slowing down the supply chain is at the root of everything that is bad: working capital write-offs, reduced profitability, and slowing revenues.”

To “speed” up the supply chain is to invest in change and change will come with the digital transformation of the supply chain, which is the major focus for executives in the future.

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Do You Have Hidden Freight Costs?

Having come from a company wherein we were selling Freight management services I was curious about Freight spend at this new company.  But I could find no one answer to my question.

“How much were we spending on Freight?”

The fact that no one knew the answer raised the first alarm bell.  The answers that I got raised a whole slew of other alarm bells.

This was going to be an area that was full of opportunity!

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Why don’t you have a TMS (Transportation Management System) Solution yet?

Why have so few companies adopted a TMS (Transportation Management System) solution?  There are tremendous benefits but there are obstacles, real or perceived, that get in the way. I believe that the benefits far outweigh the obstacles but the obstacles often do not have anything to do with the benefits.

Many years ago I started a Supply Chain Services business as a new service within the company. The fundamental premise was that we had great Supply Chain expertise, tools, systems and processes which we could easily offer to customers.

One of the services that was very compelling was our Freight Management service. We had a tremendous amount of spend leverage globally, a seasoned team, great supplier relationships, very strong processes, and an excellent Transportation Management System (TMS). With all of that we went to market!

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6 Major Delivery Logistics Trends!

It was an important year for delivery logistics trends. With ecommerce sales reaching $23 trillion in annual sales worldwide, customers are relying on better and faster deliveries for all sort of goods and services.

But this evolution in the supply chain, and for last mile fulfillment in particular, doesn’t end with retail. From restaurant chains to supermarkets to pharmacies to service providers, the world of logistics is experiencing unprecedented change.  What are the delivery logistics trends?

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Our 2017 Top 10 Blog Posts … So Far!

It’s been 6 months since we launched supplychaingamechanger.com.  Our goal has always been to share experiences and expertise.  The site has evolved.  The number of categories has continued to grow.  And the response has been absolutely tremendous. We can now present our 2017 Top 10 Blog posts.

In that time Supply Chain Game Changer was also selected by Feedspot as one of the Top 75 Supply Chain Blogs on the Internet.

So we thought that this would be a good point at which to share a list of the 2017 Top 10 Blog posts that we have published so far.  We would be remiss if we didn’t also thank the phenomenal Guest Bloggers who have given us such great content.

So here is the 2017 Top 10 Blog List, so far …

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TMS is Mandatory in the Digital Age! Get Yours Free!

We are in the Digital Age!

In Supply Chain that means we want and need full end to end visibility and transparency.  To provide that end to end visibility requires electronic connectivity of all nodes of the Supply Chain.

And when it comes to providing that visibility and connectivity with respect to the movement of goods throughout the Supply Chain it means we all need a Transportation Management System (TMS).

But gone are the days when you needed to create your own TMS or even buy one.  In this Digital Age you should be able to get this capability for free!

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The Current State of the Shipping Capacity Crunch!

The shipping capacity crunch is not a new topic, but the end of 2017 is shaping up to reveal an unprecedented crunch, reports Chris Brady of Logistics Viewpoints.

An active hurricane season, the forthcoming implementation deadline for electronic logging devices (ELD) and record-shattering projections for the upcoming holiday shipping season reflect some of the top factors affecting the current state shipping capacity crunch.

Moreover, according to Dustin Braden of the Journal of Commerce (JOC), the driver shortage is worsening in tandem. To successfully mitigate the potential setbacks from the shipping capacity crunch, your organization must understand more about its current and projected driving forces.

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What Exactly Is Supply Chain Management? 10 Different Definitions!

When I began my  career there was no such thing as “Supply Chain Management“.  Supply Chain was not a title to be found anywhere on any organization chart.

Yet all of the functions that we now associate with Supply Chain have been around for a very long time:  Planning, Inventory Management, Logistics, Procurement and Purchasing, Warehousing and many more.

So what exactly is the definition of “Supply Chain Management”?  Interestingly there are many views on how to define Supply Chain.

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Truck Drivers are a Vital Part of the Supply Chain!

Take a quick look around your home or office and you’d be hard-pressed to find a product that has not seen the inside of a truck or delivered by truck drivers at some point in its existence.

In truth, many aspects of everyday life are made possible through the supply chain industry, with trucking alone responsible for 70% of America’s freight volume by weight. This is achieved through the hard work of truck drivers, the unsung heroes of the industry, who travel 430 billion miles per year hauling 10 billion tons of goods that people all need to live.

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The Amazing Supply Chain of Chocolate Easter Eggs

At the end of this month, the festival of Easter will begin. Aside from the religious connotations, many people automatically associate Easter with the legend of the Easter bunny delivering chocolate Easter eggs to children. I, for one, am a big chocolate lover, so I am fascinated by this amazing supply chain.

Originally, eggs were included in ancient pagan practices and these have, to some degree, been adapted to create some Christian Easter traditions with the egg symbolizing new life. Chocolate Easter eggs are more of a modern tradition and somewhat of a substitute for the former custom of decorating Easter eggs by dyeing and painting chicken eggs in bright colors using vegetable dye or charcoal.

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Supply Chain Investment Challenges – Real and Imagined!

Everywhere you turn there is talk of a lot of very exciting technologies requiring Supply Chain investment.  The Internet of Things (IoT), Augmented Reality (AR), Drones and Autonomous Vehicles, Robotics, Virtual Reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Intelligent Analytics are front and centre.

And all of these technologies have applicability for the Supply Chain in every business and in every industry around the world.   The Digital Supply Chain vision is within our line of sight.

But most companies are still working with the same, manual, non-automated Supply Chains that they have had for at least the last decade.  And they will continue to do so in the foreseeable future.  They are faced with challenges which are going to impede technology investments to advance their Supply Chains going forward.

What are these Supply Chain challenges?

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What’s the Difference Between Logistics and Distribution?

What is the difference between Logistics and Distribution?

On the surface some people may consider them synonymous.  Without consulting a dictionary both Logistics and Distribution suggest imagery involving the movement of  goods.

But to anyone who works in Supply Chain, in particular with a title including either the term Logistics or Distribution, or if you work in a Distribution Centre or for a Logistics company, then there are distinct differences between these words.

But are there also commonalities?

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Gartner Top 25 Supply Chain List! Is it Relevant?

Gartner recently announced their Top 25 Supply Chains List.  I always find it interesting to see the list, to see who came out on top, and to hear what their views are on prevailing trends.

But as I review the list, compare it to prior years, and consider the scoring methodology I do wonder whether the list in its current form continues to be relevant for identifying the best of the Supply Chain.

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