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Free Articles From The Current Issue
Who keeps the engines of global commerce running?Although what supply chain professionals do every day impacts commerce everywhere in the world, their role in corporate success and competitiveness generally has remained in the background.
Emerging consumer markets: the new drivers of global economic growth
Consumption is still largely concentrated in North America and Western Europe, but consumers in emerging markets are stepping onto the world stage in greater numbers.
Global trade trends down as local consumption slowly grows
Global trade levels declined by 1.3 percent in Quarter 3 of 2011 while domestic consumption continued to grow.
Time to come home?
To offshore, nearshore, or "reshore"? A total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis can answer that question. For some companies, TCO analyses are suggesting that manufacturing close to the point of consumption is the best choice.
A hard look at the soft side of performance
Supply chain scorecards typically focus on operational metrics. But if companies want to capture a true picture of supply chain success, they need to measure employees' interpersonal performance, too.
Most Read Articles
Packaging changes demand "gentler" handling equipment
Get ready for kinder, gentler material handling equipment in the warehouse. As manufacturers reduce packaging to meet sustainability goals, "the underlying product is more vulnerable to damage, so clients are demanding gentler handling," said Stephen C. Ackerman, executive vice president of manufacturing systems for Intelligrated, a manufacturer of material handling equipment and solutions. Ackerman spoke at the North American 2010 Material Handling and Logistics Show in Cleveland, Ohio, in April.
The proliferation of stock-keeping units (SKUs) and the resulting complexities of packaging and assortment will also prompt distribution operations to employ material handling equipment that has a lighter touch. For example, distribution centers are being asked to handle both large, sale-ready displays for large retailers and smaller-sized packages for convenience stores. The growing number of packaging variations also requires special handling "You have eighteen flavors of water, and we're seeing 'rainbow' packages where manufacturers put three different flavors in one core package," Ackerman observed.
To meet these conflicting demands, warehouses will have to deploy automated systems that are both flexible and gentle enough to accommodate varying package sizes and types. "Warehouses now have to go from handling big to small packages in a split second," Ackerman said. Achieving that gentle touch may require adopting more robotic material handling equipment in the future, he added.
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