The Obama administration jawbones some large companies to commit large capital to re3duce carbon emissions. It’s a good move for everyone, and perhaps will create a reputation effect to shame others into following suit. It’s certainly important to address carbon emissions somehow, and to get private industry involved. It turns out also to increase profits!
13 Top U.S. Companies Pledge $140 Billion to Slash Carbon Emissions – Supply Chain 24/7.
Posted in Supply Chains, Sustainability
So rail is asking for re-regulation? Give me a break. When things get tough they simply want government relief.
This article authored by Jeff Berman is interesting, and even more so taken with others in the issue. Those talk about how the balance between long haul trucking and intermodal may be shifting. Trucking costs are going up, and folks are shifting to intermodal. This places a greater load on the rail network, and since rails don’t make the money on intermodal that they do on commodities, they are wary of making capital investments to speed up intermodal flows. Are higher regulated rates the answer? I doubt it.
Posted in Logistics, Rail, Supply Chains, Trucking
Dan Gilmore reports on his mini survey about the slippery concept of supply chain strategy and it implementation. I think it’s a really good question. And what he found is provocative.
Who Really has a Supply Chain Strategy?.
It seems only a few firms have really embraced a far reaching strategic management approach to the integration of supply chains with corporate strategy. And his data show that they are still focused on internal improvements, whereas most studies show the biggest leverage is connecting with customers downstream rather than with suppliers or with internal processes. So I’m guessing there is a really long way to go.
While we have lots of tools for supply chain improvement, 3PLs have proved better at providing the information flows critical for integrating with customers or suppliers more directly. I think that trend will continue, even in spite of the spate of mergers and acquisitions in the 3PL space. It’s as if firms are seeing they don’t have the tools, let alone the glimmer of a strategy.
And this is true even of giants like UPS, which is rumored to be buying Coyote Logistics in a 1.8 billion deal. It means we need software and we need user interfaces that can jump the corporate boundaries to connect the supply chain.
Posted in Logistics, Supply Chains
Supply Chain Digest Port Technology International Marine Link
Supply Chain and Logistics 