Supply Chain

A question from a reader about an issue with a certification agency which lead to the reader's containers being stopped by customs in China.. Comments welcome..

The sheer magnitude and unpredictable nature of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 has put even the best, most established businesses on shaky ground. All the best laid plans have had to be revisited and brought back to the drawing board. Businesses have had to adopt a ‘reactive’ approach and go into fire-fighting mode to stay afloat. There have been questions like "How can supply chain performance be improved in order to ensure that it is responsive and efficient in meeting the needs of final consumers during the pandemic". So, what are the lessons that have been learnt? Are we wiser from our experience of this kind of disruption and can we use these learnings to make our supply chains more resilient?

50% of participants do not use any software for freight management..

This is the result from a Freight Industry Survey that we ran on this site.. The results of the survey seems to highlight the progress that still needs to be made in the industry in this area..

Executive Insights is a series by Shipping and Freight Resource that provides ongoing insights and thoughtful analysis..

This series features selected individuals from the industry and is aimed at enriching the knowledge of the readers with what is happening in the shipping, freight, maritime, logistics, and supply chain industry..

Executive Insights also gives you a chance to pick the brains of these industry veterans, leaders, and enablers..

In this edition of Executive Insights, we caught up with Steve Kranig, Director of Logistics IM-EX Global Inc., about navigating supply chain complexities..

The latest WTO statistics say that world trade is expected to fall by between 13% and 32% in 2020 as the COVID 19 pandemic disrupts normal economic activity and life around the world. A resilient supply chain is essential to ensure a strong global trade.

Our survey on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the supply chain industry revealed how vulnerable the industry was with the results showing that 35% of the market was totally unprepared for it and 59% of the market was severely impacted by it.

Based on these results, on the 4th of June 2020, we organised a Webinar sponsored by Ocean Insights on how the future of global supply chains would look.

This webinar, hosted by Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor of the JOC featured Steve Kranig of IM-EX Global, Inc., Pritam Banerjee of Asian Development Bank and Robin Jaacks of Ocean Insights as panelists.

For those of who missed out on this insightful and informative webinar, here is a synopsis of what was discussed.

COVID-19 is probably the world’s most disliked word currently due to the rampant economic disruption it has wreaked on the world. All countries and all businesses around the world have been affected by this pandemic.

The supply chain industry is one industry that has also been affected severely. The industry has seen a massive drop in volumes, congestion both on land and at sea, job losses etc, although ironically this is one of the industries that has and is helping to fight this pandemic through its movement of essential goods like medical supplies, food and PPE.

At the end of March 2020, we set up a short survey sponsored by Ocean Insights to analyse the impact of the pandemic on the industry and its preparedness.

12,000 clicks of that survey and the analysis and a 95% engagement rate told us that in times of strife, people want to come together, understand what is going on and help each other out of this situation.

So, we got together a team of executives to discuss these issues in a webinar moderated by an equally celebrated and astute industry journalist.

The world is in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and the global economy has been greatly hit due to this. You may agree that during such time, it’s important more than ever to find ways for saving costs and take all measures possible to safeguard your business.

As a small or midsize business, there is no doubt that you are familiar with the stress of operating on tight margins, and you know how valuable even a small percentage of cost-savings can be to your bottom line.

However, what many small businesses don’t realize, is that their supply chain – particularly when it comes to imports – can be a significant source of cost savings!

Global Supply Chains are very important in linking various countries to international markets facilitating global trade.. Modern day supply chains come with great opportunities but also pose some challenges which can test some of the best built and run supply chains..

One such challenge that is testing the world currently is the COVID-19 pandemic which came into limelight in December 2019.. This pandemic which has spread to every country around the world has caused/is causing major economic and social disruptions with far reaching impacts on global supply chains..

To understand the impact of this pandemic on the supply chain, we conducted a survey to measure the effect and impact of the coronavirus pandemic on global supply chains.. It collected and analyzed data on three key aspects – Impact, Preparedness, and Recovery..

Here are the results of this survey..

If you are from the Supply Chain industry and are active in global shipping and logistics we need your assistance and professional insights..

As we have seen, the COVID-19 pandemic that came into the limelight in December 2019 has now spread to every country around the world.. This has caused major economic and social disruptions with far reaching impacts on global supply chains..

In order to achieve a unified approach and to help the community/industry understand and fight the pandemic, we need your assistance and professional insights.. Your insights will help us to help you in understanding more about the pandemic and how we as an industry can all work together to get through this pandemic as soon as possible..

We have set up a short survey sponsored by Ocean Insights -  The Container Tracking Data Provider to analyze the Impact on the industry and its Preparedness to the COVID-19 pandemic.. Your responses to the survey are imperative in determining the way forward for global supply chains..

To the uninitiated (which included me at one stage), these industries are same or similar and it might come across that there is no difference between Maritime, Shipping, Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain ..

But once you are involved in the business or know about these businesses, you will very soon understand that these are very different industries with different workings, assets, architecture, requiring very different sets of qualifications, experience, expertise, knowledge and attitudes..

In this article I unpack the difference between Maritime, Shipping, Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain and how it is all connected..

Cargo theft can occur anywhere along the supply chain, affecting local logistics, transporters, storage yards, groupage operators, LCL consolidators, ports, depots, terminals, insurance, carriers and freight forwarders equally..

BSI Supply Chain Services and Solutions and TT Club have come together again to release the BSI & TT Club Cargo Theft Report 2020 which covers a detailed report of cargo theft and associated activities in the full year of 2019..

Executive Insights is a series by Shipping and Freight Resource that provides ongoing insights and thoughtful analysis enriching the knowledge of the readers with what is happening in the shipping, freight, maritime, logistics and supply chain industry..

Executive Insights is also a chance to pick the brains of industry veterans, leaders and enablers..

In this edition of Executive Insights, we caught up with Sheri Hinish - self proclaimed Supply Chain nerd, Executive Advisor and Thought Leader, IBM Futurist, Influencer in Supply Chain, Sustainability, Innovation, and Leadership and of course SupplyChainQueen®..

Logistics, a word widely said to have originated from the military ranks centuries ago is currently on the cusp of technological and digital changes with solutions that promise to transform every sector in logistics, be it driver-less trucks, automated warehouses, blockchain enabled documentation etc..

However there is a grouping of people handling logistics distribution that does not seem to require these advances and have been handling logistics in the same effective way since 1890..

This service has been given a Six Sigma rating by Harvard Business School which means the service makes fewer than 3.4 mistakes per million transactions which translates to around 400 delayed or missing deliveries in a year..

A supply chain is defined as an end to end process involving a network of people, resources, activities, organizations, technology, information, etc. that provides a path to the movement and, the flow of goods and services from the supplier to the end-customer.

Now, this doesn't sound troublesome when it's carried out at a smaller level. But imagine, what it would be like for the companies and organizations having a business that is spread across multiple countries.

But blockchains can help in improving Supply Chain Management and here's how..

Can you think of the most important aspect of your e-commerce store that you’re in complete control over?

Well, some would say all of it but that’s not the case for lots of e-commerce business owners. Some business owners only focus on the financials of their business while they hire others to focus on other aspect.

If you are a successful e-commerce business owner, you’re eventually going to need to hire out because there’s no way for you to do it all.

Take a look at 4 of the shipping strategies that will help your businesses obtain more customers and help you manage your shipping processes better.

An efficient supply chain is known to provide a great competitive advantage over competition and make the process of supply chain seamless..

But to improve the efficiency of supply chain management and create effectiveness, companies need to create and improve predictability, optimize the supply chain costs, reduce or minimize working capital, do due diligence and risk analysis and have a proper handle on the data..

A resourceful and successful supply chain helps the business to achieve quicker delivery time, shorter processing time, better inventory management, all of which leads to better revenues..

Here are 5 tips to improve supply chain efficiency

Whenever you think of ecommerce, you will have to naturally think about warehousing, shipping, and fulfillment providers as these go hand in hand.

But finding a fulfillment provider that suits your requirement may not be as easy as expected. So if you are ready to make the leap and outsource the fulfillment of your orders, carefully consider below points on who you partner with.

There are lots of challenges when selecting a fulfillment provider, but they aren’t insurmountable. Choosing the right fulfillment house does require great deal of due diligence. After all, these companies will receive, store, pick, pack and ship your products and have an enormous impact on the customer purchase experience.

To protect the integrity of your brand you need a trusted partner. To determine who that should be, put them through the paces with these six key questions.

The digital era for supply chain is well under way.. Technology and supply chain having seemingly become inseparable..

Technologies such as Blockchain, IoT, Big Data, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence are all finding their niche in the whole process of supply chain..

Whether it is in terms of issuing a smart bill of lading to a customer miles away or ensuring quick delivery of mandarins to China, technology has found its place in supply chain and its influence is growing..

Digital freight forwarders are leveraging these technologies and offering instant solutions as required by BCOs and others involved in the industry.. These technologies also seem to have spawned Digital Shipping Lines who are seen as serious competition to the digital freight forwarders..

There have been and are many discussions, arguments, disagreements surrounding these technologies..But one thing is clear and that is the fact that there needs to be lots of effective and productive discussions about the use of technology, the innovations that has already happened and their future..

If you are interested in such discussions, Microsoft New York Headquarters, 11 Times Square, New York is the place you want to be, on the 19th and 20th of June 2019..

Executive Insights is a series by Shipping and Freight Resource that provides ongoing insights, enriching the knowledge of the readers with what is happening in the shipping, freight, maritime, logistics and supply chain industry and providing thoughtful analysis..

Executive Insights is also a chance to pick the brains of industry veterans, leaders and enablers..

In this latest edition, Shipping and Freight Resource caught up with Mick Morris - CEO and Co Founder of Buytasker LTD for some insights into the freight forwarding industry, the digital freight forwarding world and the technologies that they have created for the industry..

There is a discernible difference between Maritime, Shipping, Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain industries.. All performing various functions, but all connected in the grand scheme of things, keeping the propellers of global trade churning..

In very simple terms, Supply Chain is the whole granddaddy process comprising of all aspects in a product cycle, for example from picking of the fruit at a farm in Point A to delivering the fruit to the shelf at a store in Point B using all of the above-mentioned industries, businesses and services..

By some estimates, inefficiencies in the global supply chain impose overhead costs of between 15% and 20% of global GDP cumulatively - supply chain inefficiencies dampen corporate profits and lower societal well-being..

This presents an opportunity to solve a large and pervasive global problem, and to significantly boost global economic growth and prosperity in the process..

We report on the latest with The New York Supply Chain Meetup who are on their 10th meetup with #TNYSCM10..