Articles
December 2022
Taking the Temperature on Sustainability
Many companies will continue to take sustainability seriously over the next 12 months. A recent Honeywell survey of 600 business leaders finds that 90% are pleased with their sustainability efforts over the prior 12 months, and 97% plan environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) budget increases in the next 12 months.
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Waste Eats Away the Bottom Line
Overproduction and waste may push margins in the wrong direction. A recent Avery Dennison report finds that 8% of stock perishes or is discarded before it reaches consumers–inventory losses worth up to $163.1 billion or 3.6% of annual profits. Of the 8% waste, slightly more than half (53.8%) is lost in the supply chain before products reach store shelves.
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AI and ML in Retail: Help or Hype?
Top-performing retailers are bullish on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), with 71% of respondents to a Retail Systems Research report saying AI-enabled analytics will fundamentally change their merchandising forecasting by 2025.
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Five Trends That Will Shape Logistics in 2023
Amidst concern over the economy and ongoing geopolitical issues, 2023 promises to pose challenges to managing logistics and supply chain operations. To help companies prepare for the new year, Anaid Chacón, head of product for Nuvocargo, a digital platform focused on U.S.-Mexico cross-border trade, identifies five trends to be aware of.
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Turning the Tide on Turnover
The pandemic’s effect on inventory turnover was significant, but more recent data suggests that the situation may be improving for e-commerce brands.
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Logistics Technology: The Unsung Hero of Convenience Commerce
As consumers embraced online ordering during the pandemic, e-commerce sales ballooned from $571.2 billion in 2019 to $815.4 billion in 2020—a 43% jump—according to a recent Census Bureau retail survey. Although online sales have cooled since the initial pandemic-driven fervor, consumers continue to drive convenience commerce, with e-commerce sales increasing 6.7% in Q1 2022. More than 20% of consumer spending from January to March occurred online.
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How to Develop a Customer-centric Supply Chain
Supply chain variability creates hurdles to customer satisfaction. Prioritize the consumer experience by integrating flexible technologies and processes in your supply chain design.
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How SMBs Can Re-evaluate Risk
Supply chain disruption has been a major issue since the onset of the pandemic, affecting consumers’ ability to get everything from toilet paper and pharmacy items to cars and houses. At the same time, porch-pirated theft is on the rise, with around 210 million packages disappearing from porches across the United States in 2021, according to a Safewise study.
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Attacks on Energy Attack You
Can you walk and chew gum at the same time? Leaders in the United States and globally cannot when it comes to balancing green energy initiatives with common sense energy requirements.
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John Brewer: Building a Supply Chain Step by Step
John Brewer is director of distribution and logistics with CKE Restaurants Holdings Inc., the company behind quick-serve restaurant brands Carl’s Jr. and Hardees.
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