Technology | SupplyChainBrain

Technology: Page 1187

Seamlessly Combining Two Complex Technology Service Operations

Challenge: Leading Carrier-Class Network Equipment provider purchased a former competitor's optical line of business (fiber optic networks). They needed to integrate all products, services, support & systems (CRMs, operating systems, etc.) while maintaining their high service levels for their combined global client bases.

How an eCommerce Wholesaler Freed $3 Million in Inventory in One Week

Challenge: This global eCommerce wholesaler serves 1+ million customers, shipping 46,000 deliveries from 17 warehouses same day as ordered. During the downturn, the supply chain team significantly reduced inventory. Now that the market had turned, they needed to support growth without increasing inventory.

Digging for Rare Earth: Another Challenge to China's Dominance

What began as a trickle of stories about challenges to China's supposed economic dominance has become a steady flow. It began with revelations of working conditions at Chinese factories. Soon we were reading about rising wages in the industrial sector - great for Chinese workers, but sure to make the country a less attractive source of cheap manufacturing for the West. Then there was the recent slowdown in China's foreign direct investment, along with the nation's struggle to create an economy that's geared more toward domestic consumption in the service of a growing middle class. Meanwhile, serious questions persist about the stability of China's banking system. And just last week, we learned that China's trade surplus with the U.S. is rapidly shrinking, as the country wrestles with the consequences of a stronger yuan.

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Managing S&OP in a 'V'-Shaped Business Cycle

A "V"-shaped business cycle is one that is characterized by a large market contraction, followed by a sharp and equally large expansion. Indeed, some companies during the Great Recession saw double-digit sales declines followed by commensurate increases. "It almost feels like you're on a roller coaster," says Marianne K. Gatten, director of strategic planning and business development with Emerson. "You're taking that first hill, scared of what's going to happen next." Managing the sales and operations planning (S&OP) process in such an environment can be extremely difficult.

Canadian Logistics Company Tracks Pet Food Shipments Via RFID

Canadian logistics firm J.D. Smith and Sons has completed a six-month trial of radio frequency identification technology to track the loading, shipping and receipt of bagged pet food for a pet-product retailer. The company is now offering an RFID-based service to track its customers' goods, based on reads of RFID tags embedded in J.D. Smith's pallets.

CargoSmart Launches Business-Process Outsourcing for Ocean Carriers, LSPs

CargoSmart Ltd., a vendor of global shipping and logistics applications delivered under the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, has launched business-process outsourcing services for ocean carriers and logistics service providers (LSPs).

Apparel Company Finds the Perfect Fit in Amber Road

Challenge: A leading designer, distributor, and licensor of high quality apparel, needed to precisely calculate bottom-line shipment costs and compare multiple routing and service options; establish sophisticated audit controls for carrier billing; deliver a quick user friendly system implementation; and seamlessly add new functionality as the company's needs grew.

Leading Semiconductor Producer Streamlines Global Logistics Across 45 Countries

Challenge: A leading manufacturer of semiconductors has recently undergone rapid global expansion, completing eleven acquisitions in only seven years. As a result, company needed an effective global trade management strategy to ensure it maintained efficient, compliant cross-border transactions for moving 17 billion units across 45 countries per year.

Manufacturer Centralizes Procurement to Ensure Trade Compliance, Improve Supplier Coordination

Challenge: As part of an initiative to centralize its global procurement operations, a Fortune 500 diversified manufacturer of engineered components and products needed a way to effectively manage its importing process and reduce procurement costs while enabling real-time collaboration with its global suppliers.

Wine Distributor Achieves High Spirits with Amber Road

Challenge: One of the largest distributors of wine and spirits in the USoperates in a tightly regulated industry with outdated business processes and systems, and was challenged by a lack of visibility to inbound orders from its global vendors and suppliers. In addition, the company's manual order and shipment tracking processes frequently led to significant delays and difficulty in determining accurate inventory levels and expected arrival dates, leading to reactive expediting and additional intra-company transportation moves.

Supplier Risk and Compliance: Increasingly Important but Under-Recognized

Most companies today are heavily outsourced and have suppliers spread out across the globe. Yet firms' knowledge of their suppliers and the environments they operate in is often limited and out-of-date, crippling their ability to successfully manage the dynamics of their supply base. This has introduced substantially more risk in global businesses.

Freight Payment Provider Debuts Outsourced Freight Claims Service

Cass Information Systems, a provider of transportation, utility, telecom and waste invoice payment and information services, has launched Cass Freight Claims Services, an offering that allows shippers to effectively outsource the labor-intensive process of managing freight loss and damage claims and, in some cases, increase claims recoveries by decreasing threshold levels.

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Enhancing High-Value Electronics Shipment Security with Tive's Real-Time Tracking

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