Three FreightTech companies demonstrated their innovative technology solutions to increase supply chain efficiency during FreightWaves LIVE @HOME on Thursday.
“We have added the ability to have an app-based experience versus an online website to manage your back room and that kind of innovation is a big reason why our retail customers have been working with us.”
The Kansas City region, with its centralized location, is becoming a prime area for commercial warehouse space, with KC Smartport expecting 15 million square feet to become available in 2021.
Today there are two types of manufacturers: old school and new school. Which one you are will help decide the future of your business.
Optimal Dynamics has raised $18 million in a Series A round to fund the deployment of its CORE.ai decision-making engine for logistics operations.
Peloton stated it expects to incur $50 million in refund expenses from its treadmill recall. What will the logistics costs be?
Cold storage facility operator Americold said food manufacturers are “failing to meet the needs of retailers” as COVID-related production shutdowns have drawn down food stocks. The impacts from lower inventories and throughput were seen in the company’s first-quarter report.
Hwy Haul has secured a $10 million Series A round of funding to help it rapidly deploy its technology within the fresh produce supply chain.
The German company posts record first-quarter profits and substantially raises full-year earnings and cash flow targets.
An April survey of supply chain executives showed “continued downward pressure on transportation capacity” with prices surging to a 2.5-year high.
In the prepared statement released with earnings, CEO Musser says the current market has no precedents.
Ware2Go, which offers shipping to merchants of all sizes with a specialization in e-commerce, will automatically purchase carbon offsets through Pachama for its customers.
The biggest changes Bed Bath & Beyond must make are in the supply chain, which has been referred to as “noncompetitive” by management.
Ford and GM say the chip shortage could cost the automakers more than $1 billion in earnings during 2021.
Within maritime logistics circles, an effort is underway to update the technology the industry relies on to take advantage of recent advancements in hardware and software technology.
The best-in-class retailers are aggressively pursuing logistical control over their products while trying to avoid patchwork responses to final-mile delivery.
Buyers and suppliers have turned to supply chain finance to manage liquidity needs for decades. However, supplier finance programs have seen increased scrutiny from regulatory bodies, which seek greater disclosure.
In 2020, Amazon nearly doubled: its workforce, its number of facilities and its logistics square footage. In 2021, it plans to double its truckload fleet.
FreightWaves introduces FreightWaves Carbon Intelligence. Learn more here!
Will the oil majors make the transition to become dominant producers of renewable energy and other climate change technology, or will new entrants supplant them?
Jacobs says 10% U.S. GDP growth is not out of the question in 2021.
Amazon has started requiring third-party sellers to meet more stringent Prime shipping promises, and that is forcing changes to the supply chain.
Improvements will come in the form of more ship-from-store, but mainly more ship-from-dark-store as retailers realize the unnecessary complexity of the method and seek to transform more stores into localized fulfillment centers.
The telematics, ELD and satellite provider is getting sold for a 50% premium. Even that is less than at least one analyst saw as its value.
Needing to know where your freight is spawns incredibly competitive market
Zach Strickland, the Sultan of SONAR, talks about what the pandemic did to supply chains.
I am encouraged to see that President Joe Biden is calling for up to $300 billion of investments by the federal government to begin rebuilding America’s manufacturing sector.
This clever twist on micro-fulfillment centers offers a futuristic model for urban retailing and fulfillment. And it comes as companies test out a bevy of automated, unmanned service models, from dark stores to drones and autonomous delivery fleets.
Shipwell is adding pricing intelligence tools to its enterprise platform. Shippers testing the new tools have seen procurement costs drop as much as 10%, Shipwell said.
The supply chain cloud softrware company says revenue for its fiscal 2022 year will align with what it told investors last fall;. The recently completed year also was in line.
It’s not that companies can’t operate without China, it’s just that for now, said companies will not grow as fast as they could with it, and will likely do so with lower margins. In a retail world constantly balancing sales and profit, avoiding China is giving up both for many Western brands.
The battle between brands and retailers is not new, but it’s more acute than ever because of the options each side has. For brands, it’s never been easier to own and operate sales channels both online and IRL. For retailers, there’s never been more digitally native brands seeking out offline homes than there are right now. And giants like Target, Walmart and Amazon have proven that consumers are willing to purchase and even be very loyal to private label brands.
As hackers exploit the interconnectedness of the global supply chain to stage ransomware attacks, executives say technology and strategy are key to avoiding a knockout punch.
FreightWaves CEO Craig Fuller writes about FreightWaves, as well as transportation today and moving forward.
Volatility in trucking markets has prompted shippers to assess different ways of securing reliable capacity. For DG, that means more reliance on in-house transportation, but that’s certainly not the only option. Some retailers are looking to diversify their transportation partners to avoid delays and secure truck space. Others are debating streamlining their transportation needs by signing over their private fleets to logistics specialists.
Add Nike (NYSE: NKE) to the growing list of retailers being severely hampered by port congestion and supply chain bottlenecks. The congestion at West Coast ports in particular strained Nike’s supply chain and negatively impacted revenue, which declined 11% yoy in the quarter ending Feb. 28.
Faxinating Solutions, an EDI provider that works with some of the largest shippers in North America and IBM, says it was the victim of a ransomware attack.
Intel’s Ravi Dosanjh and the Port of Long Beach’s Noel Hacegaba take on supply chain visibility.
COVID-19 forced dramatic change at the end of the supply chain seemingly overnight. Retailers had to adjust quickly to succeed, and those that did are looking at a recovering consumer economy with the best balance sheet in decades on top of a real estate market reeling from store closures. Pair this with an e-commerce acceleration of five years and a movement to DTC and you have a market ripe for innovative physical expansion.
FourKites said it had a banner year in 2020 as more companies sought out the real-time supply chain visibility company.
As the number of places where product flows increases, naturally, smaller, more frequent inventory replenishment runs are created. Whether it’s middle-mile solutions from DC to store or DC to DC or it’s home delivery, the location of endpoints is dispersing and the size of shipments is decreasing.
FreightWaves Ratings is FreightWaves new review/rating site of commercial products for the freight industry.
More and more beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) are moving manufacturing and warehousing to Alabama.
There’s no time for deliberation these days if you want to get high-value cargo shipped by air. It’s a strong seller’s market in the air cargo world. If you see it, book it and don’t worry about the price.
Brands big and small want more control over the customer experience, including data and service, and technology firms and logistics providers can now offer brands an Amazon alternative. The tension between retailers and brands is nothing new, but the battle between them has never been this acute thanks to the likes of Shopify, ShipBob, XPO and others.
“In order to better position the product, you have to be closer to your patient,” House said.
“For companies that went into the COVID-19 year, if they were strong they came out stronger,” said Moore.
Retailers are stuck between playing the waiting game and risking delays that wreck quarterly results or ponying up and taking to the skies. The goods will arrive quickly, but at what cost?
A global semiconductor chip shortage continues to affect auo factories on both sides of the United States-Mexico border.
Reload, Vorto’s new autonomous platform, could save companies more than $400 million per year while increasing sustainability.
Carriers should begin planning now to influence policy change that could result from Biden’s supply chain executive order, industry observers say.
Prologis Research sees the need for modern logistics space climbing by at least 3 billion to 4 billion square feet over the next cycle.
By some accounts, Instacart owns 50% of the online grocery market. With an IPO upcoming, I wanted to look back at how Instacart has gone from niche to necessity and question whether it can maintain this dominant position in a highly competitive, highly sought-after market post-COVID.
China was the top U.S. trading partner for the 10th consecutive month in January and was the most important trading partner in 2020.
The German logistics giant forecasts more than $7 billion in operating profit as far out as 2023.
There are a couple of trends shaking up the automotive industry in the years ahead. Outside of digitization and electrification, one trend often gets left out: the growing reliance on Mexico and cross-border trade. As OEMs relocate manufacturing down in the South, suppliers are starting to follow in their footsteps.
With expansion into both Asia and Europe, Cargobase expects to more than triple its revenues.
The United States’ infrastructure was put to the test recently when Winter Storm Uri passed through the lower half of the country. As a result, production at petrochemical plants shut down and the industry is now on the brink of a potential seat shortage.
This week, President Biden announced we will have enough vaccinations for every American by the end of May. For the American people, this is fantastic news. For apparel retailers, it’s euphoric news that complicates an already extremely uncertain environment. In this edition of Point of Sale, we’ll take a look at apparel inventory management through the lens of Nordstrom’s recent woes.
As Amazon continues to dominate e-commerce, major retailers are stepping up their investments hoping to benefit from shifting consumer demands.
Several of the nation’s largest retailers say inventory positions are improving. However, retail sales continue to outpace efforts to stock up, suggesting trucking demand could stay elevated well into 2021.
Supply chain software provider Descartes Systems Group has “sold more stuff than we’ve ever sold before” in recent quarters, its CEO says as revenue and profits soar.
Brian Whitley’s airfreight business has been growing rapidly, but the events of 2020 forced him to adapt to quickly changing conditions.
Growth in the supply chain came at a faster pace in February, with transportation capacity falling and prices climbing at accelerated rates.
Verifai founder and CEO Jonathan Kempe chats with cybersecurity expert Rich Mason and supply chain expert Amy Broglin-Peterson on how and why companies should aim for data trustworthiness and become knowledgeable about the ethics guiding their supply chain partners.
Gordon Downes, CEO of New York Shipping Exchange, joins Ocean Audit’s head Steve Ferreira to chat about structural changes in container shipping and the place two-way committed contracts have in the industry.
Amazon may get the headlines for promising fast deliveries, but if it can’t get the product from overseas, the efficiency of trucks and delivery vans won’t make a difference.
Philip Damas, managing director at Drewry Shipping Consultants, and Andy Gillespie, director of global logistics at Ansell Healthcare Products, chat about the current port congestion and how the situation can be corrected.
Shipping experts chat about the COVID-19 supply chain and how consumer e-commerce demand has impacted seasonality and congestion in freight.
Supply chain digitization strategies impact shippers, carriers, 3PLs and consumers. Christian Piller, vice president of value engineering at project44, and Dolly Wagner-Wilkins, chief technology officer at Worldwide Express, discuss the benefits and challenges that digitization strategies bring.
Duncan Wright, president at UWL, shares advice for shippers navigating difficult challenges, from port congestion to carrier contracts.
After a disruptive year, Mexico’s automotive industry hopes to revive a manufacturing sector depressed by the pandemic, along with shortages of vital components and energy for factories.
Life cycle management and recycling expert Lauren Roman dives into what it takes to responsibly recycle electric vehicle batteries.
Allyn International experts discuss how a 4PL control tower acts as the nervous system in a global supply chain.
Tesla has shut down production of its California assembly plant for two weeks due to a variety of supply chain problems. Should there be concerns over the true demand for Tesla vehicles?
John Godfrey, executive supply chain consultant at Pirelli, discusses challenges the company has faced with different shipping modes and difficulties finding the capacity to meet increased demand.
From brick-and-mortar locations to online ordering Richard Simons oversees a vast empire with a goal of 12-hour delivery.
Berkshire Grey, which provides AI-enabled integrated robotic solutions for the supply chain, will get $413 million in cash.
TruckLabs founder and CEO Daniel Burrows joins Kevin Hill, executive publisher at FreightWaves, to discuss fuel efficiency for trucks and post-COVID changes in the automotive supply chain.
Redwood’s Eric Rempel and Mike Reed shed light on the digital freight platforms and tools that will transform how shippers plan and execute their routing guide strategy in 2021.
Gary Berger and Patrick Jones speak with Fab Brasca regarding the hurdles and essential elements of successful digital transformations.
Ernie Manansala Jr., chief marketing officer at BRÈINFÚEL, talks about the obstacles facing startup CPG brands and the need for flexible warehousing space with Grant Langston, CEO of Warehouse Exchange.
Matt Waller, dean of the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, and Kathy Wengel, executive vice president and chief global supply chain officer for Johnson & Johnson, discuss key trends that have emerged in the global supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic as suppliers, manufacturers and distributors collaborated to ensure critical supplies were deployed all over the world.
Zeta Smith, CEO of the seniors division in North America at Sodexo, explores some of the challenges leaders face during the pandemic and how COVID-19 has impacted senior communities.
John Hoffman, senior research fellow, Food Protection & Defense Institute, discusses ways to successfully navigate the complex food and agriculture supply chain.
Jonathan Kingsman wrote a book that uses as its jumping-off point the view of the market first published in 1979 in the classic book “The Merchants of Grain.” He talks about how much agricultural markets have shifted since then.
COVID altered the way CPG retailers and manufacturers interacted with, and delivered products to, consumers, and it is unlikely to ever return to the old ways.
Controlant helped Iceland reduce its pharmaceutical waste to 0.5% after the H1N1 pandemic.
John Tyson, fourth-generation Tyson family member and chief sustainability officer at Tyson Foods, discusses sustainability strategies in protein systems and food supply chains.
Susy Schöneberg, the founder and head of Flexport.org, discussed monetary and time-saving benefits of sustainable operations as well as customer loyalty.
Kevin Walker, president of Accentrics Home, and Doug Ladden, co-founder and CEO of Deliveright Logistics, talk about challenges and best practices for the heavy-goods logistics industry.
National Retail Federation’s Jon Gold and CNBC’s Lori Ann LaRocco discuss the impact of empty containers and port congestion and how retailers can protect themselves from future supply chain vulnerabilities.
Kris Bjorson, JLL’s executive brokerage director, discusses the market for B-to-B last-mile real estate.
Jon Gold, the vice president of supply chain and customer policy with the National Retail Federation, sits down for a fireside chat withWeston LaBarof the Harbor Trucking Association to discuss the backup in the port of Long Beach/Los Angeles.
Geodis’ Jeff McDermott joined FreightWaves to talk about challenges that parcel carriers are facing and lessons learned from the pandemic.
In his FreightWaves Global Supply Chain Week keynote, Intel’s Ravi Dosanjh said we need to embrace disruption and future change, learning to adapt and more effectively anticipate what those changes will be.
XPO is known as a digital broker that collaborates with its customers to develop innovative technologies.
There has been a consumer flight to reliability throughout COVID, and Walmart benefited from this shift as much as any retailer. But with the end of the pandemic now in sight and Americans poised for the reopening of services, Walmart is expecting growth to moderate considerably. Walmart announced plans to invest heavily in its supply chain, namely fulfillment capacity and automation, to front-run the deceleration and claw toward e-commerce profitability.
Javid’s Joshua Rubin talks with FreightWaves’ Noi Mahoney about the advantages shelter companies can provide in helping companies set up manufacturing operations in Mexico.
Jeffrey Curtis, the vice president of defense and supply chain at Simba Chain, discusses the importance of auditability of defense supply chains.
