If you’re not already familiar with the Annual State of Logistics report conducted by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), it’s a resource well worth knowing. Now in its 20^th year, the report tracks year-over-year U.S. logistics costs across key cost categories of inventory, transportation carriers, and logistics administration. In most years, the total costs rises by a point or two. But in 2008, they dropped precipitously—down $49 billion, or 2.5 percent, over the previous year. Still, the 2008 total logistics expenditures of $1.3 trillion are nothing to sneeze at.

Our sister publication, Logistics Management, did a thorough overview of this year’s report. And we encourage reviewing John Schulz&rs...Read More

Comments (0)

We live in turbulent times. Surely, you’ve read numerous articles and heard any number of experts intoning on this subject. But without being melodramatic about it, we are in fact subject to a higher potential for disruptions to our supply chain than ever before.

The reasons are fairly obvious to anyone working in our profession: supply chains are longer and more geographically dispersed; a slowing economy has impacted carrier transit times and shipping frequencies; political and labor unrest has heated up in certain key sourcing parts of the world; and now even the ancient scourge of privacy has reappeared.

But despite the obvious heightened potential for supply chain disrupt...Read More

Comments (1)

Travel budgets—or more accurately the lack thereof—are hurting attendance at industry events everywhere. I just returned from the annual meeting of the Institute for Supply Management (http://www.ism.ws/) in Charlotte, where the attendance was down about 40% from last year. That’s too bad, too, because as always ISM put on a solid educational program, this year featuring many sessions on how supply chain managers can help their companies work through the tough economy.

Things will turn around. According to the economic gurus at ISM, for examp...Read More

Comments (1)

Industry events and gatherings of professional associations are the lifeblood of magazine editors. We regularly attend these meetings, viewing them as an essential source for articles and information (to say nothing of the enjoyable social networking that takes place).

Now, maybe not everyone places the same heavy emphasis on these gatherings that we do.  But most people I talk with at such events indicate that they’re having a personally and professionals rewarding experience.

Thant’s why we were surprised (and a bit saddened) to le...Read More

Comments (1)

Bloggers and writers of all stripes with any kind of public forum can’t resist the temptation to send their out their best wishes and hopes for the coming year. Here are my 10 (mostly serious) supply chain wishes I would like to see come true in 2009.

1. A sharp economic upturn.  This is really the basis of every wish that follows. Applying the philosophy that a rising tide lifts all ships, better economic times will have a resounding material and psychological effect on

Comments (0)

About this time of year, editors of business publications around the world are planning their editorial calendars for the upcoming year. I’ve been in this business for well over two decades. But the questions editors faced back then are pretty much the same that contront us today: What types of information will our readers need to do their jobs? In what format should we deliver that information? What emerging trends should we cover that may not be all that evident right now?

Thinking about 2009, some of the answers seem obvious. Certainly, supply chain ...Read More

Comments (2)

Add one more reason why knowledge and practice of green supply chain management is desirable: It’s good for your career.

That’s a clear conclusion from Korn/Ferry International’s new report on “The 21^st Century Supply Chain Executive: Global and Green.”  Korn/Ferry is one of the world’s biggest executive search firm so when they say something about the needed capabilities of the executive of the future, it’s probably prudent to listen.

After relating the drivers that are pushing companies to a...Read More

Comments (2)

You’re pressed for time during the hectic work week. Yet you would like to learn more about specific topics and issues that affect how you do your job. We have the solution to this dilemma: the on-demand webcasts from Supply Chain Management Review. Visit http://www.scmr.com/webcasts.

Right now, we’ve got more than 30 different webcasts up on our on-demand site.  They typically run between 30 and 60 minutes each and cover a wide range of supply chain topics....Read More

Comments (1)

Are live conferences and industry events on the endangered species list, the result of higher travel costs and greater online networking opportunities?

That’s the question I’ve been pondering lately in the wake of a couple of cancellations of live events that I had been planning to attend.  For me, nothing compares with networking with people in person. I can’t count the story ideas, new information, and friendships I’ve acquired by attending meetings like CSCMP, the Institute for Supply Management, APICS, NASSTRAC...to name just a few. It’s inconceivable, to me anyway, that any online ...Read More

Comments (4)

Do you ever get the sense that an otherwise noble endeavor is getting politicized to death?

For me, that’s what’s dangerously close to happening with the calls from government entities, advocacy groups, and politicians of all stripes to “green” everything. As our readers know, Supply Chain Management Review, has had no shortage of articles on the green supply chain. So I guess we’re a tap in that incessant drumbeat to go green…or else. 

Now, don’t get m...Read More

Comments (0)

SCMR, in collaboration with CSC Consulting and Michigan State University, has been conducting our annual “Survey of Supply Chain Progress” since 2002. The study is intended to track how well supply chain practitioners are advancing along the key metrics of people, processes, and technology. Maybe you’ve read our reports on the annual survey results, which usually appear in our October issues.

Why are we telling you this? Because we’ve just begun the 2008 survey and we want you to participate. Essentially, the survey questionnaire asks about practices in technology adoption, collaboration (internal and external), and alignment of supply chain and business strategy. We also ask about the supply chain’s contribution to top and bottom line performance, and inquire about specific technology and program initiatives underway.

Comments (0)

Last year I wrote a column about the so-called mating season that bears revisiting this time of year. I noted that my first boss in the publishing business used to refer to the spring and summer months as the mating season.  That was the time when we reporters would go to the various industry events like the NASSTRAC and American Trucking Associations meetings in the spring and the CLM (now CSCMP) and NITLeague in the fall. (How long ago was this, you ask? Well I started on a magazine called Traffic Management, a job title you hardly hear any more.)

Anyway, our mission was fairly stra...Read More

Comments (1)