Sat.Jan 18, 2025 - Fri.Jan 24, 2025

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Streamlining Returns Management: Best Practices for Efficient Reverse Logistics

Amware Logistics and Fulfillment

Returns are an inevitable part of doing business, especially in the e-commerce-driven retail landscape. While managing returns might not be the most glamorous aspect of operations, its one of the most critical. Inefficient reverse logistics can lead to increased costs, inventory chaos, and dissatisfied customers. On the other hand, a well-executed returns management process can improve customer retention, optimize inventory and even boost profitability.

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5 Steps to Improve Carrier Relationships Without Adding Complexity

Talking Logistics

Carrier relationships are the backbone of a successful supply chain. When managed well, they ensure smoother operations, fewer delays, and better overall performance. But heres the catch: many shippers overcomplicate these partnerships with unnecessary processes and unclear communication. The good news? Building better relationships doesnt have to mean adding layers of complexity.

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7 Tips to Choose the Best Shipping Company

3PL Links

Image source: iStocks | 7 Tips to Choose the Best Shipping Company With the growing demand for freight transportation services, choosing the best carrier for your company can be a challenge. It is an essential task to ensure the quality and efficiency of a company’s logistics operations. After all, the wrong choice can lead to losses, delays in deliveries, and even problems with the safety of the goods.

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Supply Chain Principles in 11 Words

Logistics Bureau

Supply Chain Management can get really complicated! It can. We all know that. But all too often we get tied up with so many different initiatives we start to lose sight of some really basic principles. So I tried to encapsulate what good supply chain management is all about in as fewer words as possible. The result? I managed to do it in just 11 words.

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How to Prepare for Proposed New Tariffs in 2025

The global trade landscape is shifting. If President Trump’s proposed tariffs come into effect, they will impact your logistics in significant ways. Our free guide provides essential insights for consumer brands and manufacturers. It is crucial to understand what these challenges mean for your logistics operations, and more importantly, how to prepare.

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Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk’s Gemini Cooperation: How This Partnership Could Change Shipping

MTS Logistics

The maritime transportation industry is undergoing significant transformation, driven by the increasing need for cost reduction, enhanced operational efficiency, and growing competition within the global supply chain. In response to these pressures, major shipping companies are increasingly forming strategic alliances. A prominent example of such a partnership is between Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk, announced in January 2024 and set to launch on February 1, 2025, under the name “Gemini.”

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Kata School Cascadia Discussion: The Experiment Record

The Lean Thinker

Following last week’s post about the Toyota Kata Experiment Record we did a bit of a deep dive on the same topic on the weekly Friday Zoom call. I think the discussion was pretty rich – though rich discussions happen frequently in these sessions. If you weren’t there, and aren’t on the mail list for the recordings, here’s a (lightly edited) sample for you.

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10 Supply Chain Improvement Essentials for Your Company

Logistics Bureau

An efficient supply chain strategy is one that takes every aspect of your supply chain into account, from inventory management and warehouse design to freight tendering and transport optimisation. Let’s look at some of the best ways to make your supply chain more efficient. What is Supply Chain Efficiency? Supply chain efficiency focuses on improving your processes whilst also reducing costs.

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What the New Administration Could Mean for Your Business

WorkWave

The outcome of the 2024 presidential election is poised to bring pivotal changes to industries deeply tied to the nations economic and regulatory framework. Service sectors like commercial cleaning, physical security, pest control, lawn care and landscaping operate at the intersection of labor, compliance and financial policymaking them especially sensitive to shifts in federal priorities.

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The Potential of DOGE to Revolutionize Manufacturing and Supply Chain Logistics

Logistics Viewpoints

In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy outlined their proposal for a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), emphasizing streamlined governance and technological transformation. Although DOGE focuses on improving efficiency within the U.S. government, its impact could extend to the private sector. By setting new benchmarks for efficiency and promoting decentralized technologies, DOGE could significantly influence manufacturing and supply chain logistics.

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Signal-Based Selling: How to Leverage 4 Key Buying Signals

As prospects define their problem, search for solutions, and even change jobs, they are generating high-value signals that the best go-to-market teams can leverage to close more deals. This is where signal-based selling comes into play. ZoomInfo CEO Henry Schuck recently broke down specific ways to put four key buying signals into action with the experts from 30 Minutes to President’s Club.

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Overcoming Barriers to AI Adoption in Manufacturing: A Roadmap for Transformation

Supply Chain Brain

Despite advances in artificial intelligence, many manufacturers still rely on traditional methods and outdated equipment, limiting their ability to capitalize on AI's potential.

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Task Force wants to end carriers' truck lease-purchase programs

Overdrive Online

FMCSA's Truck Leasing Task Force, in its required report to Congress, said it found the costs and harms of lease-purchase programs are so great" they shouldn't be allowed. Otherwise, the report recommended improvements to protect operators.

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The 7 Truths of Customer Service in Your Supply Chain

Logistics Bureau

Customer service is not the first thing that most people think of when it comes to logistics, but it’s an integral part of the supply chain. After working with hundreds of companies over decades, you’d probably be surprised by how many are getting things wrong.

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Supply Chain Sustainability and Direct Current Power

Logistics Viewpoints

While the historical “ War of the Currents ” between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla seemingly settled on alternating current power dominance, the energy transition created a close relationship between alternating current and direct current power. We’re witnessing a surge in DC power systems and the need for efficient conversion to and from AC and DC.

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GEP Outlook Report 2025

For years, you and your team have fought an uphill battle. Supply disruptions. Cost pressures. ESG compliance. You name it, and you’ve had to navigate it. In 2025, many challenges will persist, but procurement and supply chain teams have a powerful tool with rapidly advancing capabilities to tackle them — artificial intelligence (AI). The GEP Outlook 2025 report examines the disruptive transformation AI is driving in procurement and supply chains, alongside other key trends and the macroeconomic

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The Multiple Benefits of a Smart, Formalized Knowledge Management System

Supply Chain Brain

The benefits of a knowledge management system go beyond simply being able to capture the quirks of a demanding customer, or the quickest way around a persistent traffic jam.

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Staying young, learning more: Trucker of the Year Alan Kitzhaber

Overdrive Online

Trucker of the Year judges lauded owner-operator Kitzhabers meticulous approach to both maintenance and efficiency throughout the operation. "A smart businessman," said one, "really a monument to the craft of trucking as an owner-operator.

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CARB's withdrawal of its ACF waiver could expedite cleaner trucking

Commercial Carrier Journal

Ending pursuit of the Advanced Clean Fleets rule and its zero emission mandate could expedite the transition to other low emissions solutions.

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Supply Chain Automation – Is Australia Ready?

Logistics Bureau

Supply chain automation refers to the tools and technologies we can use to make manual tasks automated, reducing the need for human workers. It’s sometimes misunderstood, but it’s actually integrated into almost all supply chains nowadays in av ariety of different ways. What is Supply Chain Automation? When we talk about supply chain automation, we’re not just discussing robots in warehouses (though they’re certainly part of it!).

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The Evolving Retailer's Fulfillment Strategy: Meeting Demands with Agility

Speaker: Becky Parisotto and John Vurdelja

Fulfillment is no longer just about getting products from point A to point B – it's about crafting seamless, scalable, customer first experiences. Flexible fulfillment strategies are more important than ever for those aiming to stay ahead and build resilience as retail enters a new era in 2025. Learn how to optimize fulfillment processes, tackle complex, multi-vendor orders, and create seamless customer experiences – from white-glove delivery for high-value items to quick-ship solutions for ever

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North Carolina Amazon Warehouse to Hold Union Election

Supply Chain Brain

Over the last three years, RDU1 workers have demanded a $5-an-hour raise, longer breaks, more time off, and improved mental health resources.

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Army vet trucker's Cascadia features 500 veterans' signatures

Overdrive Online

Daniels, a driver for Crete Carrier's Shaffer Trucking reefer division, received one of the fleet's "Patriot Fleet" veteran-support trucks in 2021. He's taken the specially-wrapped truck to a new level with signatures from veterans he meets.

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How Low-Carbon Fuel Standard Updates Can Improve Fleet Electrification

Food Logistics

For food producers and logistics providers, these changes present new opportunities for reducing costs, increasing revenue, and simplifying regulatory compliance.

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Rural Logistics

Logistics Bureau

Rural logistics in Australia refers to the special supply chain and delivery networks that service the remote and thinly populated areas of the country. This includes the challenges and solutions to keep supply chains running across thousands of kilometers between major hubs and end destinations. Communities like Halls Creek or Fitzroy Crossing in WA might only see major deliveries once a week, and during the wet season, they can be completely cut off for days or even weeks.

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Rethinking warehouse work culture: Can automation create better workplaces?

Heico Sandee, CEO of Smart Robotics, explores how automation redefines warehouse culture. By shifting repetitive tasks to skill-based roles, automation improves safety, fosters collaboration, and makes warehousing more appealing to today’s workforce.

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East Coast Farms Continue to Battle Bird Flu Outbreak

Supply Chain Brain

More than 134 million birds have been affected since the outbreak began in January 2022, killing more than 20 million egg-laying hens in the fall of 2024 alone.

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Trimac acquires Watt & Stewart

Commercial Carrier Journal

Watt & Stewart expands Trimac's service offerings, particularly in the mining, forestry and heavy equipment transportation sectors.

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How AI and BI Empower Lawn, Pest, Cleaning and Security Industries to Harness Their Data for Success

WorkWave

In industries like lawn care and pest control, businesses tend to operate on thin profit margins. Cleaning and security businesseseven thinner. For these companies, maintaining profitability while protecting their margins hinges on operational efficiency and the strategic use of data. Data is critical to managing every dimension of the business. Artificial intelligence (AI) and business intelligence (BI) tools are transforming how these businesses track, analyze and act on data.

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Supply Chain IT Systems Explained

Logistics Bureau

If you were tasked with procuring the best supply chain IT system, what would you look for? As if the plethora of point applications such as WMS, TMS, route optimization, or yard management software isnt enough to get your head around, there are the relative merits of ERP (enterprise resource planning), SCM (supply chain management), and APS (advance planning and scheduling) platforms to further complicate your quest.

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Activating Intent Data for Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing leaders have reached a tipping point when it comes to using intent data — and they’re not looking back. More than half of all B2B marketers are already using intent data to increase sales, and Gartner predicts this figure will grow to 70 percent. The reason is clear: intent can provide you with massive amounts of data that reveal sales opportunities earlier than ever before.

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CBP Moves to Close 'De Minimis' Loopholes

Supply Chain Brain

CBP estimates that 77% of de minimis shipments in 2023 would have been assessed additional duties had they been subject to the restrictions outlined in the new rules.

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Gen Z: Welcome to the Transportation Workforce

Women in Trucking

By 2030, members of Generation Z, or those born during the late 1990s and early 2000s, are forecast to make up about 30 percent of the workforce, says Theresa Adams, senior HR knowledge advisor with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

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Logistics Industry Ends 2024 With Slight Decrease in Growth: Study

Food Logistics

There are still some areas of concern in the supply chain industry where firms will likely stock up on inventory in light of potential tariffs, which could also lead to increased warehousing costs.

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