Posts Tagged: automation

Potential Port Strike Forces Retailers to Prepare for Supply Chain Management Challenges

Chinese New Year is signaling an increase in transpacific freight, but retailers are bracing for potential supply chain disruptions over threats of a worker strike at gulf and east coast ports. Though talks made progress in December, when an earlier strike was avoided between the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) and the International Longshoremen’s AssociationRead… Read more »

Technology Review: Then and Now

The start of a new year usually signifies a time for reflection on where we’ve been and where we’re headed, and nowhere is that disparity more glaringly apparent than in the technology sector. A decade ago, a business traveler had to collect receipts, pull up Excel and spend an afternoon keying up an expense reportRead… Read more »

Smart Supply Chain Management Is Key to Success In the ‘Age of Now’

At some point in the past decade, society entered what I’ll call the “Age of Now.” Instant gratification is not a new concept, of course. According to Wikipedia (our favorite modern shortcut to learning things nowinstead of doing actual research), pizza delivery began in Naples way back in the 1800s. Florists have offered same-day deliveryRead… Read more »

Ecuador Mandates Transition to Electronic Invoice Management

Though Europe has led the charge toward mandating electronic invoice management for private and public organizations, e-invoicing has been gaining rapid ground in South America as well. Ecuador has now joined the ranks of countries looking to cut costs and improve services through implementation of an electronic invoice management system, following a pilot program whichRead… Read more »

Supply Chain Management Concerns Prompt Trend Toward Backsourcing

2011 witnessed an increase in backsourcing, which included severing ties with offshore contractors and returning business operations to domestic and local spheres, or even entirely in-house. That trend is continuing even into 2013 as American manufacturing is being reinvigorated by supply chain management concerns that are bringing more positions back home. The individual circumstances behindRead… Read more »

Supply Chain Management: Hershey Promises “Green” Chocolate by 2020

It’s the time of year when consumers are inundated with jewelry and flower commercials, stores are stocked with plenty of pink and red merchandise, and restaurant bookings hit max capacity. Valentine’s Day is one of the holidays that truly helps test logistics and supply chain management, but few companies are taking their sourcing as seriouslyRead… Read more »

Emergency Room Wait Times Impacted by Inadequate Asset Management

Most people have experienced the sometimes excruciating wait times that come with turning to a local hospital emergency room for care in a time of crisis. The phrase “hurry up and wait” comes to mind, as the rush that typically precedes arrival at the ER is often followed by a nervous (or painful) delay inRead… Read more »

Supply Chain Management: The challenges & rewards of managing movement

One of the most powerful forces shaping modern business is the ever-increasing speed and frequency in the movement of people and things across global networks and supply chains. Managing the movement of everything from employees to products to physical assets to vehicles grows increasingly challenging. Meeting these new challenges requires innovative ways to automate orRead… Read more »

Empowering Supply Chain and Financial Processes

Another unique element of Jetstream is the fact that we allow you to automate both supply chain and financial processes. Many of the vendors we find ourselves in competition with only offer one or the other. Here are a few reasons why we think that’s a benefit worth mentioning: Powerful automation applications across the boardRead… Read more »

Police Increasingly Use GPS for Asset Management of a Different Kind

We tend to write about fixed asset tracking on this blog in terms of supply chain management, but law enforcement around the world have started employing GPS tracking in entirely different way – to catch bad guys. And this form of aggressive asset management is sure to make the world a more dangerous place toRead… Read more »