Supply Chain Secrets Blog
Logistics and Supply Chain news, articles, tips and insights
Evaluating Logistics Outsourcing Proposals: Look Beyond the Scorecard
Some of my previous posts on this blog have provided tips for developing an RFP/RFT in order to select a logistics outsourcing partner. In this post, I want to focus a little on the next step: evaluating the logistics outsourcing proposals from your RFP...
What Happens When Finance and Supply Chain Teams Collaborate?
Are you a finance manager or leader in a company with supply chain involvement? If so, how well do you understand the role of supply chain functions in your company? More importantly, do you know how well those functional teams understand their impact on company...
An Introduction to CPFR in the Supply Chain
How much do you know about CPFR? If you’ve never heard of it, have a quick read through this post and you’ll understand the basics of CPFR in the supply chain profession. CPFR is the acronym for collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment, a practice...
Marketing and Logistics Teams: Buddy-up For Promotional Profits
While marketing and logistics are both critical components of any commercial enterprise, at first glance they seem to have little direct relationship to one another. However, the two functions are inextricably linked and in fact, the actions of marketing directly...
What Is Supply Chain Management and Why Does it Matter?
In an earlier post on this blog, I addressed the question “what is a supply chain?” As the post was intended to provide the answer in a nutshell, I simply explained that the supply chain starts with some raw materials and ends with a finished product in the hands of a...
Why the Procurement Team Should Understand Inbound Freight Costs
If you work in a procurement or purchasing role, you’re probably involved in purchasing inbound materials. These might be raw materials for a manufacturing facility or perhaps finished goods (if you work for a retail organisation). In any event, you and your team can...
6 Steps Your IT Department Can Take Towards RFID Readiness
Are you an IT guy or girl in a logistics or supply chain organisation? If so, radio frequency identification (RFID) might become a feature of your project activity in the future—that is if your company hasn’t already implemented RFID. The adoption of...
4 Most Important Questions to Ask When Selecting a Freight Forwarder
If your supply chain company is just branching into the business of importing goods, perhaps because of a decision to outsource manufacturing overseas, you might not be used to dealing with a freight forwarder. To help you in selecting a freight forwarder for the...
Lift Truck Maintenance Tips That Matter
In many supply chain organisations, the warehouse workhorse, otherwise known as the lift truck, doesn’t receive the maintenance attention that it deserves. While many logistics companies wouldn’t dream of letting goods-vehicle maintenance schedules slip,...
Some Intelligent Questions to Include in a Logistics Outsourcing RFP
A few blog posts ago, I mentioned that I would follow up my post on “What’s in a Logistics Outsourcing RFP/RFT” with some information about other sections you might wish to add to an RFP which were not listed in that particular post. The one section which stands out...