SCOPE West to focus on change and complexity in Supply Chain Management

The line is between 3PLs and non-asset based supply chain consulting firms, is blurring said Jim Barnes, CEO of enVista.

In an exclusive interview given to SCMR before this week’s “Supply Chain Operations Private Exposition” (SCOPE) West in Las Vegas, Barnes outlined what he sees as some of the key issues surfacing next year.

“Our customers are telling us that solutions must be customized to accommodate the complexity of new distribution patterns,“ he said. “Our recent work with Nature’s Best demonstrated that point pretty well.”

In that particular case, the client operated a “Home Grown” (IBM Mid-range AS/400) warehousing system across all distribution centers. However, the system took on two different forms: a third of the centers operated with a Reserve Inventory System combined with a Voice Selection System, and the remaining centers operated on a system where selection was done via labels, and inventory labels were limited to Primary Pick Slots. The client needed to determine if a Best- of-Breed Warehouse Management System (WMS) and/or Labor Management Systems (LMS) offered adequate base functionality to achieve a rapid and significant return on investment.

In his SCOPE presentation, “The Best Case: How Distributors Transform Their Supply Chain and Achieve Excellence,” Barnes will reference similar examples of value-added consulting services.

“SCOPE is an excellent forum for new ideas and concepts to be tested,” he said. “It provides a real opportunity for us to network and stay focused on this ever-changing business.”

From http://www.logisticsmgmt.com/view/scope_to_focus_on_change_and_complexity/3pl

Dredging Begins at the Port of Long Beach

Posted on June 11, 2010 from California Apparel News

The Port of Long Beach has launched a $40 million project to deepen its main channel to allow easier access.

The 17-month project will deepen the main channel to 76 feet and will also allow for more mega-sized cargo-container ships and oil tankers to call at the port.

Port officials kicked off the project on June 8 with a ceremony. “The main channel deepening and related projects are a significant step forward for the Port of Long Beach and the harbor as a whole,” said Richard Steinke, the port’s executive director, in a statement. “This is a vital project that is creating jobs and will help keep the port competitive as the economy rebounds.”

The project will improve navigation, safety and efficiency. After the project is completed, the largest oil tankers headed for the BP crude oil terminal will be able to turn around in the port and approach their berths fully loaded. Now the largest ships need to transfer some of their oil to smaller vessels to reach their berths.

The dredged-up material will be used to create new land area on Pier G, where International Transportation Service Inc. will expand its on-dock rail yard.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will supervise the project, and Manson Construction Co. will dredge the channel. The project is being funded with $35 million from Long Beach, $2.6 million from the Army Corps and $2.4 million from federal economic stimulus money.

The deeper channel will give Long Beach more flexibility and allow it to attract more business, which has been down due to the economic downturn. The last two years have seen cargo-container traffic slip significantly. Last year, only 5 million 20-foot containers passed through the port, down 22 percent from 2008.—Deborah Belgum

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Logistics and Warehousing Adjusts to a Shifting Economy

Source: Area Development Online

It’s one thing if your facility only houses your core operations. But if it must also serve as the primary driver of your warehousing and distribution efforts, your facility needs dramatically change.

Depending on how sophisticated your logistics processes and strategies are, proximity to the customers or warehouse facilities you must reach every day could limit your site options.

For executives charged with choosing facilities, your options expand if you can figure out how to get more from your logistics functions. The good news is that logistics technology is advancing, and much of the thinking associated with it is progressing just as quickly. Still, decision-makers must ask the right questions, access the right resources, and know how to recognize both.

“One of the things we’ve realized is that automation — not just in machinery but in systems and supply chains — has reduced the need for inventory, which takes up square footage, by as little as 20 percent and as much as 60 to 70 percent what it used to be,” said Jim Ward, CEO of Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Supply Chain Solutions, a third-party logistics provider and supply chain consulting firm.

Plotting a Route
Kuna FoodService, a Dupo, Illinois-based food distribution company, needed to choose a new facility location in 2008, and was interested in property in and around its headquarters near St. Louis. But Kuna officials wanted to look at more than just the cost of the land, according to John Schuler, the company’s general manager. They wanted to know how each location would affect distribution costs.

Kuna enlisted Direct Route, a software system developed by Appian Logistics, to solve the problem. Direct Route analyzed several prospective routing scenarios of the company’s 22 trucks, which deliver to customers in Illinois and four adjacent states. The site with the best results was in Illinois, just outside St. Louis. By automating routes originating from that site, the company eliminated 15 percent of all routes, and saved $4,000 a month in the process.

The company purchased that site and began operating from its new, 90,000-square-foot facility in July 2008.

“We found out one site might be 20 miles out of the way, but maybe it’s got a better path,” Schuler said. “We had six sites we looked at to see how we could save costs.”

The system even analyzed which routes would make it easier for trucks to use main lanes on interstates, and factored that into the calculated savings.

Considering Flexibility
Need has driven better inventory management — especially given the poor economic climate — resulting in more choices when selecting facility sites, according to Ward at Supply Chain Solutions.

“What we’re seeing working with manufacturing companies is that they’re holding less inventory for a lot of reasons,” Ward said. “They’re trying to keep from having so much inventory, carrying costs, product changes — just the infrastructure and the cost around having the inventory sitting somewhere. But also the fact that today we want to buy this and tomorrow we want to buy something else, so you really need to build in the agility.”

Companies are showing a preference for just enough on-site space to house their core inventory, Ward said. If a company’s business is seasonal, or if inventory tends to fluctuate, companies usually opt for off-site warehousing.

“We’ve got a client right now that just got a deal with a major retailer, and they’ve got a one-time new product offering,” Ward said. “They’re going to have to uptick by five times their normal space.”

Supply Chain Solutions is handling the short-term excess inventory at an Ontario, California, facility. When that need has been fulfilled, Ward said, it’s likely that another customer will have a similar request.

Recessionary Benefits
Companies also want to make limited-time commitments to their facilities when they can. Interestingly, the faltering economy is working in favor of companies that need more flexibility and lower lease rates from their facilities. Since commercial real estate was overbuilt prior to the 2008 market meltdown, it’s a buyer’s market, and leasing agents are in no position to demand long-term agreements.

“Right now, strategically, you can get facilities with flex space in a shorter term at great rates,” Ward said.

Supply Chain Solutions saw this market need several years ago, and invested in warehouses with multiple resources and services to handle clients’ excess inventory in the event of an economic downturn. That business is booming.

...

To finish reading article, please visit Area Development's website here.

Working with the Government

Schafer Logistics is actively experienced in handling various types of commodities for government agencies. Over the last 6 years we have warehoused over 250,000 square feet of government merchandise for different government agencies. Our experience ranges from handling general cargo, personal effects, vehicles of all types, high value merchandise such as antiques and musical instruments to specialized handling projects such as VLA (very large array) radio telescopes.

Schafer Logistics operates two FTZ (Foreign Trade Zone) sites, #202-12A and #202-15. One of the main benefits of warehousing within an FTZ is that it requires higher safety and security standards due to customs strict security requirements. In order to obtain certification security must be higher than industry standards, including inventory control, background checks, double check and verification systems.

Some of our additional security measures include CCTV cameras located at all dock doors, uniformed security guards at all entrance and exit gates, fully fenced barbed wire facilities, and an FTZ required check in, identified, badged, and escorted only procedure for all visitors.

Check out our page to view Schafer's Government Codes.

Working with the Government

Schafer Logistics is actively experienced in handling various types of commodities for government agencies. Over the last 6 years we have warehoused over 250,000 square feet of government merchandise for different government agencies. Our experience ranges from handling general cargo, personal effects, vehicles of all types, high value merchandise such as antiques and musical instruments to specialized handling projects such as VLA (very large array) radio telescopes. Schafer Logistics operates two FTZ (Foreign Trade Zone) sites, #202-12A and #202-15. One of the main benefits of warehousing within an FTZ is that it requires higher safety and security standards due to customs strict security requirements. In order to obtain certification security must be higher than industry standards, including inventory control, background checks, double check and verification systems. Some of our additional security measures include CCTV cameras located at all dock doors, uniformed security guards at all entrance and exit gates, fully fenced barbed wire facilities, and an FTZ required check in, identified, badged, and escorted only procedure for all visitors. Check out our page to view Schafer's Government Codes. FTZ C-TPAT BONDED ABC CERTIFIED HAZ-MAT FDA FOOD GRADE

Vote Schafer Logistics on the 3PL Excellence Survey!

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“Each year, in its July issue, Inbound Logistics publishes the most definitive resource on third-party logistics and the outsourced logistics market. If you are already a subscriber, you know that we ask our readers which third-party logistics companies provide excellent service, and publish the results. If you are not yet a subscriber, you can get a list of this year's Excellence Survey winners, as well as the Top 100 third-party companies in the world, by checking the box below.

We're now conducting next year's 3PL Excellence Survey. The results will be presented in the July 2010 3PL issue. Give us your input and we'll express our appreciation by entering you in a drawing for a free 18-carat gold Parker pen, which includes a coupon for free engraving."


If you need more information on Schafer Logistics, please visit our website or check out the following quick informational links on California shipping container storage and southern california distribution.

Supply Chain 2010: Building on the lessons learned

The recession may be coming to a close-at least officially. But the effects of that painful period linger on. Supply chain managers need to learn from the lessons of the past as they rebuild the foundation for a brighter future.

Sean Murphy, Associate Editor -- Logistics Management, 12/22/2009

With the recession in full swing, 2009 was a wild ride for some companies-and their supply chain managers. In a survey of more than 500 CFOs conducted by Basware in cooperation with Indiana University's Kelley School of Business and the University of Navarra's IESE Business School in Spain, 64 percent cited "reducing direct costs" as their top priority. It was, for many companies and their supply chain managers, the year to stay alive.
Fortunately, while many who are out of work would dispute word that the economy is improving, statistics from monthly reports from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) have pointed to growth in the non-manufacturing sector, and even stronger growth in manufacturing. Findings like these have prompted many analysts to declare that the economy has not only finally ended its downward slide, but is on the way to recovering.

Recovery or not, one thing remains clear: The corporate world, and by definition the supply chain, has been changed forever. In this article, we discuss key trends that will impact the professional lives of the supply chain manager in 2010. These trends are grouped into four categories: education and professional development; technology; risk management, and global strategies. In each of these areas, the recession's lingering presence is plain-and supply chain managers would do well to heed its lessons.

"Renaissance" Education Needed: The recession saw, among other things, a massive cutback in staffing at most companies. Experts say there's a good chance those employees won't be hired back anytime soon. As a result, the employees that remain, including supply chain managers, must seek out new skills and expertise in new areas. In short, according to Kathleen Hedland, Director of Education and Research at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), they must become renaissance people-if not reinvent themselves altogether.

And Hedland said companies are asking their people to expand on their knowledge and skills even more, and that will continue into 2010. In particular, Hedland said employers are finding short-term education most attractive, as it doesn't keep employees out of the office as much. Hedland said they are seeking out workshops and online self-study courses offered by organizations such as CSCMP. "Companies are slimming down. They've got a lot less people. They can't justify them being out of the office even for a full day," she said.

Some private options for online education have emerged in recent years. For example, Terry Nulty, executive director of Accenture's Supply Chain Academy, said his firm has offered staff training and schooling to corporate clients for the past six years. Originally, Nulty said, clients wanted overall, general supply chain knowledge. "That still hasn't changed," he said. But starting in early 2009, clients began seeking more focused training on specific supply chain processes and topics, such as inventory management and procurement. Nulty expects Accenture to be adapting its curriculum to the client's needs more and more often, with the one-size-fits-all approach no longer being the norm.

Once again, the recession seems to be the impetus. Nulty said the academy's clients are demanding more focused training due to their creating new key performance indicators. Those KPIs, Nulty said, are usually based directly on problems emerging during the recession.


..to read entire article please click here to go to its Logistics Management location.