THE SUPPLY CHAIN BLOG
Why you Should Prioritize Reverse Logistics and Returns Management
This year, returns set an all new single-day high and certain companies are so overwhelmed that they are refunding consumers and telling them to keep the items rather than shipping them back. Returns have become a large pain point for many companies and can add a lot of extra costs when not handled correctly. A thorough understanding for reverse logistics and returns management can allow companies to minimize the added costs and recoup some value while earning increases in customer loyalty.
5 Supply Chain Trends for 2021
This past year has created many new challenges for everyone, causing consumers and companies to adapt. We expect some of the supply chain changes to be temporary but that many of them will have a lasting impact on the supply chain industry going forward. Below, we discuss some of the trends that we expect to see in 2021.
Blockchain in Logistics: How it Started and How It's Going
Blockchain’s origin is rooted in the release of the whitepaper written under the name Satoshi Nakamoto explaining the foundation of what we know as today, Bitcoin. Bitcoin offered an avenue to worry-free digital transactions due to transparency and decentralization of the data. This ensured that information could not be altered and prompted the crypto-currency boom. The core-principles of blockchain and success of Bitcoin started a wave of curiosity into other possible applications, thus the development of the technology began to arise. One of these applications was supply chain.
Supply Chain Network Optimization – How to Do it Right
The time is right to re-align your Supply Chain Strategy, for many reasons including:
Logistics and fulfillment are the new storefronts and sales tools
The explosion of direct-to-consumer business forces all companies to have an omnichannel strategy.
The sourcing landscape is rapidly changing with more near-sourcing and risk minimizing.
Sustainability awareness is increasingly unavoidable - and transportation is a big piece.
Supply Chain Management Post-Covid-19 – Regional Supply Chains
Regional supply chains, near-shoring manufacturing, inventory management, warehousing as a market tool: oldies but goodies are making comebacks in the new, post Covid-19 world.
Supply Chain in COVID-19: The Option of Nearshoring
Our CEO, Håkan Andersson, was recently featured on a podcast with industry expert, Bob Hess, about the potential for #nearshoring as a result of the pandemic. Listen here: https://nkf.re/3dhqU0
Canadian Distribution Strategy for U.S. Organizations
For many American companies, Canada can be an afterthought considering its small size relative to the US. However, given its intricacies, it would be a mistake for American companies to assume that Canada is much the same as the US as the Canadian market and topography is very different from that of the United States. The key to unlocking the best Canadian distribution strategy is to understand these differences.
What Happens When a Company’s Logistics Network Is Optimal?
It is hard to believe, but it does happen once in a while, exactly twice in the 15 years of doing supply chain network strategy work for numerous of companies in different industries, when a company’s logistics network is optimal even though it has not been reviewed holistically for at least 5 years.