People often ask for a comparison of premise-based and cloud-based, parcel shipping applications, so here it is in a nutshell. Premise-based systems provide all of the compliance required for processing... View More
Sustainability, efficiency, and cost reduction are often closely aligned with respect to shipping. Greening your shipments can add to your bottom line while also generating customer goodwill and strengthening... View More
Free shipping continues to be the #1 sales promotion device employed by the top 100 e-tailers, and the trend continues to expand steadily. In this mid-year re-survey of the field we've discovered that... View More
Our 2011 PARCEL Forum surpassed our expectations — and from comments we’ve received, it surpassed those of our attendees and vendors, as well. In today’s economic environment, I think... View More
As 2011 draws to a close, retailers, suppliers and manufacturers all want to know what the New Year has in store for them. While the U.S. economy continues its tepid recovery, the upcoming presidential... View More
If your freight bills aren’t being audited before payment and/or after payment, you’re losing money. Why? People make mistakes, and even the best automated billing systems depend on the accurate... View More
As expected, UPS announced on its website Friday that, effective January 2, 2012, the published rates for its services will be increasing.UPS Ground services will increase a net 4.9% through a combination... View More
The author Jean Toomer once wrote, “Acceptance of prevailing standards often means that we have no standards of our own.” Any company with a global logistics network should be able to identify... View More
• Nearly 8% increase in 1-5 lb. ground rates • Some accessorial increases hit 10% • Several international rates approach 15% • New international surcharges announced for 2012 UPS has... View More
After a recession-caused freight price war in the past few years, less-than-truckload (LTL) freight demand and prices are rising again as the economy recovers. With a shortage of trucks, drivers, and even... View More
Many high-throughput retail distribution centers face a growing logistics challenge - the need to prepare small-quantity, mixed-SKU orders of small items to ship and arrive on schedule with near zero tolerance... View More
In this column, I would like to introduce the concept of Intralogistics as the new mantra for Materials Management. APICS defines Materials Management as “the grouping of management functions supporting... View More
FedEx announced their Express service rate increases, which will become effective Monday, January 2nd 2012. The announced rate increase is 5.9%, offset somewhat with the now standard two percentage point... View More
Companies conducting business in China are optimistic about the future of that country’s domestic market. As the country evolves from an export environment to an export and “in China for China”... View More
Thanks to wireless technology, mobile powered workstations (MPWs) are opening up new frontiers of efficiency and productivity. These workstations with integrated power supplies can maneuver computers,... View More
Even from among firms that are best defined by the products of their R&D departments and laboratories, it is increasing common to hear an executive state the goal of making his or her company one that... View More
While negotiating contracts with your carriers, it's not enough to focus on just the price that you're paying on a rate sheet; you also need to pay close attention to the dimensional factor that is being... View More
In a recent article on exporting from the United States we talked about three companies in the market place that can help you make entry into foreign markets. (See the article from our August issue ... View More
How does a Midwest delivery company, headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin compete with the national delivery firms? There’s “Brown”–UPS, which operates world-wide and along side... View More
One parcel carrier recently reported domestic operating profit increased 31%, while another reported net income up 33%. Shippers need to be able to manage the impact that these improved carrier margins... View More
