In this episode, guest Matt Castle, vice president of air services at C.H. Robinson, discusses the tight air freight market. While passengers are starting to fly again  on commercial planes, that extra belly space for cargo has not really alleviated the capacity constraints on the air freight market. Is there any improvement in sight, or is this what to expect for the rest of the year? Are there good alternatives to routing freight...

In this episode, guest Aaron Hageman, CEO of Delivery Drivers Inc. (DDI), discusses trends in last-mile logistics. The supply chain industry calls that final delivery to a person's home or business "the last mile" of the shipment chain. It is usually the most expensive part of logistics, as each package must be handled separately, in contrast to the aggregate handling of previous steps. Hageman discusses how drivers are...

In this episode, guest Brandon Coats, global product manager for robotics and vision at Material Handling Systems (MHS), discusses artificial intelligence. We have all heard of AI and its potential for improving our lives. Coats talks about some of the misconceptions about artificial intelligence and offers some practical applications where AI can improve distribution operations.

We also look at this week's ProMatDX 2021. This v...

In this episode, guest Chris Jones, executive vice president at Decartes, discusses supply chain vulnerabilities. The Covid-19 pandemic changed everything in our lives, including the way goods are delivered to us. But the pandemic also exposed weak areas of our supply chains and revealed vulnerabilities for sourcing many critical goods, such as PPE, pharmaceuticals, batteries, and electronic components. How can we assure that suppl...

In this episode, guest Johnathan Foster, principal consultant at Proxima, discusses the ripple effects of that huge container ship, The Ever Given, that was stuck for a week in the Suez Canal. The ship has been re-floated and the canal is open again, but it has caused supply chain backlogs all over the world. This is on top of already congested ports. What will the overall impacts be to the movement of the world's goods?

The hug...

In this episode, guest Hanko Kiessner, CEO of Packsize, discusses sustainable packaging. Sustainable packaging means more than just choosing materials that can be easily recycled. It also includes shipping products in the right-sized box best suited for them. Sustainable packaging can have ripple effects throughout our supply chains that not only are good for the earth, but bring savings to shippers' bottom lines.

We all know th...

In this episode, guest Peter Friedmann, executive director of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition, joins us to discuss how the shortage of ocean containers is having a devastating effect on the export of agricultural products. Farmers and other producers can't get the containers they need to export their goods. That's because ocean carriers find they can make more money returning in-demand empty containers more quickly...

In this episode, guest Bindiya Vakil, CEO of Resilinc, discusses vulnerabilities within our worldwide supply chains. Many U.S. manufacturers have experienced shortages in critical goods needed to keep production moving. President Biden is proposing plans to fix broken supply chains for critical goods, such as semiconductors and PPE. Vakil talks about our complex supply chains and the difficulties of simply decoupling from foreign m...

In this episode, guest Bill Brooks, vice president of North America Transportation Portfolio at Capgemini, discusses the current state of the Covid-19 vaccine programs. Logistics plays a major role in getting people vaccinated. Where are the bottlenecks, and can anything be done to assure that vaccines are distributed more quickly to both urban and rural areas?

The logistics industry continued its expansion in February, as the pande...

In this episode, guest Craig Hoskins, chair of the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA) discusses the challenges that the food delivery industry has endured during restaurant, schools, and institutional facility closures  during the Covid-19 pandemic. What will it take to get back to normal? He also suggests ways to address the truck driver shortages that affect food deliveries and the need for greater support ...

In this episode, guest Shawn Winter, vice president of Mobility Solutions at Descartes, talks about the concept of the Super Peak Season and how shippers can prepare for it. With the growth of online shopping, shippers and carriers find that there are times when they struggle to keep up with demand, such as the recent holiday season. Winter discusses some strategies for thriving during peak demand challenges.

The food service indust...

In this episode, guest Dwight Klappich, research vice president at Gartner, discusses the growing interest in robotic goods-to-person systems. Robots are hot right now. What makes them the cool technology to have for distribution operations, and in what ways are they being deployed? Klappich shares the latest research Gartner has done into these fascinating and quickly-evolving technologies.
 
Many companies held on to their cash dur...

In this episode, guest Tim Pajak discusses a new initiative from the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). Pajak serves as the organization's member engagement manager and shares about the new worldwide partnership between CSCMP and Junior Achievement to bring information to young people about the role of supply chains in our lives. One primary goal is to encourage these young people to consider supply chain...

In this episode, guest Melinda McLaughlin, vice president, global head of research for Prologis, discusses the market for industrial real estate. The lack of new construction last year, especially during the early phases of the pandemic, has left capacity very tight and rental costs high. What is the outlook for 2021, and how are trends such as e-commerce and urban fulfillment designs affecting the  real estate market for warehousi...

In this episode, guest Joe Ruddy, chief innovation officer at the Port of Virginia, discusses how the maritime industry survived the rough seas of 2020 trade. Demand was light even before the pandemic, then fell off the cliff when Covid-19 struck, only to return with a vengeance in the latter part of the year. How did our nation's ports handle those changes, and what infrastructure is in place to keep goods flowing well in 2021...

In this episode, guest Tony Sciarrotta, executive director of the Reverse Logistics Association, shares how retailers are handling the deluge of holiday returns.  Because of the ongoing pandemic, many purchases were made online instead of in-store during the holidays, so now retailers are faced with a deluge of returns this month. What are some of the strategies that are being used to process them and how can retailers reduce the n...

In this episode, guest Zac Rogers, assistant professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at Colorado State University, discusses the current state of logistics, including capacity and pricing for transportation and warehousing. He also shares the latest Logistics Managers' Index figures and how they relate to what is happening in the market.

Capacity remains tight in all aspects of transportation, including air, ocean, a...

In this episode, guest Kristi Montgomery, vice president of Innovation, Research & Development at Kenco, discusses the need for innovation. She heads up the Kenco Innovation Labs, an internal think tank and testing center that develops new technologies and methodologies to help solve customer problems within the supply chain. She discusses why innovation is so critical to a company's future.

While vaccines are being rolled o...

In this episode, guest Kevin Paramore, emerging technology commercialization manager at Yale Materials Handling Corp., shares new technologies that promote social distancing within facilities. As we continue through the pandemic, it is important to safeguard our workers while still remaining productive. These new technologies alert workers whenever they get within six feet of distance with another co-worker. They also provide data ...