Art van Bodegraven was, among other roles, chief design officer for the DES Leadership Academy. He passed away on June 18, 2017. He will be greatly missed.
Back in the day, when no one had heard of "supply chains" and physical distribution was considered a revolutionary new concept, the buying and selling of transportation service was governed by federal regulation. The railroads and motor carriers operated under the purview of the Interstate Commerce Commission, while air carriers were overseen by the Civil Aeronautics Board (and later, the Federal Aviation Administration).
But in the later part of the 20th century, the deregulatory winds began to blow through the land. The first to feel the effects was the airline industry, which was deregulated in 1978. Two years later, the Staggers Act loosened some of the restrictions on railroads, while the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 did the same for truckers.
It would be a mistake to think that supply chain operations have been thrown into an economic freefor-all, however. Deregulated does not mean unregulated—far from it. Airline deregulation is considered by many to be an unfinished business. And the 1980 Motor Carrier Act was really only partial deregulation. Some 30 years later, the Department of Transportation retains control over the licensing of drivers and carriers, training, drug and alcohol testing, and more.
Fact is, there are still a host of agencies, programs, regulations, and laws that define, direct, and/or limit what we can do in supply chain management. What follows is a brief look at just a few of the activities that are affected; there are, of course, dozens—no, hundreds—more that we could talk about.
Financial reporting
Though not aimed directly at supply chains, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the law passed in 2002 to tighten corporate accounting standards, may well have implications for many supply chain operations. Commonly known as SOX, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was designed to rein in abuses of accounting rules that resulted in misleading financial statements and reports, the socalled "Enron Effect." It established protocols for implementing and documenting accounting controls.
SOX also deals with issues of ethical transactions, whether domestic or international, and has implications for import/export operations. For example, the law restricts overseas payments of bonuses, finder's fees, and other emoluments that might be construed as baksheesh. Though Sarbanes-Oxley technically applies only to public companies, the reality is that public companies' partners and suppliers are often drawn into the compliance web as well. And under SOX, you are responsible for the actions of your suppliers as well as your own.
Importing and exporting
Mention import/export regulation, and we immediately think of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). But that's only the starting point. Import and export operations are governed by a complex tangle of laws and regulations overseen by as many as 12 agencies or divisions of the federal government, including the Department of State; Directorate of Defense Controls; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; and Department of Energy.
The situation on the foreign trade regulatory front has been in flux for the past five years. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, prompted both an organizational reshuffling—Customs, long an arm of the Department of the Treasury, is now part of the Department of Homeland Security—and a spate of new security-related legislative initiatives. These include the Container Security Initiative (CSI), the Trade Act of 2002, the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, and C-TPAT (Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism). Just recently, Congress adopted new legislation that demands closer inspection of both air and ocean cargo.
Workplace safety and labor practices
In the workplace, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has oversight of all things related to safety. Established in 1970, OSHA was initially seen as an uninvited guest making new demands on management, and its relationship with industry got off to a rocky start. Things have quieted down since, and today OSHA is seem more as a working partner than a mindless tattletale.
OSHA oversees a wide range of workplace practices, from industrial hygiene to hazardous materials, to material handling and building operations. The agency also works closely with universities and other educational organizations on the establishment of standards and training. By the way, OSHA has counterparts in many states.
Beyond OSHA, the Department of Labor (DOL) covers almost every imaginable aspect of life in the workplace, from the minimum wage to pensions and benefits, including workers compensation, progressive discipline, and overtime. (These, too, are also covered by agencies in the individual states.) The DOL also oversees provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act.
In addition, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) governs how you can employ—or not employ—people who are not U.S. citizens. And the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces the federal laws prohibiting discrimination in hiring and firing.
Air, water, and food
Supply chain operations are also affected by a wide range of environmental regulations, which are overseen at the federal level by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Today, there are regulations governing not just the kinds of terrain on which you may construct a facility, but also such matters as waste disposal, emissions, soil, ground water, rivers, and air quality. In recent years, the agency has turned its attention to recycling as well.
The EPA and other agencies also keep a close watch on hazardous materials. There are rules for hazmat storage, for hazmat transportation, for hazmat disposition, and for hazmat clean-up. A cottage industry has grown up around the need to provide hazmat training for emergency and incident response, site clean-ups, decontamination, testing and sampling, and almost anything else you might imagine.
Supply chain activities at companies that handle foodstuffs may also fall under the purview of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). That agency has rules for the transport, handling, and storage of foodstuffs—linked to the Preparedness and Response (Bioterrorism) Act of 2002. Those rules are particularly likely to affect third-party warehouses, brokerage deals, imported goods, cross-docking transactions, and vertically integrated trucking subsidiaries.
So this is deregulation?
There may be enough regulation to go around in this deregulated economy, even looking only at the national level. When state requirements are layered on, there's apparently more than enough for everyone. We could debate all night whether there's still too much, or whether we need more to protect workers, satisfy consumers, and meet community—including global community—needs. But when we approach the level of detail that demands that wood pallets originating outside the United States be fumigated or sterilized to prevent the importation of pests along with products, it seems unlikely that too many gaps have yet to be filled.
How can you keep up with all this? You can't. That's why it's smart to get connected with the accountants and lawyers who do. They really aren't nerds, but dedicated specialists whose passion for the arcane minutiae of regulation saves our collective bacon in an ever-changing regulatory landscape.
E-commerce activity remains robust, but a growing number of consumers are reintegrating physical stores into their shopping journeys in 2024, emphasizing the need for retailers to focus on omnichannel business strategies. That’s according to an e-commerce study from Ryder System, Inc., released this week.
Ryder surveyed more than 1,300 consumers for its 2024 E-Commerce Consumer Study and found that 61% of consumers shop in-store “because they enjoy the experience,” a 21% increase compared to results from Ryder’s 2023 survey on the same subject. The current survey also found that 35% shop in-store because they don’t want to wait for online orders in the mail (up 4% from last year), and 15% say they shop in-store to avoid package theft (up 8% from last year).
“Retail and e-commerce continue to evolve,” Jeff Wolpov, Ryder’s senior vice president of e-commerce, said in a statement announcing the survey’s findings. “The emergence of e-commerce and growth of omnichannel fulfillment, particularly over the past four years, has altered consumer expectations and behavior dramatically and will continue to do so as time and technology allow.
“This latest study demonstrates that, while consumers maintain a robust
appetite for e-commerce, they are simultaneously embracing in-person shopping, presenting an impetus for merchants to refine their omnichannel strategies.”
Other findings include:
• Apparel and cosmetics shoppers show growing attraction to buying in-store. When purchasing apparel and cosmetics, shoppers are more inclined to make purchases in a physical location than they were last year, according to Ryder. Forty-one percent of shoppers who buy cosmetics said they prefer to do so either in a brand’s physical retail location or a department/convenience store (+9%). As for apparel shoppers, 54% said they prefer to buy clothing in those same brick-and-mortar locations (+9%).
• More customers prefer returning online purchases in physical stores. Fifty-five percent of shoppers (+15%) now say they would rather return online purchases in-store–the first time since early 2020 the preference to Buy Online Return In-Store (BORIS) has outweighed returning via mail, according to the survey. Forty percent of shoppers said they often make additional purchases when picking up or returning online purchases in-store (+2%).
• Consumers are extremely reliant on mobile devices when shopping in-store. This year’s survey reveals that 77% of consumers search for items on their mobile devices while in a store, Ryder said. Sixty-nine percent said they compare prices with items in nearby stores, 58% check availability at other stores, 31% want to learn more about a product, and 17% want to see other items frequently purchased with a product they’re considering.
Ryder said the findings also underscore the importance of investing in technology solutions that allow companies to provide customers with flexible purchasing options.
“Omnichannel strength is not a fad; it is a strategic necessity for e-commerce and retail businesses to stay competitive and achieve sustainable success in 2024 and beyond,” Wolpov also said. “The findings from this year’s study underscore what we know our customers are experiencing, which is the positive impact of integrating supply chain technology solutions across their sales channels, enabling them to provide their customers with flexible, convenient options to personalize their experience and heighten customer satisfaction.”
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
National nonprofit Wreaths Across America (WAA) kicked off its 2024 season this week with a call for volunteers. The group, which honors U.S. military veterans through a range of civic outreach programs, is seeking trucking companies and professional drivers to help deliver wreaths to cemeteries across the country for its annual wreath-laying ceremony, December 14.
“Wreaths Across America relies on the transportation industry to move the mission. The Honor Fleet, composed of dedicated carriers, professional drivers, and other transportation partners, guarantees the delivery of millions of sponsored veterans’ wreaths to their destination each year,” Courtney George, WAA’s director of trucking and industry relations, said in a statement Tuesday. “Transportation partners benefit from driver retention and recruitment, employee engagement, positive brand exposure, and the opportunity to give back to their community’s veterans and military families.”
WAA delivers wreaths to more than 4,500 locations nationwide, and as of this week had added more than 20 loads to be delivered this season. The wreaths are donated by sponsors from across the country, delivered by truckers, and laid at the graves of veterans by WAA volunteers.
Wreaths Across America
Transportation companies interested in joining the Honor Fleet can visit the WAA website to find an open lane or contact the WAA transportation team at trucking@wreathsacrossamerica.org for more information.
Krish Nathan is the Americas CEO for SDI Element Logic, a provider of turnkey automation solutions and sortation systems. Nathan joined SDI Industries in 2000 and honed his project management and engineering expertise in developing and delivering complex material handling solutions. In 2014, he was appointed CEO, and in 2022, he led the search for a strategic partner that could expand SDI’s capabilities. This culminated in the acquisition of SDI by Element Logic, with SDI becoming the Americas branch of the company.
A native of the U.K., Nathan received his bachelor’s degree in manufacturing engineering from Coventry University and has studied executive leadership at Cranfield University.
Q: How would you describe the current state of the supply chain industry?
A: We see the supply chain industry as very dynamic and exciting, both from a growth perspective and from an innovation perspective. The pandemic hangover is still impacting decisions to nearshore, and that has resulted in a spike in business for us in both the USA and Mexico. Adding new technology to our portfolio has been a significant contributor to our continued expansion.
Q: Distributors were making huge tech investments during the pandemic simply to keep up with soaring consumer demand. How have things changed since then?
A: The consumer demand for e-commerce certainly appears to have cooled since the pandemic high, but our clients continue to see steady growth. Growth, combined with low unemployment and high labor costs, continues to make automation a good investment for many companies.
Q: Robotics are still in high demand for material handling applications. What are some of the benefits of these systems?
A: As an organization, we are investing heavily in software that will allow Element Logic to offer solutions for robotic picking that are hardware-agnostic. We have had success deploying unit picking for order fulfillment solutions and unit placing of items onto tray-based sorters.
From a benefit point of view, we’ve seen the consistency of a given operation improve. For example, the placement accuracy of a product onto a tray is far higher from a robotic arm than from a person. In order fulfillment applications, two of the biggest benefits are reliability and hours of operation. The robots don't call in sick, and they are happy to work 22 hours a day!
Q: SDI Element Logic offers a wide range of automated solutions, including automated storage and sortation equipment. What criteria should distributors use to determine what type of system is right for them?
A: There are a significant number of factors to consider when thinking about automation. In my experience, automation pays for itself in three key ways: It saves space, it increases the efficiency of labor, and it improves accuracy. So evaluating which of these will be [most] beneficial and quantifying the associated savings will lead to a “right sized” investment in technology.
Another important factor to consider is product mix. With a small SKU (stock-keeping unit) base, often automation doesn’t make sense. And with a huge SKU base, there will be products that don’t lend themselves to automation.
With any significant investment, you need to partner with an organization that has deep experience with the technologies that are being considered and … in-depth knowledge of the process that is being automated.
Q: How can a goods-to-person system reduce the amount of labor needed to fill orders?
A: In most order picking operations, there is a considerable amount of walking between pick faces to find the SKUs associated with a given order or set of orders. Goods-to-person eliminates the walking and allows the operator to just pick. I have seen studies that [show] that 75% of the time [required] to assemble an order in a manual picking environment is walking or “non-picking” time. So eliminating walking will reduce the amount of labor needed.
The goods-to-person approach also fits perfectly with robotic picking, so even the actual picking aspect of order assembly can be automated in some instances. For these reasons, [automation offers] a significant opportunity to reduce the labor needed to fulfill a customer order.
Q: If you could pick one thing a company should do to improve its distribution center operations, what would it be?
A: Evaluate. Evaluate the opportunities for improving by considering automation. In my experience, the challenge most companies have is recognizing that automation is an alternative. The barrier to entry is far lower than most people think!
Toyota Material Handling and its nationwide network of dealers showcased their commitment to improving their local communities during the company’s annual “Lift the Community Day.” Since 2021, Toyota associates have participated in an annual day-long philanthropic event held near Toyota’s Columbus, Indiana, headquarters. This year, the initiative expanded to include participation from Toyota’s dealers, increasing the impact on communities throughout the U.S. A total of 324 Toyota associates completed 2,300 hours of community service during this year’s event.
The PMMI Foundation, the charitable arm of PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, awarded nearly $200,000 in scholarships to students pursuing careers in the packaging and processing industry. Each year, the PMMI Foundation provides academic scholarships to students studying packaging, food processing, and engineering to underscore its commitment to the future of the packaging and processing industry.
Truck leasing and fleet management services provider Fleet Advantage hosted its “Kids Around the Corner Foundation” back-to-school backpack drive in July. During the event, company associates assembled 200 backpacks filled with essential school supplies for high school-age students. The backpacks were then delivered to Henderson Behavioral Health’s Youth & Family Services location in Tamarac, Florida.
For the past seven years, third-party logistics service specialist ODW Logistics has provided logistics support for the Pelotonia Ride Weekend, a campaign to raise funds for cancer research at The Ohio State University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. As in the past, ODW provided inventory management services and transportation for the riders’ bicycles at this year’s event. In all, some 7,000 riders and 3,000 volunteers participated in the ride weekend.