Visibility tools that keep an eye on inventory across multiple locations, including goods in transit, are proving a powerful weapon in the battle to reduce stocks.
Peter Bradley is an award-winning career journalist with more than three decades of experience in both newspapers and national business magazines. His credentials include seven years as the transportation and supply chain editor at Purchasing Magazine and six years as the chief editor of Logistics Management.
When the bottom fell out of the economy in 2008 and 2009, thousands of businesses found themselves stocked up with more goods than they could sell—which often as not led to a shortage of working capital needed to keep the enterprise running smoothly. That experience left many determined to tighten up their inventory management so they would never get caught like that again.
But keeping tabs on inventory has proved to be a tricky thing to do, given the proliferation of SKUs in many industries as well as increasingly global supply chains and the long lead times that come with them. Another complication is that at any given moment, those goods may be spread out among trading partners—suppliers, carriers, and the like—all over the world.
In many cases, that's prompted managers to turn to software tools that give them visibility of inventory across multiple facilities, third parties, carriers, and suppliers. That visibility, they're finding, can provide the information and confidence required to reduce inventory levels throughout the supply chain.
No more black holes?
Tom Kozenski, a vice president at RedPrairie, a developer of warehouse management and other software systems, says his company has been focusing on the visibility capabilities of its products for about a decade in response to requests from customers—particularly those in the consumer packaged goods and food and beverage industries. The development of what he calls a "glass pipeline" enables customers to see inventory at a level of detail that extends down to the license plate on a pallet.
In fact, some shippers have become so accustomed to having that kind of visibility that they're no longer willing to tolerate the occasional "black hole," where inventory information is temporarily unavailable. "What has happened more recently is that customers have asked for support to [find ways to look inside] the black holes ... in their networks," Kozenski reports. That might include, for example, third-party facilities that may not have systems to provide data automatically. "They have asked us to provide additional integration services to get information out of a third-party network."
Not all third-party logistics service providers (3PLs) are informational "black holes," of course. There are plenty of tech-savvy players that use visibility tools themselves. For example, some 3PLs are using the software to track inventory across multiple facilities as well as to provide that information to customers.
Steve Simmerman of Next View Software, a company that offers a suite of supply chain management tools, describes a California-based 3PL customer that is using Next View's software at three of the facilities on its five-building campus. "They are using it to manage multiple locations and will add a Chicago facility," he says. "They are able to see their inventory in real time and to create KPIs [key performance indicators] and metrics based on their needs. So for example, they can build in events and alerts based on inventory levels. The other thing they are doing, because the [software] is Web-based, is opening it to their customers so they can look at their inventory levels." As a result, he says, the 3PL and its customers can actively manage inventory based on the customers' business rules.
Monitoring rolling stock
Visibility also continues to improve for goods in transit, as carriers and software providers introduce tools that offer detailed views of what's in the truck or container. Chris Timmer, senior vice president of business development and marketing for LeanLogistics, a provider of Web-based transportation management software, reports that a number of his company's clients "are working to develop technologies that provide visibility between the transportation nodes and their facilities."
He cites the grocery chain Meijer, Ace Hardware, and consumer packaged goods giant Unilever as examples of companies that are managing their inbound transportation to plants and DCs and connecting that to their inventory management. "They are getting visibility and the assurance that goods will be there when they're supposed to be there," he says. "That allows inventory to be reduced."
In Ace Hardware's case, the result has been double-digit inventory reductions. Before it began using a transportation management system (TMS), the company was forced to use the longest possible lead times in planning to avoid out of stocks, according to a case study posted on LeanLogistics' Web site. It also had limited visibility into supplier performance against requirements. That all changed once it began using the TMS, Timmer reports. "Ace gained better visibility into the status of orders and shipments, which improved lead time performance and predictability, and allowed it to tighten safety stock," he says. The company was able to reduce inventory by 15 percent and increase turns by 25 percent even as sales grew by 6 percent, according to the case study.
Tracking shape shifters
Although tracking goods through a supply chain may never be easy, it becomes particularly challenging when the products are undergoing changes along the way. Kozenski of RedPrairie offers the example of a shipper that sends pallets of goods to a co-packer to prepare store-ready displays. When those goods are depalletized and mixed on the displays, it can be difficult to connect the dots between what was shipped initially and the items on the displays. "The goods have to be re-identified at the receiving DC, and that slows them down," Kozenski says.
To address that problem, developers like RedPrairie now offer Web-based tools that enable the two parties' systems to exchange inventory data in sufficient detail to track those goods. "If a product is not transformed into a different selling unit, we can track it with the license plate number that goes with the pallet. If they break it down and build something like a kit or a store-ready pallet, our system supports a multi-level bill of material," Kozenski explains. "With a new finished good, we can trace it down to its component parts."
Kozenski says that sort of detail has become increasingly important as companies in industries like pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, and toys have had to deal with recalls. The ability to find the precise goods targeted by a recall is crucial, he says.
Triple play
As for what kind of returns shippers can expect from an investment in visibility tools, Kozenski says the payback comes in three areas. Most obvious is the ability to reduce inventory systemwide, he says. "You have one version of the truth. You know what you have and where it is, so you can eliminate safety stock and inventory buffers."
Less obvious, but still significant, is that improved visibility translates into labor savings. "The fact that you can eliminate re-identifying inventory saves warehouse labor," Kozenski says. "We have done studies that show ASN (advance shipping notice) receiving versus manual receiving results in an uptick of about 30 percent [in productivity]. You manage exceptions only, and throughput of the facility is maximized." (Timmer, however, argues that greater gains can be achieved if a DC has visibility further back, to when a good is ready to ship. "If you want to plan, you have to know when the goods are ready," he says.)
A third benefit, Kozenski says, goes back to the ability to better manage recalls. That is, by allowing shippers to know where the targeted goods are located, visibility provides a means of protecting one of the shipper's most important assets, its brand.
Container traffic is finally back to typical levels at the port of Montreal, two months after dockworkers returned to work following a strike, port officials said Thursday.
Today that arbitration continues as the two sides work to forge a new contract. And port leaders with the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) are reminding workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) that the CIRB decision “rules out any pressure tactics affecting operations until the next collective agreement expires.”
The Port of Montreal alone said it had to manage a backlog of about 13,350 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) on the ground, as well as 28,000 feet of freight cars headed for export.
Port leaders this week said they had now completed that task. “Two months after operations fully resumed at the Port of Montreal, as directed by the Canada Industrial Relations Board, the Montreal Port Authority (MPA) is pleased to announce that all port activities are now completely back to normal. Both the impact of the labour dispute and the subsequent resumption of activities required concerted efforts on the part of all port partners to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, even over the holiday season,” the port said in a release.
The “2024 Year in Review” report lists the various transportation delays, freight volume restrictions, and infrastructure repair costs of a long string of events. Those disruptions include labor strikes at Canadian ports and postal sites, the U.S. East and Gulf coast port strike; hurricanes Helene, Francine, and Milton; the Francis Scott key Bridge collapse in Baltimore Harbor; the CrowdStrike cyber attack; and Red Sea missile attacks on passing cargo ships.
“While 2024 was characterized by frequent and overlapping disruptions that exposed many supply chain vulnerabilities, it was also a year of resilience,” the Project44 report said. “From labor strikes and natural disasters to geopolitical tensions, each event served as a critical learning opportunity, underscoring the necessity for robust contingency planning, effective labor relations, and durable infrastructure. As supply chains continue to evolve, the lessons learned this past year highlight the increased importance of proactive measures and collaborative efforts. These strategies are essential to fostering stability and adaptability in a world where unpredictability is becoming the norm.”
In addition to tallying the supply chain impact of those events, the report also made four broad predictions for trends in 2025 that may affect logistics operations. In Project44’s analysis, they include:
More technology and automation will be introduced into supply chains, particularly ports. This will help make operations more efficient but also increase the risk of cybersecurity attacks and service interruptions due to glitches and bugs. This could also add tensions among the labor pool and unions, who do not want jobs to be replaced with automation.
The new administration in the United States introduces a lot of uncertainty, with talks of major tariffs for numerous countries as well as talks of US freight getting preferential treatment through the Panama Canal. If these things do come to fruition, expect to see shifts in global trade patterns and sourcing.
Natural disasters will continue to become more frequent and more severe, as exhibited by the wildfires in Los Angeles and the winter storms throughout the southern states in the U.S. As a result, expect companies to invest more heavily in sustainability to mitigate climate change.
The peace treaty announced on Wednesday between Isael and Hamas in the Middle East could support increased freight volumes returning to the Suez Canal as political crisis in the area are resolved.
The French transportation visibility provider Shippeo today said it has raised $30 million in financial backing, saying the money will support its accelerated expansion across North America and APAC, while driving enhancements to its “Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platform” product.
The funding round was led by Woven Capital, Toyota’s growth fund, with participation from existing investors: Battery Ventures, Partech, NGP Capital, Bpifrance Digital Venture, LFX Venture Partners, Shift4Good and Yamaha Motor Ventures. With this round, Shippeo’s total funding exceeds $140 million.
Shippeo says it offers real-time shipment tracking across all transport modes, helping companies create sustainable, resilient supply chains. Its platform enables users to reduce logistics-related carbon emissions by making informed trade-offs between modes and carriers based on carbon footprint data.
"Global supply chains are facing unprecedented complexity, and real-time transport visibility is essential for building resilience” Prashant Bothra, Principal at Woven Capital, who is joining the Shippeo board, said in a release. “Shippeo’s platform empowers businesses to proactively address disruptions by transforming fragmented operations into streamlined, data-driven processes across all transport modes, offering precise tracking and predictive ETAs at scale—capabilities that would be resource-intensive to develop in-house. We are excited to support Shippeo’s journey to accelerate digitization while enhancing cost efficiency, planning accuracy, and customer experience across the supply chain.”
Donald Trump has been clear that he plans to hit the ground running after his inauguration on January 20, launching ambitious plans that could have significant repercussions for global supply chains.
As Mark Baxa, CSCMP president and CEO, says in the executive forward to the white paper, the incoming Trump Administration and a majority Republican congress are “poised to reshape trade policies, regulatory frameworks, and the very fabric of how we approach global commerce.”
The paper is written by import/export expert Thomas Cook, managing director for Blue Tiger International, a U.S.-based supply chain management consulting company that focuses on international trade. Cook is the former CEO of American River International in New York and Apex Global Logistics Supply Chain Operation in Los Angeles and has written 19 books on global trade.
In the paper, Cook, of course, takes a close look at tariff implications and new trade deals, emphasizing that Trump will seek revisions that will favor U.S. businesses and encourage manufacturing to return to the U.S. The paper, however, also looks beyond global trade to addresses topics such as Trump’s tougher stance on immigration and the possibility of mass deportations, greater support of Israel in the Middle East, proposals for increased energy production and mining, and intent to end the war in the Ukraine.
In general, Cook believes that many of the administration’s new policies will be beneficial to the overall economy. He does warn, however, that some policies will be disruptive and add risk and cost to global supply chains.
In light of those risks and possible disruptions, Cook’s paper offers 14 recommendations. Some of which include:
Create a team responsible for studying the changes Trump will introduce when he takes office;
Attend trade shows and make connections with vendors, suppliers, and service providers who can help you navigate those changes;
Consider becoming C-TPAT (Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism) certified to help mitigate potential import/export issues;
Adopt a risk management mindset and shift from focusing on lowest cost to best value for your spend;
Increase collaboration with internal and external partners;
Expect warehousing costs to rise in the short term as companies look to bring in foreign-made goods ahead of tariffs;
Expect greater scrutiny from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol of origin statements for imports in recognition of attempts by some Chinese manufacturers to evade U.S. import policies;
Reduce dependency on China for sourcing; and
Consider manufacturing and/or sourcing in the United States.
Cook advises readers to expect a loosening up of regulations and a reduction in government under Trump. He warns that while some world leaders will look to work with Trump, others will take more of a defiant stance. As a result, companies should expect to see retaliatory tariffs and duties on exports.
Cook concludes by offering advice to the incoming administration, including being sensitive to the effect retaliatory tariffs can have on American exports, working on federal debt reduction, and considering promoting free trade zones. He also proposes an ambitious water works program through the Army Corps of Engineers.
ReposiTrak, a global food traceability network operator, will partner with Upshop, a provider of store operations technology for food retailers, to create an end-to-end grocery traceability solution that reaches from the supply chain to the retail store, the firms said today.
The partnership creates a data connection between suppliers and the retail store. It works by integrating Salt Lake City-based ReposiTrak’s network of thousands of suppliers and their traceability shipment data with Austin, Texas-based Upshop’s network of more than 450 retailers and their retail stores.
That accomplishment is important because it will allow food sector trading partners to meet the U.S. FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act Section 204d (FSMA 204) requirements that they must create and store complete traceability records for certain foods.
And according to ReposiTrak and Upshop, the traceability solution may also unlock potential business benefits. It could do that by creating margin and growth opportunities in stores by connecting supply chain data with store data, thus allowing users to optimize inventory, labor, and customer experience management automation.
"Traceability requires data from the supply chain and – importantly – confirmation at the retail store that the proper and accurate lot code data from each shipment has been captured when the product is received. The missing piece for us has been the supply chain data. ReposiTrak is the leader in capturing and managing supply chain data, starting at the suppliers. Together, we can deliver a single, comprehensive traceability solution," Mark Hawthorne, chief innovation and strategy officer at Upshop, said in a release.
"Once the data is flowing the benefits are compounding. Traceability data can be used to improve food safety, reduce invoice discrepancies, and identify ways to reduce waste and improve efficiencies throughout the store,” Hawthorne said.
Under FSMA 204, retailers are required by law to track Key Data Elements (KDEs) to the store-level for every shipment containing high-risk food items from the Food Traceability List (FTL). ReposiTrak and Upshop say that major industry retailers have made public commitments to traceability, announcing programs that require more traceability data for all food product on a faster timeline. The efforts of those retailers have activated the industry, motivating others to institute traceability programs now, ahead of the FDA’s enforcement deadline of January 20, 2026.