Mitch Mac Donald has more than 30 years of experience in both the newspaper and magazine businesses. He has covered the logistics and supply chain fields since 1988. Twice named one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the U.S., he has served in a multitude of editorial and publishing roles. The leading force behind the launch of Supply Chain Management Review, he was that brand's founding publisher and editorial director from 1997 to 2000. Additionally, he has served as news editor, chief editor, publisher and editorial director of Logistics Management, as well as publisher of Modern Materials Handling. Mitch is also the president and CEO of Agile Business Media, LLC, the parent company of DC VELOCITY and CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly.
If you are a supply chain wonk (and if you're reading this, you either are or you have some very odd pleasure-reading habits), you didn't have to go to the National Retail Federation's (NRF) annual "Big Show" in New York last month to know that retail logistics is absolutely white-hot right now.
Similarly, you don't have to travel to the Retail Industry Leaders Association's (RILA) annual Retail Supply Chain Conference later this month to know that some of the most amazing advances in logistics are coming from retailers that are scrambling to remain relevant (and, oh yeah, profitable) in a rapidly changing marketplace.
No, you didn't have to attend either event, but if you work in retail and your job involves logistics, you probably should have. (In fact, based on when you're reading this, you may still have time to get to RILA's conference, which takes place in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 24-27.)
Both events confirm conclusively what we already know: The buzz today is all about retail logistics.
At NRF's Big Show, logistics and supply chain solutions took the spotlight in what is, after all, not a logistics-specific show. Retailers today realize that without the help of enabling supply chain and logistics tools and technology, the game is lost. Exhibits featuring technology-driven supply chain and logistics solutions were what the NRF show attendees wanted to see. Or perhaps we should say, needed to see.
They needed to see them because many retailers have far more questions than answers. Perhaps not surprisingly given the economic climate, a lot of those questions center on how they can get the most bang for their technology buck. "In a tighter economy, retailers will have to make tough decisions on whether to focus their technology investments on the front end of their business with new experiences like self-checkout, or on updating their supply chain and distribution channels," says Jon Reily, vice president of commerce strategy at digital transformation consultancy Publicis.Sapient.
NRF Big Show speaker Ara Gopal, senior director of consumer products and retail at connected business platform provider Anaplan, touched on that same theme in his remarks. Gopal argued that when retailers invest in digital upgrades, they tend to focus on areas like customer engagement and marketing. But they might benefit from taking a broader view, he said. "Technology can have a powerful impact on improving the accuracy of forecasts and enabling integrated business planning across all lines of a retailer's business," he noted, adding that digital tools "can help retailers understand the financial impacts of tradeoffs and enable advanced decision-making in their planning processes."
Show-goer Tim Hinkley, chief commercial officer for Radial, a provider of omnichannel commerce technologies and solutions, is likewise bullish on logistics-related technologies, noting that digital tools can help retailers deliver (or even over-deliver) on the customer's expectations—a critical factor in e-commerce success.
"While there is a lot of exciting innovation taking place in e-commerce today, some of the most impactful efforts are taking place behind the scenes," Hinckley said in a statement announcing the results of a new Radial study, Cracking the code: What online shoppers value most. "Our data shows that consumers place the most value on inexpensive shipping and easy returns. Brands that focus their resources on delivering these seemingly obvious but often overlooked or challenging-to-execute aspects of the consumer journey are the ones who will stand out from the pack."
The challenge for retailers in 2019, then, won't be deciding whether or not to digitize their operations. That question is already settled. The challenge will be deciding where and in what to invest.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
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.
Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
In addition to its human toll, the storm could exert serious business impacts, according to the supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc. Those will be largely triggered by significant flooding, which could halt oil operations, force mandatory evacuations, restrict ports, and disrupt air traffic.
While the storm’s track is currently forecast to miss the critical ports of Miami and New Orleans, it could still hurt operations throughout the Southeast agricultural belt, which produces products like soybeans, cotton, peanuts, corn, and tobacco, according to Everstream Analytics.
That widespread footprint could also hinder supply chain and logistics flows along stretches of interstate highways I-10 and I-75 and on regional rail lines operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. And Hurricane Helene could also likely impact business operations by unleashing power outages, deep flooding, and wind damage in northern Florida portions of Georgia, Everstream Analytics said.
Before the storm had even touched Florida soil, recovery efforts were already being launched by humanitarian aid group the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it is urging residents in the storm's path across the Southeast to heed evacuation notices and safety advisories, and reminding members of the logistics community that their post-storm help could be needed soon. The group will continue to update its Disaster Micro-Site with Hurricane Helene resources and with requests for donated logistics assistance, most of which will start arriving within 24 to 72 hours after the storm’s initial landfall, ALAN said.