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Why Your Aftermarket Logistics Strategy Is So Important
Aftermarket logistics is a phrase subject to some confusion. Auto parts dominate many people’s understanding of the term aftermarket, and while brake, supercharger, and spoiler kits can be a part of aftermarket logistics, an aftermarket logistics strategy is about more than automobile parts. The term is actually nearly synonymous with the reverse supply chain. Aftermarket…
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How Long Is a Plastic Pallet’s Lifespan?
Because of its strength, durability, and resistance to liquids, a plastic pallet’s lifespan can be more than double that of its wood counterpart–up to ten years, depending on how it’s maintained, the weight it carries, and how often it’s used, among other factors. Often, the superior longevity of plastic pallets is what drives supply chain…
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FDA Pallet Requirements: Finding a Pallet for Sanitary Transportation of Food
Recently, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) has expanded the responsibility of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for ensuring food safety to encompass all parts of the food supply chain, including transportation. Along with this legislation has come a raft of new FDA requirements, many of which are still being ironed out. The FSMA…
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DSCSA Requirements for Manufacturers and What They Might Mean for You
In February of 2019, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued its first warning letter under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) to McKesson Corporation for failing to identify, quarantine, and investigate suspect pharmaceuticals. Under the DSCSA, pharmaceutical manufacturers and others in the pharma supply chain must have systems in place to track drugs…
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Preventing Foreign Material Contamination in Foods
Recently, the risk of contamination in the food supply chain was underlined when Tyson Foods recalled more than 36,000 pounds of chicken nuggets due to potential rubber contamination. While no one was hurt and only a few people reported finding small pieces of blue rubber in the packages of nuggets, the recall still cost Tyson…
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Omnichannel Supply Chain Solutions: Optimizing for Omnichannel Fulfillment
Omnichannel fulfillment–fulfillment of an order through multiple possible channels–is no longer just a trend in retail, it’s a necessity. Customers expect to be able to order items from anywhere and they want delivery locations to be just as flexible. This presents challenges for companies who want to deliver items quickly but may not have the…
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Wood Pallet Alternatives: Why Wood Isn’t the Best Pallet Material
Wood shipping pallets have long been the standard in most supply chains purely because there was no viable alternative. While other options are now available, wood pallets are still in wide use simply because many companies aren’t familiar with the alternatives and continuing to use wood is the path of least resistance. However, there are…
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Tips on Logistics Management: Keeping Your Supply Chain Running Smoothly
The world dangles in a web of very long threads–these are the various supply chains that keep food in our refrigerators, deliver the refrigerators to the stores in the first place, and keep the power plants that allow the refrigerators to run stocked with fuel. If any thread in this interconnected web comes loose, the…
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3 Warehouse Cost Reduction Ideas That Will Trim Expenses
You’ve probably noticed that supply chains everywhere are undergoing significant changes. Technology is widely available that allows us to automate tasks, coordinate shipments, and reduce labor costs, and many warehouse managers have chosen to implement these technologies in order to streamline their processes. But automation isn’t the only option for reducing costs in the warehouse.…
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Reverse Logistics in the Food Industry: How to Make Reuse Easy
Discussions of logistics in the food industry are overwhelmingly concerned with the forward supply chain, that is, getting products from farms or factories to retailers where they can be sold. But these supply chain operations are only half of the logistics system. Once food products arrive at markets, something has to happen to the shipping…
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Why You Need a Pallet Management Company
Logistics professionals of all types have a lot on their minds. Deadlines for shipping products out, delays in the arrival of components, and the complex logistics of product storage all compete for attention. It’s no wonder that pallets aren’t given much thought, even though they are the basic load unit around which all things in…
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Create a Circular Business Model by Focusing on Your Supply Chain
It’s estimated that there are more than 7.5 billion people alive in the world today. A person born in 1960 has seen the global population more than double in the time they’ve been alive. The world population is expected to peak at around 9 billion in 2070, and it will be a serious challenge to…