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Reducing Empty Miles: How the Right Pallet Can Make Shipping More Efficient
Empty miles, a term that describes cargo vehicles traveling without a load of products that can be sold for a profit, have bedeviled merchants since the earliest days of trade. In the Age of Discovery, merchants would occasionally arrange stopovers at different continents to pick up cargos that could be sold for a profit. In…
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3 Ways to Reduce Food Loss in the Supply Chain
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that around 14 percent of food is lost worldwide in production or the supply chain before even reaching retailers. Recently, more attention is being paid to this issue. In 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) together announced…
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Cost Management in the Supply Chain: Techniques for Lowering Overall Costs
A food item or consumer packaged good makes quite an interesting journey through the supply chain—moving from producers to manufacturing facilities to warehouses before ultimately reaching the supermarket. Though inflation and taxes play a major role in determining the prices of these products, the supply chain impacts final prices, too. For example, social distancing and…
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Sustainable Food Transportation: Reduce Emissions with Lighter and Fewer Shipments
With global carbon emissions hitting an all-time high in recent years, the need to achieve more sustainable food transportation has become increasingly apparent to manufacturers and retailers. A 2019 report drafted by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) mentions that a transportation-related carbon footprint can vary from a few percent to more…
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Tracking and Tracing Pharmaceutical Products: How Your Shipping Pallet Can Help
Tracking and tracing pharmaceutical products is more than just an exercise in inventory management. It is a life-saving practice that is mandated by law. In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and local health authorities tracked a multistate outbreak of fungal meningitis back to a compounding center in Massachusetts. The compounding center was illegally…
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Increase Food Supply Chain Transparency with Track and Trace Technology
No food supply chain will ever be perfect. There’s always a chance that a load of contaminated food products will make its way through to the consumer. However, having a traceable supply chain makes it much easier to find contaminated products and dispose of them properly. Food supply chain transparency is also crucial in order…
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How to Lower Total Supply Chain Management Cost
People are often delighted to see a favorite childhood treat on the shelf of their local grocery store—and shocked at how expensive it is now. While factors like inflation, taxes, and regulations play a role in the prices of everyday food and consumer items, they are not the only forces at work. It takes a…
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Traceability in the Food Supply Chain: Why Tracking Food Is Important and How to Do It
According to a May 1, 2020 report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the U.S. is failing to contain foodborne pathogens. While incidences of infection for Salmonella typhimurium declined, infection rates for other salmonella serotypes, as well as Listeria and Shigella, remained unchanged in 2019. The number of reported foodborne illnesses caused by all…
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Reducing Cold Chain Shipping Loss in Pharmaceuticals
Temperature excursion, or the deviation from safe handling and transport practices, is a major concern for pharmaceutical manufacturers. Understanding the most common reasons for temperature excursion arms supply chain managers with the knowledge needed to implement processes and tools that limit the risk of improper handling and prevent cold chain shipping losses in pharmaceuticals. Factors…
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Putting Foreign Material Control Procedures into Place at a Food Manufacturing Facility
Consumers of foods like canned tuna, processed chicken, and pitted olives are generally aware of the possibility that a bone or piece of pit may make it through processing. Warnings about this possibility are generally included on product packaging as well. However, the same isn’t true with regard to foreign object contamination. No one expects…
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Pallet Exchange Program Vs. Pallet Rental Program: What’s the Difference?
ARTICLE UPDATED NOVEMBER 30, 2023 Managing a pallet fleet can pose significant logistical challenges for supply chain and facility managers. In addition to the need for adequate storage space for empty pallets, they must grapple with issues related to pallet cleaning, repairs, and retrieval. These tasks consume both time and financial resources that could otherwise…
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Static Load Vs. Dynamic Load: Demystifying Pallet Load Ratings
ARTICLE UPDATED ON SEPTEMBER 29, 2023 Static Load vs. Dynamic Load: Demystifying Pallet Load Ratings Understanding the distinction between a dynamic load and a static load within a warehouse is essential for ensuring the safety of employees and products. Simply put, a static load refers to stationary loads, while dynamic loads involve movement. Specifically, within…