MHI Blog -- Mercedes-Benz is investing hundreds of millions in a global reorganization of its supply chain network that will set the course for growth and efficiency with the goal of reducing supply chain costs by 20 percent per vehicle.

The reorganization includes the expansion of its global production and supplier network closer to customers and markets. The increasingly complex incoming production material flows at Mercedes-Benz plants and the transport of newly manufactured vehicles from production facilities will be centrally managed in an even more efficient and flexible manner.

Forbes -- Big data is providing supplier networks with greater data accuracy, clarity, and insights, leading to more contextual intelligence shared across supply chains.

Forward-thinking manufacturers are orchestrating 80% or more of their supplier network activity outside their four walls, using big data and cloud-based technologies to get beyond the constraints of legacy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Supply Chain Management (SCM) systems. For manufacturers whose business models are based on rapid product lifecycles and speed, legacy ERP systems are a bottleneck.  Designed for delivering order, shipment and transactional data, these systems aren’t capable of scaling to meet the challenges supply chains face today.

The Wall Street Journal -- Are drones the future of air freight? A pair of Swiss companies aim to find out.

Swiss Post Ltd., Switzerland’s postal service, Swiss WorldCargo, the air freight division of Swiss International Air Lines AG, and California-based drone manufacturer Matternet are testing the practical use of drones in logistics, the companies announced this week.

The applications of drones range from "delivery to peripheral areas," to the express delivery of goods, quick delivery of urgent-transport items like laboratory tests and transporting emergency supplies "to an area cut off from the outside world following a storm," Swiss Post said in a statement announcing the effort.

EBN -- For high-tech manufacturers, the name of the game is flexibility. This is a fast-moving industry where the winners are fast and nimble. Winning organizations are innovative, and they get their products to market quickly. The latter part of that equation requires the right supply chain strategy.

New data from UPS reveal that high-tech companies increasingly take a comprehensive approach to their supply chains, often considering many factors to decide where they will manufacture and assemble their products. Many supply chain managers see "right-shoring" as part of the answer, according to the Fifth Annual UPS Change in the (Supply) Chain Survey (CITC).

MHI Blog -- MHI recently launched a new video platform – MHI view. MHI view content is designed to spark supply chain innovation by sharing useful information about the industry’s maturing, growing and emerging technologies that were identified in the 2015 MHI Annual Industry Report.

The first episode details the benefits of robotics and automation. Robots have revolutionized manufacturing, and today's robots can produce goods with higher quality, less down time, and fewer errors than humans. In this installment of MHI view, find out why and how. CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO.

Supply Management -- In a report Xchanging Procurement said supply chain risk was seen as a challenge by 77 per cent of firms, and as an "extreme" challenge by almost one in five.

Around two-thirds of respondents said regulation and audit was a challenge, followed by lack of supplier innovation (63 percent) and fluctuations in currency exchange rates (58 percent).

Modern Materials Handling -- According to ABI Research the increasing adoption of IoT within industrial settings will result in a substantial growth of the number of connected industrial devices, in particular industrial control devices like PLCs.

The research firm estimates that over the period from 2014 to 2020, the number of connected industrial controllers will triple; growing at an average rate of 20%.

Manufacturing.net -- In my conversations with mid-market companies looking to implement supply chain improvements, supplier adoption routinely ranks near the top of concerns. It only makes sense. A good portion of the value provided by automating procurement and payables processes comes from the labor and cost savings generated from fewer errors and less manual work.

A large amount of focus for evaluating and purchasing these systems has been on return on investment (ROI) calculations — based either on hypothetical numbers, existing transaction volumes, or, in some cases, projected increases in transactional volumes based on the system’s capacity to move data much faster than manual methods. If it is to deliver on the promise, however, the procurement portal has to have enough transactional volume running through it.

Material Handling & Logistics -- Total imports along the East Coast have increased by 15%, while import traffic on the West Coast is down 4%, according to a new study by Zepol.

The leading reason for the shift in ports is due to activity by China. Imports from the country along the West Coast declined by 3%, but Chinese imports on the East Coast continue to skyrocket. Atlantic ports increased containers from China by 20% this year, and Gulf ports by a more dramatic 43%.

SupplyChainBrain -- What is supply-chain segmentation? How can it help companies to better manage the flow of product and services, both upstream from suppliers and downstream to customers? Jennifer Loveland, research director of Gartner, has some answers.

Supply-chain segmentation allows manufacturers to design delivery channels in line with the requirements and profitability of individual groups of customers or regions. "It allows you to handle complexity more effectively," says Loveland. "You can create a menu of approaches, each targeted to a specific outcome."

DC Velocity -- Semiautomated truck caravans could be plying American highways by 2020—and completely unmanned trucks could join them by 2025—if technology continues to evolve at current rates, according to a study by the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.

These driver-assisted—or eventually driverless—trucks could help logistics and fleet-management professionals deliver valuable loads with lower costs and improved safety, thanks to faster reaction time for collision-avoidance situations, the firm said.

Supply Chain Digest -- Most shippers are focus on the physical movement of goods through the DC. However, it could take a day or so to get customer orders through the order entry, approval and acceptance process. Not done yet - it could take another day to verify and allocate inventory and for load planners to release the orders into the DC order fulfillment system. 

Finally, the orders can be quickly picked, packed, sorted and shipped. Unless of course, the carrier had not yet arrived or there is no dock loading space available, in which case shipping will be further delayed.

EBN -- Cost changes in the logistics chain with overseas manufacturers, primarily China, have led to a good deal of speculation regarding bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. Rising labor costs overseas are closing the cost of goods gap, while unexpected fluctuations in sales, coupled with the long logistics chain from Asia to the United States and European Union, have led recently to "PC Mountains" of units excess to demand.

With China already contemplating the need to use robots for assembly of components and units, a number of people, including myself, have questioned the sense of placing that investment in China. Given that the cost of supporting robots won't change materially between the U.S. and China, this is not the easiest question to answer. Obviously, political considerations are important.

Supply Management -- Suppliers and manufacturers should be partners to reduce the risks of an increasingly diverse and globalized supply chain, according to an expert.

Global consulting firm Strategy& said the recent recall of millions of automobiles due to defects with airbags from supplier Takata, highlighted the issues that come with the reliance on an increasingly lean supply chain.

The Wall Street Journal -- Technology startups are competing to break into freight forwarding, seeking to shake up a $160 billion global business that hasn’t kept up with contemporary communications, research firm Transport Intelligence said in a new report.

The companies, including Cargobase, Freightos and Shippabo, offer online tools to help customers find the lowest shipping rates and the fastest routes for their goods. Though common in online shopping, travel and express parcel shipping, the use of online platforms to buy transport service and track goods has not taken hold in industrial freight shipping.

Supply Chain Management Review -- Metrics aren’t just a measurement tool. The right metrics enable supply management professionals to drive positive changes in their company that can also create alignment between competing objectives.

Material Handling & Logistics -- The Internet of Things is having an impact on ocean cargo shipping as a new way for ship owners to manage their fleets and achieve potential operational savings is being developed by Hyundai Heavy Industries and Accenture.

Using a network of sensors that will be built into new vessels, ship owners will be able to capture a range of ship voyage information (location, weather, ocean current, on-board equipment, and cargo status data), and applying real-time analytics to new and historical fleet data, and using data visualization technology to present the insights, ship owners will be able to monitor their vessel’s status and condition in real-time to make data-driven decisions that support more efficient operations.