When Ann M. Drake takes the stage at CSCMP's Annual Global Conference to accept the Distinguished Service Award, she will be the 47th person to receive the association's highest honor.
In 1994 she became one of the first women to run a major third-party logistics (3PL) company when she took over as chief executive officer and chairman of DSC Logistics. Since then, DSC has grown to become a nationwide network of integrated logistics and supply chain operations.
Drake's efforts at breaking down barriers—both for herself and for others—are part of the reason why she was chosen for the award. "Ann Drake is a person who is continually making contributions to the supply chain discipline, giving of herself to the people in the industry," said Rick Blasgen, CSCMP president and chief executive officer. "She is the epitome of what the Distinguished Service Award embodies—a leader, a mentor, a pioneer, and an extraordinary, energetic ambassador for the logistics and supply chain management professions."
In addition to leading DSC Logistics, Drake holds many volunteer positions. She is vice chairman of the Business Advisory Council for the Northwestern University Transportation Center. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the A.M. Castle Company, the Board of Governors for Chicago's Metropolitan Planning Council, and the Board of Governors for The Committee of 200, a global organization of women business leaders. Earlier this year she received the Alumni Merit Award from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and in 2009 was named "Industry Leader of the Year" by the Illinois Institute of Technology. Recently she agreed to serve as transportation and logistics strategy leader for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs.
Drake earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa and her Master of Business Administration degree from the Kellogg School of Management.
CSCMP presents the Distinguished Service Award annually to an individual who has made significant contributions to the art and science of supply chain and logistics management.
Plan ahead with CSCMP
It's not too early to start thinking about ways to expand your supply chain knowledge in 2013. Here are some workshops and programs from CSCMP that can help you develop the skills and expertise you need to succeed in your job.
Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management: This course provides an introduction to supply chain management for those who are new to the field, managers who have taken on broader supply chain responsibilities, and experienced specialists who want to know more about the end-to-end supply chain. (March 11-12, May 20-21, and November 12-13)
Sales and Operations Planning: This workshop focuses on the key role that supply chain management plays in facilitating sales and operations planning activities, processes, and outcomes. (April 8-9)
Transportation: Challenges and Solutions: This program explores different transportation modes and types of carriers, the effects of globalization on transportation, current obstacles to meeting performance objectives, the changing shipper/carrier relationship, and emerging trends. (April 22-23)
From Strategy to Reality: How SCM Turns Corporate Ideas into Results: This high-level workshop offers a comprehensive overview of the strategic options and alternatives for supply chain management that corporations should consider. (May 6-7)
Distribution Center Planning and Operations: This workshop looks at both the high-level planning and the detailed execution needed to run an efficient distribution facility. (June 11-12)
Relationships and Collaboration Meet Performance Metrics: In two consecutive one-day sessions, participants will learn about tools and techniques for building, maintaining, and rescuing business relationships as well as how to create high-trust, high-performance alliances. (August 1-2)
Sourcing and Procurement: This workshop covers the essentials of sourcing and procurement in an integrated context. It emphasizes strategic sourcing, supplier relationship management, contracts, and setting priorities for sourcing and procurement management and staff. (September 9-10)
All workshops will be held at CSCMP's headquarters in Lombard, Illinois, USA. To register, click here.
Doctoral Dissertation Award recognizes research on product variety
Many industries have used product variety over the last few decades as a way to increase sales and profits. While that may be beneficial for manufacturers, little is known about how it affects the distributors that handle those products. That was one of the main reasons Dr. Xiang Wan, assistant professor of supply chain management at the University of Tennessee, chose to focus his doctoral dissertation on the impact that product and service variety has on soft drink distributors' supply chains.
His research, titled "Product Variety, Service Variety, and Their Impact on Distributors" will receive CSCMP's 2012 Dissertation Award at the Annual Global Conference. Comprising three separate essays, Wan's paper uses a series of empirical analyses to look at the effect of product variety on sales and the influences of product and service variety on both demand and costs.
"The main purpose of my dissertation is to help practitioners solve practical supply chain management problems," said Wan. "The soft drink industry provided an excellent forum for studying how product variety influences operational and sales performance." Although the study was based on a data sample from soft drink distributors, the research method, analysis procedure, and estimated results may be applied to other distribution channels with large logistics networks as well as to industries with a high degree of product variety, he added.
Wan received his doctorate in supply chain management from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, where he has won awards for teaching and research.
CSCMP's Doctoral Dissertation Award is presented annually to the author of a submitted doctoral dissertation in a logistics- or supply chain-related field. The selected work must demonstrate significant originality and technical competence while contributing to the logistics and supply chain knowledge base.
The venture-backed fleet telematics technology provider Platform Science will acquire a suite of “global transportation telematics business units” from supply chain technology provider Trimble Inc., the firms said Sunday.
Trimble's other core transportation business units — Enterprise, Maps, Vusion and Transporeon — are not included in the proposed transaction and will remain part of Trimble's Transportation & Logistics segment, with a continued focus on priority growth areas following completion of the proposed transaction.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed but as part of this agreement, Colorado-based Trimble will become a shareholder in Platform Science's expanded business. Specifically, Trimble will have a 32.5% stake in the newly expanded global Platform Science business and will receive a Platform Science board seat. The company joins C.R. England, Cummins, Daimler Truck, PACCAR, Prologis, RyderVentures, and Schneider as a key strategic investor in Platform Science along with financial investors 8VC, Activant Capital, BDT & MSD Partners, Softbank, and NewRoad Capital Partners.
According to San Diego-based Platform Science, the proposed transaction aims to enhance driver experience, fleet safety, efficiency, and compliance by combining two cutting-edge in-cab commercial vehicle ecosystems, which will give customers access to more applications and offerings.
From Trimble customers’ point of view, they will continue to enjoy the benefits of their Trimble solutions, with the added flexibility of the Virtual Vehicle platform from Platform Science. That means Virtual Vehicle-enabled fleets will receive access to the Virtual Vehicle Marketplace, offering hundreds of new and expanded applications, software, and solution providers focused on innovating and improving drivers' quality of life and fleet performance.
Meanwhile, Platform Science customers will enjoy the added choice of Trimble's remaining portfolio of transportation solutions which will be available on the Virtual Vehicle platform, the partners said.
"We believe combining our global transportation telematics portfolio with Platform Science's will further advance fleet mobility and provide our customers with a broader portfolio of solutions to solve industry problems," Rob Painter, president and CEO of Trimble, said in a release. "Increased collaboration between the new Platform Science business and Trimble's remaining transportation businesses will enhance our ability to provide positive outcomes for our global customers of commercial mapping, transportation management, freight procurement, and visibility solutions. This deal will result in significant synergies along with tremendous opportunities for employees to continue to grow in a more-competitive business."
The acquisition comes just five months after Platform Science raised $125 million in growth capital from some of the biggest names in freight trucking, saying the money would help accelerate innovation in the commercial transportation sector.
Nearly one-third of American consumers have increased their secondhand purchases in the past year, revealing a jump in “recommerce” according to a buyer survey from ShipStation, a provider of web-based shipping and order fulfillment solutions.
The number comes from a survey of 500 U.S. consumers showing that nearly one in four (23%) Americans lack confidence in making purchases over $200 in the next six months. Due to economic uncertainty, savvy shoppers are looking for ways to save money without sacrificing quality or style, the research found.
Younger shoppers are leading the charge in that trend, with 59% of Gen Z and 48% of Millennials buying pre-owned items weekly or monthly. That rate makes Gen Z nearly twice as likely to buy second hand compared to older generations.
The primary reason that shoppers say they have increased their recommerce habits is lower prices (74%), followed by the thrill of finding unique or rare items (38%) and getting higher quality for a lower price (28%). Only 14% of Americans cite environmental concerns as a primary reason they shop second-hand.
Despite the challenge of adjusting to the new pattern, recommerce represents a strategic opportunity for businesses to capture today’s budget-minded shoppers and foster long-term loyalty, Austin, Texas-based ShipStation said.
For example, retailers don’t have to sell used goods to capitalize on the secondhand boom. Instead, they can offer trade-in programs swapping discounts or store credit for shoppers’ old items. And they can improve product discoverability to help customers—particularly older generations—find what they’re looking for.
Other ways for retailers to connect with recommerce shoppers are to improve shipping practices. According to ShipStation:
70% of shoppers won’t return to a brand if shipping is too expensive.
51% of consumers are turned off by late deliveries
40% of shoppers won’t return to a retailer again if the packaging is bad.
The “CMA CGM Startup Awards”—created in collaboration with BFM Business and La Tribune—will identify the best innovations to accelerate its transformation, the French company said.
Specifically, the company will select the best startup among the applicants, with clear industry transformation objectives focused on environmental performance, competitiveness, and quality of life at work in each of the three areas:
Shipping: Enabling safer, more efficient, and sustainable navigation through innovative technological solutions.
Logistics: Reinventing the global supply chain with smart and sustainable logistics solutions.
Media: Transform content creation, and customer engagement with innovative media technologies and strategies.
Three winners will be selected during a final event organized on November 15 at the Orange Vélodrome Stadium in Marseille, during the 2nd Artificial Intelligence Marseille (AIM) forum organized by La Tribune and BFM Business. The selection will be made by a jury chaired by Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of the Group, and including members of the executive committee representing the various sectors of CMA CGM.
Economic activity in the logistics industry expanded in August, though growth slowed slightly from July, according to the most recent Logistics Manager’s Index report (LMI), released this week.
The August LMI registered 56.4, down from July’s reading of 56.6 but consistent with readings over the past four months. The August reading represents nine straight months of growth across the logistics industry.
The LMI is a monthly gauge of economic activity across warehousing, transportation, and logistics markets. An LMI above 50 indicates expansion, and a reading below 50 indicates contraction.
Inventory levels saw a marked change in August, increasing more than six points compared to July and breaking a three-month streak of contraction. The LMI researchers said this suggests that after running inventories down, companies are now building them back up in anticipation of fourth-quarter demand. It also represents a return to more typical growth patterns following the accelerated demand for logistics services during the Covid-19 pandemic and the lows of the recent freight recession.
“This suggests a return to traditional patterns of seasonality that we have not seen since pre-COVID,” the researchers wrote in the monthly LMI report, published Tuesday, adding that the buildup is somewhat tempered by increases in warehousing capacity and transportation capacity.
The LMI report is based on a monthly survey of logistics managers from across the country. It tracks industry growth overall and across eight areas: inventory levels and costs; warehousing capacity, utilization, and prices; and transportation capacity, utilization, and prices. The report is released monthly by researchers from Arizona State University, Colorado State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, and the University of Nevada, Reno, in conjunction with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).
That hiring surge marks a significant jump in relation to the company’s nearly 17,000 current employees across North America, adding 21% more workers.
That increase is necessary because U.S. holiday sales in 2023 increased 3.9% year-over-year as consumer spending grew even amidst uncertain economic times and trends like inflation and consumer price sensitivity. Looking at the coming peak, a similar pattern is projected for this year, with shoppers forecasted to drive a 4.8% increase in holiday retail sales for 2024, Geodis said, citing data from Emarketer.
To attract the extra workforce, Geodis says it will offer competitive wages, peak premium pay incentives, peak and referral bonuses, an expedited payment option, and flexible schedules. And it’s using an AI-powered chatbot named Sophie to serve as a virtual recruiting assistant.
“We acknowledge the immense responsibility we have to our customers to deliver exceptional service every day, and this is especially true during peak season,” Anthony Jordan, GEODIS in Americas Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, said in a release. “Because peak season is the most business-critical sales period of the year for many of our retail clients, expanding our workforce is vital to ensure we have a flexible, dynamic team that can handle anticipated surges in demand.”