Logistics - On the move

Luxury is no longer a valid adjective tagged to smartphones. Smartphones nowadays are as essential as many other electronic device. The use of smartphones cannot be justified, if it can only help improve our personal part of life and not professional. This article is compilation of thoughts on utilizing the technology in warehouse management. Practical difficulties will always exist; nevertheless it is worth a try.

Application of science for practical purpose is defined as technology. If technology can improve the life style and productivity in work place, then its purpose is well met.

Inventing new gadgets has so far been the trend of this decade and a smartphone is one such gadget which has enriched our lifestyle. Smartphones, as you all know, is a device that has advanced connectivity and computing capability. Loaded with features like touchscreen, digital cameras, browsers, navigation and "easy to use" tools, smartphones are the "must have" gadget in our day to day life.

Continue reading "A SMARTer Warehouse Management on hand - Is it practical?" »

Posted by Anstan Vaz at 5:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This blog departs from the usual 'Technology and Posts' theme. Instead, the blog presents some interesting facts on how postal networks are utilizing their network reach and offering financial services to masses.

Continue reading "Postal Banking" »

Posted by Ajay Prabhu at 2:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Background

The rise in fuel price and the slowdown in global economy have provided the inertia to all companies, either consuming or producing transportation, to re-strategize their goods distribution network and to find newer ways to share capacity. The key question arises - Can all the transportation providers (Rail, Trucking, 3^rd party logistics, Ocean freight, Air freight, etc.) come together and develop a uniform costing and visibility platform for lower freight cost to customers? The intersection of transportation providers has potential to open up a whole new dimension of sharing capacity and reducing carbon footprint. The transportation providers, to some extent, are working on synergies to have a better understanding of integrated costs (standards defined for costing) and to manage the increased shippers' expectations of reducing overall costs.  However, still there are significant opportunities to bring everyone together and to build trust. In Global scenario, this will indeed require dealing with local regulations, confidentiality issues, institutional hurdles, and of course working out IT strategy and investments to build extended network models. The key to develop these costing models will be to get real-time insights into freight origin to destination (end-to-end) movement, possibly leveraging Big data and analytics as part of IT strategy. 

Continue reading "Intersection of Transportation providers to reduce Carbon Footprint" »

Posted by Sanjeev Rana at 4:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

In the age of contextual ads and social media, how can direct mail, that is delivered into mail boxes, remain competitive and relevant? Read on to know more about direct mail and ideas around it.

Continue reading "Technology and Posts - Keeping Direct Mail Relevant" »

Posted by Ajay Prabhu at 9:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In this edition of Technology and Posts, we take a look at how a simple technology is giving an important capability to mail consolidators that has a positive impact on clients who ship prescription drugs through mail.

Continue reading "Technology and Posts - Ability to intercept shipments in mail" »

Posted by Ajay Prabhu at 6:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

RFID has come a long way since its early stages in 1980s. Seventeen years ago when Internet was commercialized, only few people thought it would become part of daily operations. RFID is like the Internet -Read on to know more on RFID and the various options it opens up.

Continue reading "RFID Technology - Next Generation in Automatic Identification (Future is here)!" »

Posted by Saikumar Balakrishnan at 5:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Postal networks have come a long way since the first letter was delivered. In the era of instantaneous messaging, how are the postal service providers coping? This article, on Hybrid Mail, is the first in a series that discusses how postal networks are keeping abreast of technology. Read on to know more about hybrid mail and the possibilities it opens up!

Continue reading "Technology and Posts - Hybrid Mail" »

Posted by Ajay Prabhu at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Are you stuck by or running from the "on time" bug surrounding the Railroad industry? Read on - this article might just be on time for you.

Continue reading "Railroads - Taking the "On-Time" Bug head on" »

Posted by James Wilson at 2:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I love the smell of diesel fuel in the morning!  Is this a famous movie line?  Is this from someone working at the fuel rack?  It is not from the shipper fuel procurement person who is seeing prices on the rise.  It is not from all of us who are watching the birth of new "democracies" in the Middle East that are causing the rise in prices.  However, it is an opportunity for all of us to save fuel by putting more trailer, container, bulk and boxcar loads on the railroads in North America.  Capacity is available on existing trains and there is capacity to add more trains and services.  This convergence of opportunity for shippers and the railroads is not one to be missed.

Continue reading "Railroads : Some Insights" »

Posted by James Wilson at 4:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At a very high level - how do we get a shipping cost? While taking a dive in time, it seems that in the beginning there were predefined routes with fixed costs from origin to destination. But with growing needs of the customer things have changed. For example, some do not need the cargo as quick as others but would like a cost incentive, while there might be a segment that does not care about the cost but need a quick delivery. There are people who need a stretched time to bring in the shipment which in-turn needs a stretched cut-off period. There are numerous such needs which the shipping industry has beautifully catered to keep up with the "just in time" theme.

However we humans have no limits and so does the competition. I was thinking what else could be done in current situation where the requirement driven services are almost exhausted. Going by the basic human psychology that any reward, gift or opportunity that we get unexpected out of the blue gives us immense pleasure - makes me think the following:

Continue reading "What if your shipment is suddenly expedited?" »

Posted by Rajdeep Sarkar at 2:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)