“Water, water everywhere, Nor any drop to drink,” Samuel Coleridge wrote in 1798. While ostensibly describing the sailor’s dilemma of being on the Sea, Coleridge was quite accurately predicting a future he couldn’t imagine: our supply chains generate and are surrounded by massive amounts of data, but it’s almost entirely unpotable. As an illustration of the problem, early on in our engagement with a global pharmaceutical company, they described their issue as such: “On average,…
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As we’ve all adjusted and started to get a feel for how business will operate, a few enterprises are overcoming their initial knee jerk reactions to the pandemic and are examining the fundamentals that need to be in place as the ingredients for creating a resilient supply chain and logistics operation in light of the outside context problem presented by the pandemic. However, at the same time, most leaders seem determined to set the goalposts…
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Apple recently announced its iPhone 8 and iPhone X, grabbing a healthy portion of social media airtime immediately following the announcement, as they so often do. While Apple is one of the most recognized brands in the world today, the company is also known for running a very efficient supply chain. Another company known for its supply chain prowess is Amazon. Following the company’s announced acquisition of Whole Foods earlier this year, wall street analysts…
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A cold chain is a supply chain in which goods must be temperature controlled. Cold chains are commonly associated with the pharmaceutical and food industries. According to a 2016 report by the International Trade Association, global food losses total $750 billion a year, largely due to cold chain issues. The same report reveals that $260 billion of annual biopharma sales are dependent on cold chain logistics. Cold chain is big business and the stakes are…
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As technology continues to advance, so do people. There is now wearable technology like your apple watch which can monitor your heart rate, as well as Amazon’s Artificial Intelligence machine Alexa which is your digital personal assistant. People have grown to adapt to these machine-to-machine communication gadgets that enhance our daily lives and expect companies to follow suit. This is where Internet of Things (IoT) and sensors, which track and secure shipments, have come in…
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