Keep your cool. “Circumstances can turn on a dime and require not only quick, but also clear thinking when it feels like all options are lost. Those with composure—who can collect themselves, stay calm, and rely on the processes and tools they’ve put into place to handle the unexpected—will excel.” —Tony Harris, SAP  

Stay resilient and mentally tough. “Changes and setbacks are inevitable. It’s important to know how to anticipate, deal with, and recover from those challenges. Resilience requires the commitment to stay the course, keep a positive attitude, and forge a path even when the future is uncertain.” —Heidi Ratti, RXO

Have empathy. Seeing and listening through the eyes and ears of your supply chain partners speeds the pace of negotiations, trust building, and handling crises. —Dr. Darren Prokop, University of Alaska

Broaden your perspective to have empathy.“When I can shift my perspective to the point of view of my customers, stakeholders, or employees, that is how I can understand and meet their expectations. And that helps to build trusted, sustainable relationships that position you for success.” —Dave Anderson, TA Services 

Check and double check. “Checking to see what shutdowns are going on all over your destination cities and countries is the most underrated thing.” —Ronnie T. Evans, Oil States Industries 

Be curious. This involves channeling relentless curiosity into problems, having meaningful dialogues with users—warehouse managers, last-mile delivery folks, or suppliers across the globe—and implementing hardware and/or software solutions that solve those problems.” —Jason Hehman, TXI

Approach problems creatively. “Consider coloring outside the lines when problems happen. People think managing a supply chain is analytical and focused on managing the minutiae. And it is, at times. But when problems occur, the individual who can think outside the box and devise innovative solutions will be the unsung hero.” —Joe Adamski, ProcureAbility  

Avoid analysis paralysis. “Quickly analyze short- and long-term impacts. Over-analyzing wastes time and money. In operational excellence models, it’s called over-processing. To analyze quickly, use data and your inner experience circle. Ask for full opinions and full judgment, then go. Stop wasting time. —Ann Marie Jonkman, Blue Yonder 

Keeping these skills top of mind will help shake off the doldrums of late and stage for growth in the year ahead.

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The reuse and recycling of products, improved efficiency, and the use of renewable energy could reduce up to 40% of emissions in supply chains, with just a minor impact on product pricing, notes the World Economic Forum.

By leveraging technology through a digital transformation, businesses can achieve transparency, energy efficiency, and waste minimization across their entire supply chain operations.

Here’s a rundown of some specific technologies currently being used in the supply chain to help take sustainability to new levels.

Cloud technology products unify data intelligence and provide organizations with the overall visibility—often in real time—needed to both improve sustainability reporting and track the insights necessary to make decisions for long-term business transformation.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning play crucial roles in enabling the sustainability effort by helping identify trends and patterns in large amounts of data and providing insights that you wouldn’t see otherwise.

Blockchain technology, while still in its early stages, has attracted attention as a record ledger. Blockchain enables organizations to trace each step in the supply chain as well as the carbon footprint changes that result from digital transformation and other attributes.

Public cloud ERP systems can specialize in environmental aspects and automate calculating product and organizational carbon footprints.

Smart devices are—or will be—used to mitigate the environmental impact of supply chain operations:

• Drones used in last-mile deliveries have an impact on customer satisfaction, variable costs, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
• Telematics can be used to track the condition of a vehicle and the actions of its driver—for instance, driving with low rpm reduces fuel consumption.
• Self-driving vehicles minimize GHG emissions by carrying more items per trip because the driver compartment is used as an additional storage area. Connectivity between these IoTs aids in route and traffic optimization to save on costs and GHG emissions.

Electric vehicles can drastically reduce GHG emissions without a negative impact on supply chain operations if the majority of electricity in a location is generated by green energy sources and adequate charging infrastructure is in place.

3D printing, or additive manufacturing, allows companies to computerize their intermediate goods and re-create them in the next production location using digital code. 3D printing offers several opportunities to lower transportation costs, reduce GHG emissions, and save time.

Supply chain sustainability is no longer a nice-to-have but rather a business imperative to help grow the bottom and the top line.

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The answer lies in the prioritizing traceability. Ensuring accurate traceability goes beyond mere processes into the importance of ensuring product quality and building and maintaining consumer trust.

The benefits of traceability significantly outweigh the time and cost required to establish an effective system. Here are eight essential steps needed to build an accurate traceability system that customers can rely on:

1. Identify your processes and materials. The first thing manufacturers must do is identify both the materials and the individual steps along the production process. This can be organized through either a standards-based naming system or an internally established naming system, allowing manufacturers to make sense of the information that has been collected as it’s being gathered.

2. Develop your lot definitions. To determine the level of traceability needed, it’s important to define and understand lot sizes.

Traditionally, a production lot encompassed a specific product’s extensive, multi-day production process, but as manufacturers optimized production, lot sizes became significantly smaller.

Today the definition of a production lot is no longer solely based on the number of products, but is now more nuanced, considering specific elements of the production process to enable better control, quality assurance, and traceability in modern manufacturing environments.

3. Mark materials. Marking products with identifiers is a key step in developing an accurate traceability system within a manufacturing facility as it enables the tracking of materials and products throughout the entire production process.

Products can be marked through an RFID tag, barcode, or another technology in the firmware of a machine, station, or test stand to trace the process as raw materials are received and finished goods are produced.

Marking is a continuous aspect of the production process that is critical to quality control, regulatory compliance, and overall process efficiency.

4. Begin collecting evidence for traceability. Once manufacturers are ready to begin collecting information, they should focus on the raw materials.

Manufacturers must record the arrival of raw materials to the workstation, their movement through the manufacturing process, and how they associate with the specific products being produced.

This systematic approach ensures a clear record of which materials are used and how, laying the foundation for accurate traceability throughout.

5. Manage inbound materials. The next step is to validate inbound materials against the prescribed recipe or bill. Traceability systems should be designed to record the movement of materials and establish a genealogy tree of content, mapping the relationships between internal lots and components. This is then used in the manufacturing process to guarantee that the right materials are used at the right stages.

In addition, traceability enhances manufacturing efficiency by allowing for real-time adjustments, material replenishment signals, and procedural automation.

6. Authenticate process information. The authentication process ensures that products move through the production line in the right order and at the right time, with validation efforts ranging from high-level checks based on routing plans to more intricate assessments involving machine controls and detailed measurements.

7. Label products and containers. Proper labeling is crucial to maintain uninterrupted production, prevent delays, and ensure the profitability of manufacturing plants.

Incorrect labels on packages are the primary cause of customer returns; these may result from inaccuracies in the label information, quantity discrepancies, or part number errors. The consequences of such issues include not only financial losses for manufacturers but also a decline in customer satisfaction and trust.

From a consumer standpoint, accurate labeling avoids the disappointment of receiving a product that does not meet expectations.

8. Conduct lot acceptance testing. Once all of the information is in place, manufacturers can take samples of products during the production process and subject them to quality testing in a lab. This testing involves assessing key parameters such as parts per million, stress levels, dimensional accuracy, etc.

Years ago, manufacturers would have had to shut down an entire plant if their components failed the testing. Today, they can conduct lot acceptance testing with a high degree of traceability that allows manufacturers to easily identify what went into the specific product and, by extension, which population of products might have been affected.

As the manufacturing landscape continues to evolve, an accurate traceability system has never been more important. The steps outlined above, from identifying processes and materials to conducting lot acceptance testing, form a comprehensive framework that enhances the accuracy of traceability and contributes to product quality and fosters customer trust.

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In response, more freight companies are turning to fulfillment centers, trailer pools, and drop-and-hook equipment capabilities to keep drivers—and their goods—constantly moving. With a limited supply of drivers, customers can’t afford for those drivers to be waiting.

Having trailer pools loaded and ready to go can reduce driver inefficiencies and optimize limited dock doors and warehouse staff to keep fulfillment centers running.

I see 2024 as a year of reimagining a more efficient, resilient and responsive supply chain. Three areas stand out.

1. Nearshoring. With continued geopolitical instability around the world, more investments are happening in manufacturing in the United States and Mexico. The nearshoring trend could expand even further into regionalized manufacturing, resulting in more demand for trucks, trailers, and equipment domestically.

2. Electrification. Now that light-duty electric freight vehicles are on the market, we expect further electrification or another anti-emissions technology for commercial trucks within the next five years.

This innovation presents challenges. If today’s diesel tractors were replaced with much heavier electric trucks, one-third of the truckload sector would be too heavy for U.S. roads, according to the American Transportation Road Institute.

OEMs today recognize extreme lightweighting will become necessary to facilitate this transition and maintain similar levels of freight on trucks.

Electrification will also impact cold air management, currently powered by diesel fuel. Swapping out these systems for an electric motor would make the vehicle heavier. Lighter and more thermally efficient materials will be necessary to adopt electrification for transporting food and pharmaceuticals.

3. Autonomous freight. We expect adoption of autonomous trucking in the next 10 years, especially for long distances through middle America. The first major use could be in dedicated routes from “drop zones.”

Imagine: an autonomous truck grabs a trailer from an AV drop zone on the West Coast and hauls it east to the Midwest. Then, that autonomous truck drops the trailer at another AV landing pad, right off the highway, where a driver from Kentucky picks up the trailer, then navigates the tricky urban interchanges and ultimately delivers it to its final destination. These advancements could help ease driver shortage concerns, reduce inefficiencies, and eliminate empty miles.

As these macro trends unfold, a unifying thread emerges: a profound shift in the movement of freight across North America. Nearshoring will disperse freight origins beyond traditional port cities. The rise of electric vehicles is anticipated to concentrate freight flow around well-equipped infrastructure and the emergence of autonomous vehicles promises fundamental alterations in freight transportation.

This transformative landscape not only requires more equipment, but also equipment that is lighter, more thermally efficient and more intricately connected than ever.

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Ongoing attacks on container ships in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthi rebels have caused major shipping companies and oil/gas firms to suspend shipments through the Suez Canal, one of the most active shipping routes in the world.

As a result, vessels are forced on a 3,280-mile detour around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. This alternate route adds an average of 12 days and up to $1 million in fuel expenses for every roundtrip journey between Asia and Northern Europe.

Lost time and money—the factors supply chains feel most acutely—dominate press coverage of the Red Sea disruptions. But far fewer conversations have highlighted the ballooning emissions impact of the conflict, which currently shows no signs of abating.

Diverting cargo ships away from the Red Sea and around Africa requires burning more fossil fuels, causing greenhouse gas emissions to spike. For example, a trip from Singapore to Rotterdam roughly equates to a 40% increase in carbon emissions, according to Breakthrough calculations.

With a disruption of this magnitude, how can we collectively meet emissions reduction goals at a critical moment for climate warming benchmarks?

Geopolitical conflict isn’t the whole story. Climate impacts exacerbate maritime costs and emissions.

The Red Sea conflict is just one of many global factors impacting shipping. Halfway across the globe from the Red Sea, vessels are also diverting away from the Panama Canal. Prolonged drought in the region has severely reduced water levels, spurring the Panama Canal Authority to reduce the number of daily canal passages by a third.

A voyage from Asia to the Caribbean takes approximately 26 days via the Panama Canal. It’s estimated 4,000 ships will need to opt for other routes. One alternative? Travel west around the Cape of Good Hope, extending the average travel time to 39 days.

Approximately half of re-routed ships are expected to opt for this course, adding to the armada of ships circumventing the Red Sea. Under different circumstances, some container carriers may have chosen to redirect goods onto vessels headed through the Suez Canal, but that option is off the table for now.

In both the Red Sea and Panama Canal situations, shippers and carriers are at the mercy of forces beyond their control. Opting for long detours that generate more emissions is unavoidable for the foreseeable future.

However, making progress toward sustainability goals and requirements isn’t completely out of reach. It will just take innovative ideas and immediate action.

How to find emissions reduction opportunities you didn’t know existed

Unfortunately, you can’t just put progress on pause until the Red Sea region stabilizes and the drought ends in Panama. Because here’s the bottom line: Even if you’re working toward transportation sustainability goals that seem distant (e.g., with target dates of  2030 or 2050), you still don’t have time to lose.

Delaying action will only make starting harder. Besides, who knows what new geopolitical and climate challenges await in the years ahead?

It may not be easy to reduce scope 1 & 3 transportation emissions in 2024 given the global forces at play. But calculating your emissions baseline and understanding emissions reduction opportunities available in your network is achievable.

Think of your emissions output like a stock portfolio. Yes, the Red Sea trade line is down. But if you can reduce emissions in another part of your portfolio, you can make up the gap.

Maybe it’s by optimizing carrier selection. Or maybe it’s by moving truckloads to rail or alternative energy modes. Some opportunities may look like a drop in the bucket on their own, but the impact is visible once you zoom out and view them collectively.

To start moving the needle on emissions, you need two things: (1) A lane-level view of your entire transportation network and (2) a granular understanding of the emissions output attributed to each lane.

This tells you the emissions intensity of every lane in your network so you can calculate exactly how disruptions like the Red Sea conflict are impacting your emissions baseline. 

From there, it becomes easier to identify opportunities in your network to offset that impact—and to measure the real outcome of your actions.

Knowledge is power. When you have access to your transportation data, you can build a more resilient and sustainable supply chain. Don’t delay emissions reduction progress or punt sustainability efforts to 2025. You have options. All you have to do is look for them.

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Strive for Operational Excellence 

Instilling a culture of continuous improvement means striving to optimize operational processes and performance at every turn. This is achieved by investing in cutting-edge logistics technologies to equip teams with data-driven insights, providing necessary resources for employees to effectively implement best practices, and creating opportunities for a dynamic feedback loop between executives, warehouse managers, and operational staff. 

Be Purpose-Driven 

Being purpose-driven means integrating values into your business that align with your customers, employees, and stakeholders. Values like customer-centricity, sustainability, high efficiency, and partnership should be at the core of a purpose-driven logistics organization.  

Encourage Open Communication 

Open dialog fosters a supportive culture where your employees’ feedback and concerns are discussed, and importantly, encouraged. Having an open-door policy, which may include 15 minutes to have coffee with the COO, promotes trust and transparency at every level. 

Create Opportunities for Recognition 

Initiatives such as work anniversary awards or company lunches to celebrate safety milestones like “90 Days with No Accidents,” are ways to acknowledge employee contributions and efforts. These company events also create opportunities for informal interaction between coworkers – boosting your team’s morale and promoting a positive work culture.

Enhance Safety 

Continuous enhancement of safety measures – from the warehouse to the loading dock to the trucking fleet – demonstrates a commitment to employee wellbeing. Involving employees in safety committees that meet regularly to discuss and address safety concerns or suggestions empowers them to take an active role in shaping a safer work environment. 

Hold Daily Meetings

Holding 30-minute daily operational briefings serves as a critical time to align with cross-functional teams – sharing important information and proactively preparing for the day ahead. These meetings open the opportunity for employees to collaborate, voice concerns, solve problems, stay informed, and participate in day-to-day decision-making.

Promote From Within 

Promoting from within provides employees with an opportunity to grow within your organization. It’s also an effective way to prepare future leaders, ensuring you have a pool of talent ready for the next step in their career and to take on leadership positions. 

Set Clear Goals

Setting goals provides employees with a framework for regular feedback and performance evaluation. By meeting weekly or even monthly with managers, employees can evaluate their progress against meeting their goals – both from a professional development and operational perspective. 

Provide Training & Access to Cutting-Edge Technology

With access to real-time data, your team can make more informed business decisions, streamline processes, and improve efficiency. However, if they lack the knowledge or skills needed to leverage technology effectively, potential will go untapped. That’s why it’s important to provide thorough training to ensure your team is up to date on the latest technology.

Empower Decision-Making 

By empowering employees to take ownership of decision making, they develop a deeper sense of accountability. This ownership instills a greater level of commitment to their work and your organization.

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The Unseen Goldmine

Every digital interaction, sensor reading, and transaction leaves a trail of data. From GPS trackers on shipping containers to time stamps on warehouse scanners, each piece of information is a potential goldmine of insights.

Unfortunately, much of it remains unused, sitting in data warehouses or cloud storage, gathering virtual dust. It’s estimated that 90% of generated data is never analyzed or acted upon.

The key to unlocking the power of dark data is artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. These technologies can sift through the noise, find patterns, and provide actionable insights.

For logistics, this might mean identifying inefficiencies in route planning or predicting maintenance issues before they cause downtime. In transportation, it could translate to optimizing fuel usage or improving delivery times by anticipating traffic patterns.

Reduce carbon footprints. By analyzing unused data, companies can optimize routes not just for speed and cost, but for environmental impact as well. This could lead to a significant reduction in carbon footprints, helping companies meet regulatory requirements and customer expectations for green logistics.

Predict the future. Dark data can improve forecast demand, adjust to market fluctuations, and even predict global trends that might affect supply chains. This foresight is invaluable in a world where agility and adaptability are not just advantageous but essential for survival and success.

Mitigate risks. By analyzing historical data, logistics and transportation companies can identify potential risks before they become issues, from supplier reliability to geopolitical instabilities affecting trade routes.

Illuminating the Darkness

How do we step into the light of dark data? The journey begins with investment in data analytics capabilities. Businesses must prioritize the integration of AI and machine learning into their operations.

But the technology alone isn’t enough. It requires a cultural shift, one that values data-driven decision-making and continuous learning. While AI can illuminate trends and patterns, the human element remains critical.

The insights gained from dark data need to be interpreted and implemented by skilled professionals who can translate complex data into strategic actions.

Privacy and security concerns must be at the forefront. It’s essential to balance the quest for insights with the responsibility of safeguarding sensitive information.

By bringing dark data into the light, businesses can discover new ways to optimize operations, reduce costs, increase sustainability, and stay ahead of the curve.

Ignite the potential of dark data, and lead your organization toward a brighter, more informed future. The age of data illumination is here.

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Efficiency through technology. Embrace and invest in user-friendly mobile applications and route optimization software to streamline operations. This should include real-time navigation and traffic updates, which allow workers to make better decisions on the road.

Implement a digital proof of delivery system to enhance accountability and eliminate paperwork that will remove the administrative lift off your team.

Training and development. Provide regular training sessions to equip your team with the knowledge and skills they need to excel. Training should cover everything from safety protocols and customer service to efficient delivery methods that can significantly boost their confidence and performance.

Foster an environment where your workers continuously learn. That shows your commitment to their professional growth.

Fair compensation and benefits. Fair wages, overtime pay, and performance-based incentives motivate your team to consistently meet and exceed customer expectations. Prioritize providing comprehensive benefits including access to healthcare services and mental health support. This is an easy way to keep employees happy and loyal to your brand.

Work-life balance. Implement flexible scheduling options that cater to your delivery workers’ individual needs. Allowing your team to attend to personal responsibilities without compromising their job performance is essential to prevent burnout and maintain a happy and productive workforce.

Open communication channels. Create a culture of open communication where your delivery workers feel heard and valued. It’s healthy to provide constructive feedback on performance and customer interactions. Be receptive and take actions that ensure your employees feel their voices are heard.

While investing in the well-being and satisfaction of your delivery workers is a matter of corporate responsibility, it’s also a strategic move that pays dividends in improved customer service and operational efficiency.

Generally, customer satisfaction is a leading reason consumers often return and then stay loyal to certain brands. Many things contribute to this, like a positive attitude and professionalism that leaves a lasting impression.

Additionally, satisfied customers are more likely to recommend your services to others. This fosters a strong company reputation that can attract new clients and partnerships while building rapport with existing ones.

A Ripple Effect

Beyond your delivery workers, think of your larger administrative team. When your workers are happy, this reduces company turnover which can be costly and disruptive. Dedicated employees are invaluable to your logistics operation and should never be taken for granted.

By leveraging technology, providing training and competitive compensation, promoting work-life balance, and fostering open communication, you can ensure your biggest assets continue to drive your operation toward excellence.

A happy delivery team leads to happy customers and a thriving business.

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