Wisdom in the blogs

For a long time, I must admit, I didn't really get blogs. It wasn't until we built our own team of bloggers here at DC Velocity that I finally understood the significant value they can offer.

I raise the topic now because I've just been browsing some recent blogs by our commentators at dcvelocity.com. I am convinced we have some of the best bloggers writing on supply chain, logistics, distribution, and transportation issues in the business. I urge you to check them out. To whet your appetite, let me just tell you a bit of what's on their minds these days:

Steve Geary, president of Supply Chain Visions who also writes periodically for the magazine and blogs on defense logistics, recently wrote about how Boeing not only goes out of its way to hire veterans, but also makes a point of recognizing their service. He notes that companies like Boeing are doing the right thing by both veterans and the business. "The company is taking advantage of all that the military has shared with these veterans—leadership, innovation, experience, world view, loyalty, team work, discipline—in addition to the technical training and skill gained while in uniform."

Kate Lee, a strategist for Fronetics Strategic Advisors, comments on productivity in her blog. Recently, she penned an intriguing piece on using social media as an innovation engine, one that can help enterprises overcome the delays often associated with traditional approaches to innovation. "You can leverage social media as an innovation engine by monitoring the conversations taking place about your company and your products and services," Lee argues, and she offers examples of how to do just that.

When Amazon said it might boost the price of its highly successful Prime membership program, blogger Chris Jones of Descartes weighed in with an analysis of what that might mean not just for Amazon but for any company that offers free or cheap shipping to customers. "The lesson for all logistics-intensive companies is that, sooner or later, free or highly subsidized delivery-based growth strategies give way to the most fundamental economic theory—profit matters," he asserts.

We also have bloggers writing on management, finance, supply chain, regulation and legislation, technology, and young professionals. And we'll be adding others soon on material handling and reverse logistics. The blogs are fresh, opinionated, and thought provoking. I'm proud to have these contributors as partners in our ongoing quest to be a leading provider of information and ideas to this profession, and I commend them to you.