Ben Ames has spent 20 years as a journalist since starting out as a daily newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania in 1995. From 1999 forward, he has focused on business and technology reporting for a number of trade journals, beginning when he joined Design News and Modern Materials Handling magazines. Ames is author of the trail guide "Hiking Massachusetts" and is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism.
Brick and mortar retailers are planning significant technology investments over the next four years as they look for ways to fulfill e-commerce orders directly off store shelves, according to a survey released today.
Nearly 70 percent of retail decision makers surveyed are ready to make changes to adopt the Internet of Things (IoT), and 65 percent plan to invest in automation technologies for inventory management and planogram compliance by 2021, Zebra Technologies Corp. said.
The results come from Lincolnshire, Ill.-based Zebra's "2017 Retail Vision Study," a survey of nearly 1,700 retail decision makers worldwide that was conducted by the online survey firms Research Now Group Inc. and Qualtrics LLC.
"A lot of retailers are looking to use the store's back room as a warehouse for fulfillment," said Tom Moore, Zebra's industry lead for the retail & hospitality industry, in a phone interview. "Retailers are looking to leverage their footprint and use their real estate in the store to play in the e-commerce world."
Retailers are increasing their investment in technologies to enable e-commerce fulfillment because companies face three main challenges in trying to operate the store as a warehouse, he said. Most retailers track their goods with store inventory software that doesn't share data with their warehouse management system (WMS), their order management system is outdated, and they lack sufficient inventory visibility, Moore said.
Together, those hurdles make it difficult to track the goods on the shelves and to match them with incoming e-commerce orders. Most retailers have 98 to 99 percent inventory accuracy at the time they receive their goods from the warehouse, but that number drops to 50 to 60 percent by the time the goods hit the shelves, Moore said. A store that is willing to pay its employees to perform cycle counts can get the figure up to 70 to 80 percent, but most stores can't afford that expense, he said.
In response to that challenge, 79 percent of North American retailers plan to invest in IoT-enabling technology such as automated inventory verification systems and sensors on shelves by 2021, the Zebra survey found. And 57 percent of all retailers said they think by 2021, automation will help them pack and ship orders, track inventory, check in-store inventory levels, and help customers find items, the survey showed.
To reach that goal, 87 percent of retailers say they are planning to invest in technologies such as mobile point of sale (POS) devices that let shoppers pay for purchases anywhere in the store, the survey said. Another key technology is the array of sensors and beacons that let stores use location-based applications that communicate with individual shoppers' smartphones, linking their online shopping accounts with their in-store activity, according to Moore.
Finally, a third technology set for rising demand is radio frequency identification (RFID), the decades-old automatic identification (auto ID) method that has long been criticized for being too expensive for everyday goods. However, falling prices for RFID tags and scanners now make it worthwhile for retailers to tag items worth as little as $25, Moore said.
States across the Southeast woke up today to find that the immediate weather impacts from Hurricane Helene are done, but the impacts to people, businesses, and the supply chain continue to be a major headache, according to Everstream Analytics.
The primary problem is the collection of massive power outages caused by the storm’s punishing winds and rainfall, now affecting some 2 million customers across the Southeast region of the U.S.
One organization working to rush help to affected regions since the storm hit Florida’s western coast on Thursday night is the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). As it does after most serious storms, the group continues to marshal donated resources from supply chain service providers in order to store, stage, and deliver help where it’s needed.
Support for recovery efforts is coming from a massive injection of federal aid, since the White House declared states of emergency last week for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Affected states are also supporting the rush of materials to needed zones by suspending transportation requirement such as certain licensing agreements, fuel taxes, weight restrictions, and hours of service caps, ALAN said.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
Two European companies are among the most recent firms to put autonomous last-mile delivery to the test with a project in Bern, Switzerland, that debuted this month.
Swiss transportation and logistics company Planzer has teamed up with fellow Swiss firm Loxo, which develops autonomous driving software solutions, for a two-year pilot project in which a Loxo-equipped, Planzer parcel delivery van will handle last-mile logistics in Bern’s city center.
The project coincides with Swiss regulations on autonomous driving that are expected to take effect next spring.
Referred to as “Planzer–Dynamic Micro-Hub w LOXO,” the project aims to address both sustainability issues and traffic congestion in urban areas.
The delivery vehicle, a Volkswagen ID. Buzz battery-electric minivan, will feature Loxo’s Level 4 Digital Driver navigation software, a highly automated solution that allows driverless operation. The van was retrofitted to include space for two swap boxes for parcel storage.
During the two-year pilot phase, Loxo’s Digital Driver will navigate a commercial vehicle several times a day from Planzer’s railway center to various logistics points in Bern's city center. There, the parcels will be reloaded onto small electric vehicles and delivered to end customers by Planzer’s parcel delivery staff.
Following the completion of the pilot phase, Planzer and Loxo will build on the program for rollout in other Swiss cities, the companies said.
The partners said the project addresses the increasing requirements of urban supply chains and aims to ensure the “scalability of their disruptive solution.” With largely emission-free delivery, it contributes to greater levels of sustainability for the city as a living space, they also said.
“The uniqueness of this project lies in the fact that it will have a direct impact on society,” Planzer’s CEO and Chairman Nils Planzer said in a statement announcing the project. “We didn't just want to integrate automated technology into existing systems, we wanted to develop a completely new concept and a new business model.”
As the hours tick down toward a “seemingly imminent” strike by East Coast and Gulf Coast dockworkers, experts are warning that the impacts of that move would mushroom well-beyond the actual strike locations, causing prevalent shipping delays, container ship congestion, port congestion on West coast ports, and stranded freight.
However, a strike now seems “nearly unavoidable,” as no bargaining sessions are scheduled prior to the September 30 contract expiration between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) in their negotiations over wages and automation, according to the transportation law firm Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary.
The facilities affected would include some 45,000 port workers at 36 locations, including high-volume U.S. ports from Boston, New York / New Jersey, and Norfolk, to Savannah and Charleston, and down to New Orleans and Houston. With such widespread geography, a strike would likely lead to congestion from diverted traffic, as well as knock-on effects include the potential risk of increased freight rates and costly charges such as demurrage, detention, per diem, and dwell time fees on containers that may be slowed due to the congestion, according to an analysis by another transportation and logistics sector law firm, Benesch.
The weight of those combined blows means that many companies are already planning ways to minimize damage and recover quickly from the event. According to Scopelitis’ advice, mitigation measures could include: preparing for congestion on West coast ports, taking advantage of intermodal ground transportation where possible, looking for alternatives including air transport when necessary for urgent delivery, delaying shipping from East and Gulf coast ports until after the strike, and budgeting for increased freight and container fees.
Additional advice on softening the blow of a potential coastwide strike came from John Donigian, senior director of supply chain strategy at Moody’s. In a statement, he named six supply chain strategies for companies to consider: expedite certain shipments, reallocate existing inventory strategically, lock in alternative capacity with trucking and rail providers , communicate transparently with stakeholders to set realistic expectations for delivery timelines, shift sourcing to regional suppliers if possible, and utilize drop shipping to maintain sales.
National nonprofit Wreaths Across America (WAA) kicked off its 2024 season this week with a call for volunteers. The group, which honors U.S. military veterans through a range of civic outreach programs, is seeking trucking companies and professional drivers to help deliver wreaths to cemeteries across the country for its annual wreath-laying ceremony, December 14.
“Wreaths Across America relies on the transportation industry to move the mission. The Honor Fleet, composed of dedicated carriers, professional drivers, and other transportation partners, guarantees the delivery of millions of sponsored veterans’ wreaths to their destination each year,” Courtney George, WAA’s director of trucking and industry relations, said in a statement Tuesday. “Transportation partners benefit from driver retention and recruitment, employee engagement, positive brand exposure, and the opportunity to give back to their community’s veterans and military families.”
WAA delivers wreaths to more than 4,500 locations nationwide, and as of this week had added more than 20 loads to be delivered this season. The wreaths are donated by sponsors from across the country, delivered by truckers, and laid at the graves of veterans by WAA volunteers.
Wreaths Across America
Transportation companies interested in joining the Honor Fleet can visit the WAA website to find an open lane or contact the WAA transportation team at trucking@wreathsacrossamerica.org for more information.