Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.
Last year was a busy one for supply chain resiliency. That's unfortunate, because that meant a string of major disasters forced too many supply chains into costly reactive mode. Worldwide, total economic losses in 2017 due to natural and man-made disasters soared 63 percent to $306 billion, according to reinsurance firm Swiss Re. The U.S. was the hardest-hit region, posting $93 billion in losses mostly from a trio of devastating hurricanes during the late summer and fall.
For the supply chain, disasters are a fact of life, and will become a more expensive fact should incidents increase in frequency and severity, as many experts expect. However, as Aaron Parrott, specialist leader in Deloitte Consulting's supply chain and manufacturing operations practice, explains in a recent conversation with Mark B. Solomon, DC Velocity's executive editor-news, there are ways to mitigate the consequences, though not eliminate them.
Q: There were several high-profile disasters during 2017. Did last year's events move the needle in terms of getting businesses to be proactive about hardening their supply chains? Or are businesses still in a reactive mode and view this as a cost of doing business?
A: While 2017 was certainly a notable year for high-profile disasters, we're not seeing business leaders write big checks to overhaul their supply chains. For some companies in highly impacted regions, these disasters may have caused sudden ruptures in their supply chains and revealed unforeseen vulnerabilities. However, when it comes to building supply chain resiliency, we see most companies taking a piecemeal approach over a longer period.
Q: You stress the importance of pushing disaster planning and execution up the supply chain. Given that most large manufacturers have hundreds of suppliers around the world, can such resiliency be consistently achieved without prohibitive cost?
A: For many large manufacturers, 70 to 80 percent of their product value comes from the supply base. An unforeseen issue with just one critical supplier can jeopardize a manufacturer's entire operation and bring production to a standstill. For companies with complex and expansive supply chains, I recommend starting by focusing on the 15 to 20 percent of components and parts that are critical to continuing operations. This more limited focus will avoid incurring high costs while still ensuring continued production through challenging periods.
Securing resiliency can be achieved without prohibitive cost. In the past five years, the cost of implementation has decreased and ease-of-use for digital tools has increased significantly. This allows businesses to integrate cost-effective sensors and software packages to better collaborate with suppliers as well as enable blockchain solutions and data analytics software that can pinpoint and anticipate potential areas of concern.
Q: Beyond the obvious priority of ensuring the safety of employees, what should a company's to-do list be as it is developing a disaster-response plan?
A: A first step is to increase visibility into the supply chain. If your eyes are closed when disaster strikes, you'll end up fumbling in the dark and grasping for solutions.
This visibility requires mapping the supply chain—developing a multi-tier perspective to better understand the overall network. Next, manufacturers must strategically locate any areas where potential supply chain failures might occur. For example, a manufacturer might learn that all its suppliers for one specific component are located in a hurricane-prone area. Can production survive without these suppliers? Are there alternative suppliers that can diversify the components' availability and reduce risk? By answering these questions, manufacturers can more effectively pre-empt disaster-related challenges.
Finally, complex supply networks require advanced digital solutions, including the ability to track material movement, collaborate in real time, and integrate data across multiple systems and locations, along with data analytics to predict supply disruptions and identify current issues. These tools allow for multinodal communication, enabling instantaneous synchronization across the supply chain and providing manufacturers with complete end-to-end transparency. This real-time information, coupled with unfurled supply chain maps, can allow manufacturers to quickly recognize problems, identify solutions, and pursue preventive actions.
Q: What are the challenges in trying to build disaster plans across very long distances and many different cultures?
A: In today's business world, distance and cultural differences no longer tend to pose significant barriers. In fact, the global nature of business often provides significant value for companies that efficiently source through the most cost-effective supply chain networks. As previously mentioned, digital solutions are vital to securing supply chains, enabling manufacturers to maintain always-on agility. These capabilities are essential—not only for global supply chains, but also for national and regional supply chains.
However, companies that fail to maintain clear visibility into their supply chains may be unaware of supply chain issues occurring on the other side of the globe. End manufacturers may not learn of an issue for three or four weeks after a disaster takes place. Without up-to-the-minute information, companies lose the ability to respond effectively to real-time situations. By translating the physical world into the digital world, manufacturers can more accurately capture and analyze data, building resiliency against otherwise unpredictable situations.
Q: All the planning in the world may not help in the event of a sudden disaster and emergency, or if a storm changes its original course. Is there any way for companies to plan for the unforeseen, and if they can't cover all bases, what should they focus on?
A: Securing the 15 to 20 percent of your supply chain containing the most critical components to your products should be the first priority. But planning for the unforeseen requires building a comprehensive infrastructure around your supply chain. Digital technologies are crucial to gaining real-time insights. If components suddenly stop in transit, sensors and trackers can signal a manufacturer immediately and trigger an appropriate response.
Gaining visibility should also be a priority—not only for disaster planning, but also to maintain a competitive edge. Know where your components come from; learn who supplies your suppliers and establish a deep understanding of how your products come together. Building this bank of knowledge and enhancing it with digital insights enables a manufacturer to become more agile and proactive. This agility will not only prove invaluable in terms of disaster response, but also in allowing manufacturers to efficiently source components and boost revenues. Disasters and supply chain interruptions are going to happen, and they are impossible to avoid. Enabling these capabilities will allow companies to respond more quickly, make better decisions, and get their supply chain back up and running faster.
Q: How much traction has the control tower concept received as a proactive strategy?
A: As digital technologies continue driving supply chain resiliency, the most advanced control tower concepts allow for end-to-end transparency and enable a fully integrated network. This degree of visibility and connected information within the supply chain allows for proactive event management in disaster situations and even automated decision-making.
Establishing an advanced control tower to monitor the entire supply chain is the most holistic solution for building resiliency, but it's not necessary for every company. This concept is scalable and can be shaped to meet a range of companies' needs. Again, the control tower concept should not be understood as a one-time solution, but rather a foundation to build on. Start with the basics—increasing supply chain visibility—and scale up capabilities as needed to secure supply chain value.
Q: Can you briefly provide an example of a company that, in your view, does disaster planning right?
A: When the topic of supply chains enters mainstream conversation, it's usually because a company has failed to foresee potential vulnerabilities in the event of a disaster. Some companies were devastated by the previous natural disasters, like the 2011 earthquake in Japan, but have since become models of building progressive supply chain resiliency. Some have effectively navigated multiple earthquake tremors—relying on real-time data, predeveloped contingency plans, and strategic relationships with alternative suppliers.
In extreme disasters, it's virtually impossible to keep operations running at 100 percent, but with proper planning, business leaders can protect supply chain value as well as ensure the safety of their employees.
Q: What role does your organization play in supporting businesses in this area?
A: The tasks of mapping supply chains, identifying the proper digital tools, and developing strategic know-how can be daunting—especially for the world's biggest and most complex businesses. As a leader in building supply chain resiliency, Deloitte quickly bridges the gap between concept and implementation. From developing a strategy to initiating execution, Deloitte's capabilities can help businesses adopt scalable solutions that best meet their needs.
Building awareness of possible disruptions is half the battle. If one supplier is hit with disaster, do you have a backup supplier to fill the void? Do you maintain enough buffer inventory to cushion production during a supply shortage? How can you synchronize your internal and external data to derive real-time solutions? These are just a handful of the many questions companies must ask when building supply chain resiliency.
Warehouse automation orders declined by 3% in 2024, according to a February report from market research firm Interact Analysis. The company said the decline was due to economic, political, and market-specific challenges, including persistently high interest rates in many regions and the residual effects of an oversupply of warehouses built during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The research also found that increasing competition from Chinese vendors is expected to drive down prices and slow revenue growth over the report’s forecast period to 2030.
Global macro-economic factors such as high interest rates, political uncertainty around elections, and the Chinese real estate crisis have “significantly impacted sales cycles, slowing the pace of orders,” according to the report.
Despite the decline, analysts said growth is expected to pick up from 2025, which they said they anticipate will mark a year of slow recovery for the sector. Pre-pandemic growth levels are expected to return in 2026, with long-term expansion projected at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8% between 2024 and 2030.
The analysis also found two market segments that are bucking the trend: durable manufacturing and food & beverage industries continued to spend on automation during the downturn. Warehouse automation revenues in food & beverage, in particular, were bolstered by cold-chain automation, as well as by large-scale projects from consumer-packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers. The sectors registered the highest growth in warehouse automation revenues between 2022 and 2024, with increases of 11% (durable manufacturing) and 10% (food & beverage), according to the research.
The Swedish supply chain software company Kodiak Hub is expanding into the U.S. market, backed by a $6 million venture capital boost for its supplier relationship management (SRM) platform.
The Stockholm-based company says its move could help U.S. companies build resilient, sustainable supply chains amid growing pressure from regulatory changes, emerging tariffs, and increasing demands for supply chain transparency.
According to the company, its platform gives procurement teams a 360-degree view of supplier risk, resiliency, and performance, helping them to make smarter decisions faster. Kodiak Hub says its artificial intelligence (AI) based tech has helped users to reduce supplier onboarding times by 80%, improve supplier engagement by 90%, achieve 7-10% cost savings on total spend, and save approximately 10 hours per week by automating certain SRM tasks.
The Swedish venture capital firm Oxx had a similar message when it announced in November that it would back Kodiak Hub with new funding. Oxx says that Kodiak Hub is a better tool for chief procurement officers (CPOs) and strategic sourcing managers than existing software platforms like Excel sheets, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, or Procure-to-Pay suites.
“As demand for transparency and fair-trade practices grows, organizations must strengthen their supply chains to protect their reputation, profitability, and long-term trust,” Malin Schmidt, founder & CEO of Kodiak Hub, said in a release. “By embedding AI-driven insights directly into procurement workflows, our platform helps procurement teams anticipate these risks and unlock major opportunities for growth.”
Here's our monthly roundup of some of the charitable works and donations by companies in the material handling and logistics space.
For the sixth consecutive year, dedicated contract carriage and freight management services provider Transervice Logistics Inc. collected books, CDs, DVDs, and magazines for Book Fairies, a nonprofit book donation organization in the New York Tri-State area. Transervice employees broke their own in-house record last year by donating 13 boxes of print and video assets to children in under-resourced communities on Long Island and the five boroughs of New York City.
Logistics real estate investment and development firm Dermody Properties has recognized eight community organizations in markets where it operates with its 2024 Annual Thanksgiving Capstone awards. The organizations, which included food banks and disaster relief agencies, received a combined $85,000 in awards ranging from $5,000 to $25,000.
Prime Inc. truck driver Dee Sova has donated $5,000 to Harmony House, an organization that provides shelter and support services to domestic violence survivors in Springfield, Missouri. The donation follows Sova's selection as the 2024 recipient of the Trucking Cares Foundation's John Lex Premier Achievement Award, which was accompanied by a $5,000 check to be given in her name to a charity of her choice.
Employees of dedicated contract carrier Lily Transportation donated dog food and supplies to a local animal shelter at a holiday event held at the company's Fort Worth, Texas, location. The event, which benefited City of Saginaw (Texas) Animal Services, was coordinated by "Lily Paws," a dedicated committee within Lily Transportation that focuses on improving the lives of shelter dogs nationwide.
Freight transportation conglomerate Averitt has continued its support of military service members by participating in the "10,000 for the Troops" card collection program organized by radio station New Country 96.3 KSCS in Dallas/Fort Worth. In 2024, Averitt associates collected and shipped more than 18,000 holiday cards to troops overseas. Contributions included cards from 17 different Averitt facilities, primarily in Texas, along with 4,000 cards from the company's corporate office in Cookeville, Tennessee.
Electric vehicle (EV) sales have seen slow and steady growth, as the vehicles continue to gain converts among consumers and delivery fleet operators alike. But a consistent frustration for drivers has been pulling up to a charging station only to find that the charger has been intentionally broken or disabled.
To address that threat, the EV charging solution provider ChargePoint has launched two products to combat charger vandalism.
The first is a cut-resistant charging cable that's designed to deter theft. The cable, which incorporates what the manufacturer calls "novel cut-resistant materials," is substantially more difficult for would-be vandals to cut but is still flexible enough for drivers to maneuver comfortably, the California firm said. ChargePoint intends to make its cut-resistant cables available for all of its commercial and fleet charging stations, and, starting in the middle of the year, will license the cable design to other charging station manufacturers as part of an industrywide effort to combat cable theft and vandalism.
The second product, ChargePoint Protect, is an alarm system that detects charging cable tampering in real time and literally sounds the alarm using the charger's existing speakers, screens, and lighting system. It also sends SMS or email messages to ChargePoint customers notifying them that the system's alarm has been triggered.
ChargePoint says it expects these two new solutions, when combined, will benefit charging station owners by reducing station repair costs associated with vandalism and EV drivers by ensuring they can trust charging stations to work when and where they need them.
New Jersey is home to the most congested freight bottleneck in the country for the seventh straight year, according to research from the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), released today.
ATRI’s annual list of the Top 100 Truck Bottlenecks aims to highlight the nation’s most congested highways and help local, state, and federal governments target funding to areas most in need of relief. The data show ways to reduce chokepoints, lower emissions, and drive economic growth, according to the researchers.
The 2025 Top Truck Bottleneck List measures the level of truck-involved congestion at more than 325 locations on the national highway system. The analysis is based on an extensive database of freight truck GPS data and uses several customized software applications and analysis methods, along with terabytes of data from trucking operations, to produce a congestion impact ranking for each location. The bottleneck locations detailed in the latest ATRI list represent the top 100 congested locations, although ATRI continuously monitors more than 325 freight-critical locations, the group said.
For the seventh straight year, the intersection of I-95 and State Route 4 near the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey, is the top freight bottleneck in the country. The remaining top 10 bottlenecks include: Chicago, I-294 at I-290/I-88; Houston, I-45 at I-69/US 59; Atlanta, I-285 at I-85 (North); Nashville: I-24/I-40 at I-440 (East); Atlanta: I-75 at I-285 (North); Los Angeles, SR 60 at SR 57; Cincinnati, I-71 at I-75; Houston, I-10 at I-45; and Atlanta, I-20 at I-285 (West).
ATRI’s analysis, which utilized data from 2024, found that traffic conditions continue to deteriorate from recent years, partly due to work zones resulting from increased infrastructure investment. Average rush hour truck speeds were 34.2 miles per hour (MPH), down 3% from the previous year. Among the top 10 locations, average rush hour truck speeds were 29.7 MPH.
In addition to squandering time and money, these delays also waste fuel—with trucks burning an estimated 6.4 billion gallons of diesel fuel and producing more than 65 million metric tons of additional carbon emissions while stuck in traffic jams, according to ATRI.
On a positive note, ATRI said its analysis helps quantify the value of infrastructure investment, pointing to improvements at Chicago’s Jane Byrne Interchange as an example. Once the number one truck bottleneck in the country for three years in a row, the recently constructed interchange saw rush hour truck speeds improve by nearly 25% after construction was completed, according to the report.
“Delays inflicted on truckers by congestion are the equivalent of 436,000 drivers sitting idle for an entire year,” ATRI President and COO Rebecca Brewster said in a statement announcing the findings. “These metrics are getting worse, but the good news is that states do not need to accept the status quo. Illinois was once home to the top bottleneck in the country, but following a sustained effort to expand capacity, the Jane Byrne Interchange in Chicago no longer ranks in the top 10. This data gives policymakers a road map to reduce chokepoints, lower emissions, and drive economic growth.”