Food safety encompasses the origin, processing and packaging of food so that consumers don’t get sick from the food they buy. Increased food production, growing market demand and faster delivery are just three of the many challenges companies face in trying to keep food safe all along the food supply chain.

RFID increasingly provides the most effective means to solve these challenges and to ensure compliance with recently enacted legislation designed to protect consumers.

The MIT Enterprise Forum is bringing together key experts for a panel discussion of the major issues, technologies, and business cases surrounding the RFID-enabled food chain. Come and hear for yourself how RFID is making food safer and food-borne illness easier to trace.

Moderator: John Greaves, President and CEO, SSI

John Greaves has been actively involved in AIDC (Automatic Identification and Data Capture) including RFID for many years. His pioneering work in the area of global logistics, inventory management and the returnable transport Items sector with both active and passive RFID has led to the significant adoptions occurring in supply chains, health care and security.??He was the founding chair of the US RFID standards group, led the European Spectrum Initiative, was the leader of the GTAG program for EAN.UCC, and developed — among many significant RFID implementations worldwide — the one-tag-per-pallet UHF solution with CHEP.

Click here to register for this event!

Unfortunately since that time adoption, implementation and widespread use of these technologies and standards have not followed as quickly as many would have liked and in many industries there is a significant level of frustration with this inertia and lack of solid implementation progress.

The obvious question then becomes why is this happening, or not happening depending on your point of view? The answer to this is not simple, but in my mind it is a combination of complexity, high cost, capabilities and control that has been hampering this growth and widespread standards implementation.

The secret for setting these SCM standards free is to develop a model which addresses all four of the above negative forces resulting in a business environment which will support the rapid and widespread growth of these new SCM standards and technologies. Let’s review these negative forces and discuss some potential solutions and approaches to counteracting them to foster adoption and growth.

Cutting Through Complexity

Although the myriad details behind the unified application of these technologies and standards is somewhat complex, there is the potential of developing and delivering simplified education programs to educate non-technical business managers and leaders on the integrated vision and joint use of these technologies and standards.

By educating and mobilizing these mid and senior level individuals to drive the investment and commitment of the firm and leaving the complex technical details to those best equipped to deal with them, progress can then be made. Getting bogged down in an industry based on lack of vision, understanding can be easy to do in such cases but by simplifying and focussing on results this complexity can be tamed.

High Costs

Many of those personally committed and passionate about implementing these SCM technologies and standards don’t understand why the associated program memberships, registration numbers and onboarding/consulting fees need to be so high. Even more disconcerting for these individuals and their firms is paying these high fees for in some cases up to seven years and still not having proportionate success to show for it.

For the new SCM standards and related technologies such as RFID and Electronic Catalogues (GDSN) to takeoff requires critical mass widespread adoption, acceptance and proper use within an industry vertical. And although the pioneering companies and individuals in these industries are willing to pay high costs to get these initiatives started, the majority of companies will not or in some cases cannot allocate exhorbitant amounts to such endeavours.

In many ways, these SCM standards and technologies are like the first VCRS, they started out very complicated and expensive, but market adoption and sales exploded once the units were simplified and the cost came down.

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Most companies are trending into truly global markets. They are both selling to and purchasing from world markets; along with creating assets and vested interests in most trading nations.

The ability to manage this diversity and global reach requires executives with multi-level skill sets, experiences and management prowess…they need “Star Power.” Link to full article on WT100 site.

“We have the most powerful distribution mechanism that has been created
in a generation,” Mark Zuckerberg, Founder Facebook at the launch
of the 2006 Connect Platform

Many new technologies are converging simultaneously. It resembles the wild, wild west. For many companies, so many things are happening simultaneously, that it is hard to chose how to get started. In the words of one respondent, “I feel like a hamster on a treadmill. It is hard to get off the treadmill to stop to think what combination of tactics will add the MOST value.”

It includes:

Geospatial. Geospatial data combined with point of sale data to deliver a tailored response to the shopper when they are in the store. The data enables insight on not only what you bought, but where you were when you bought the item. And, what your shopping behavior was prior to the purchase. This is redefining couponing. Examples include Groupon a new social couponing company, Get Satisfaction a new rewards program for purchases, Shopkick that rewards you for going into a store, coupons tendered through your Garmin device in your car, and specialized shopping baskets in the stores to tender special offers.

Gaming. Social gaming to enhance the shopping experience, but also unleashing a new opportunity to learn more about a consumer through their gaming behavior.

Mobile Applications. In 2011, 50% of the populations in modern trade countries will have smart phones. Mobile applications in combination with 2-D bar codes can personalize the shopping experience in new ways.

2-D Bar Codes. Direct personalization of the shopping experience through 2-D barcodes to the shelf to either differentiate the product, communicate how to better use the product or connect with gaming to energize the shopping experience.

Virtual Currency. Virtual currency linking the socialgraph, the gaming experiences and the new social commerce sites together. It is a new way of seeing what shoppers really value. Check out the selling of Facebook credits at your Target or 7/11 stores.

Shopping with Friends. Consumers trust their friends. They want to shop with their friends. The Socialgraph enables this new type of shopping experience on Facebook or in a bricks and mortar experience.

Facebook as a Channel. As the conversation is enhanced by commerce, companeis are adding storefronts to their Facebook pages. Community recommendations by friends turns into shopping with friends for enthusiast purchases–hobbies, cosmetics, toys–enhancing the customer experience.

Results from the Research

It has been fun to study. Five months of research culminated last week at Altimeter Group’s sold out event: The Rise of Social Commerce. In an attempt to understand the dawning of this new channel, I drove the research, developed the agenda and delivered the keynote (check it out at http://www.riseofsocialcommerce.com/community/expo-the-rise-of-social-commerce/). I will publish the final report next week.

So you might ask, why is a supply chain gal like Lora Cecere interested in understanding the early days of Social Commerce? The reason is simple. It is an exciting new world of possibilities. It is a both a new channel and a new way of doing business. It is reshaping value chains. More than ever, retailers are now manufacturers and consumer products manufacturers can now sell directly to loyal shoppers. The power is shifting to the shopper. The digital consumer now has the power of the value chain in the palm of their hand, but more importantly, it allows a company to have a direct dialogue with a consumer in a more meaningful way.

I interviewed 53 companies, and as I did the interviews, I could see that they were at very different stages of development. The progression of understanding follows four stages:

Let’s be Social. In this stage, the organization is social for social’s sake. The deployment of the technologies are primarily in marketing and the strategies are very brand-centered; and consequently, not very effective.

Enlightened Engagement. As social maturity evolves, companies have new opportunities for direct dialogue. It enables dialogue and customer service, new product launch, and community development.

Store of the Community. Direct involvement of the community in product assortment, category definition, and demand shaping activities.

Frictionless Commerce. The redefinition of the shopping experience based on mobile, social and ecommerce capabilities that culminate in a TRUE cross-channel experience.

In the interviews, 20% of companies were actively working on social commerce strategies in 2010, but 83% have it on their agenda for 2011. It is NET new spending driven by the line of business leaders. Only 22% of companies have IT leading the charge. However, only 5% of companies have active involvement by the supply chain leaders. My goal is to help supply chain leaders capitalize on this opportunity.

Why should the Supply Chain Leader care?

While marketing colleagues are optimizing the tactics above, and defining new ways to use social to shape demand, promote awareness and energize the shopping experience, it unveils new opportunities for the supply chain team that I find that they are largely unaware of.

Redefinition of customer service. Organizations really don’t have customer service. If you ask what does your customer service department do, you will find that most take orders. There may be another department that receives customer complaints. But, the ability to listen and learn from shoppers and enhance the shopping experience through the integration of social technologies–twitter feeds, Facebook fan comments, private networks, syndication of review data–allows a 360 degree view of the digital consumer for the first time. The ability of the organization to think outside in and engage the shopper in a meaningful dialogue. it unveils the opportunity to listen, to have a meaningful response and to learn. For me, this is exciting.

New ways to sell to loyal shoppers. The concept of anticipation of needs through the social graph is also fascinating to me. Let me give you a personal example. I am going to be a grandmother. I am so excited to be a grandmother, but only my social connections know the full extent of my excitement. For the first time in 20 years, I am a shopper for all things baby. I am also a quilter, a knitter, and an avid crafter. Imagine how a smart company could use this information to anticipate and deliver some exciting offers to me to shape demand. The socialgraph enables unique insight on changes in lifestyle, community sharing, and tailored offers.

Channel proliferation. We have talked cross-channel for years; however, in my shopping experience, Nordstrom comes the closest to having a true cross-channel experience. For most companies, the e-commerce and bricks and mortar channels are separate and distinct. But now we have channel proliferation with M-commerce through mobile and social commerce through Facebook. This channel proliferation will force companies to rethink their supply chains. It will give rise to a new wave of supply chain execution applications. A new bar will need to be reached for inventory accuracy the need for a more real-time signal of inventory in the extended supply chain. Removing data latency on inventory movement will become a new corporate focus.

A new need for new type of supply chain transparency. When we communicate all the way to the shelf with the shopper, a new level of supply chain transparency is needed–especially on manufacturing and quality data– to convey the brand promise for health and wellness, food safety, organic, etc. This driver will redefine manufacturing execution systems and force the integration of bill of material, process quality data, and specification information in a new way. It will also tie manufacturing execution systems to supply visibility. Supply chain execution will no longer JUST be about order fulfillment.

Summary

It is happening. It is exciting, and can redefine value chains. Unfortunately, for 95% of companies that I interviewed, it is ONLY happening in marketing. Here is my plea. Please rethink your supply chain strategies for 2011 to welcome the digital consumer. We have talked about the need for shopper-centric supply chains for a decade. Don’t pass up the opportunity to be a pioneer in making the dream a new reality.

Lora Cecere

The global economy continued to pose a challenge in 2009, with 48 percent of companies surveyed failing to meet revenue growth projections, while 80 percent of them still managed to be profitable. Pressure on 3PLs to share risk with their clients increased in 2009, with 28 of the 31 CEOs reporting that their companies now have performance-based contracts with many of their clients. Only five of the companies were involved in significant merger or acquisition activity in the year.

Eighty-seven percent of CEOs noted that some of their manufacturing customers have begun to move toward near-shoring options in the past year, a trend that is expected to trickle down to 3PLs in the years to come. Labor numbers imply an upturn for 3PLs, with 87 percent of the companies beginning to rebuild their workforces in 2009. CEOs revealed that green practices are still a major priority in the 3PL market and 80 percent of the companies surveyed now have formal sustainability groups within their companies.

“The CEOs involved in this year’s surveys are more optimistic about growth prospects than they were last year, but appear to be more cautious about how growth will be achieved,” commented Lieb. “They are likely to spend more time ‘qualifying’ new accounts, while devoting less attention to accounts in industries that are more cyclical in nature.”

“The last few years have caused global third-party logistics providers to reconsider the structure of their businesses within a shifting industry,” said Gallick. “Many of the CEOs reported adopting new strategies that are more conservative in nature with respect to both market expansion and new service offerings.”

Further insights into this year’s research findings are outlined in additional detail below:

Improved Revenue Projections

The CEOs in all three regions were considerably more bullish about future revenue growth prospects of not only their companies, but also the regional 3PL industry, than they were last year.

One-year company revenue growth projections were 10.4% for North America (6.9% in 2009), 7.2% for Europe (-3.3% in 2009), and 22.5% of APAC (12.9% in 2009). The average three-year company growth projections were 10.6% for North America (11.8% in 2009), 8.3% for Europe (8.7% in 2009), and 19.5% for APAC (16.7% in 2009).
One-year regional 3PL industry revenue growth projections averaged 7.3% for North America (3.5% in 2009), 4.8% for Europe (-1.4% in 2009), and 15.4% for APAC (10.7% in 2009). The average three-year regional 3PL industry growth projections were 7.8% for North America (7.9% in 2009), 5.4% for Europe (4.9% in 2009), and 12.9% for APAC (11.7% in 2009).

Twenty-five of the 31 CEOs surveyed reported their companies were profitable during 2010, with three reporting they broke even, and three reporting their companies were unprofitable.

Reorganization of 3PL Industry

Only five of the 31 companies were involved in significant mergers or acquisitions during 2009, and the CEOs generally believe that revenue growth through acquisitions will be very modest over the next three years. A continued restructuring of the industry through mergers or acquisitions and failures ranked first in changes expected to occur in their markets over the next three years.

> Fifteen CEOs indicated long-term strategy changes within their companies as a result of the recession, and eleven said the long-term prospects in the regional 3PL industries has changed as a result of the recession.
> Twenty-seven of the 31 CEOs noted that some of their manufacturing customers have begun to move toward “near-shoring” options during the past year.

More Vigilant Business Practices

> Eighteen of the CEOs reported that their companies had put new risk management programs in place during the past year. Increased pressure to share risks with customers is a major factor in the industry.
> Twenty-nine of the 31 companies have business continuity plans at the corporate level and 20 have them at the regional level.
> Twenty-eight of the 31 CEOs reported that their companies have performance-based contracts with many of their clients.
> Twenty-four of the companies sell logistics services to the supply chain partners of their existing customers. Moving forward, 3PLs are expected to place greater emphasis on “qualifying” customers.

Commitment to Sustainability

In the aftermath of the recession, these companies are still heavily committed to environmental sustainability issues.

> Fourteen of the 31 companies began new green initiatives during the year.
> Eighteen of the companies expanded existing sustainability programs.
> Twenty-five of the companies now have formal sustainability groups within their companies.
> Twelve of the 31 CEOs believe that their sustainability capabilities differentiate them from their competitors.

Opportunities and Issues

In terms of industry opportunities, CEOs in all three regions ranked the overall growth of the market for outsourcing services as the most important opportunity.

Ranking second and third respectively in North America were opportunities related to potential differentiation based upon the companies’ environmental sustainability capabilities and opportunities related to expansion of service offerings.

In terms of problems facing the industry, a shortage of managerial and operational talent was ranked one or two in all three regions.
Among the other important problems mentioned were price compression and procurement’s growing role in the North American survey, the slow economic recovery and decreasing margins in Europe, and managing increased costs and dealing with “unrealistic competition” were highlighted by the APAC CEOs.

For access to the full Executive Summary, please visit http://tinyurl.com/Lieb2010.

Survey Design

Thirty-one CEOs completed surveys via an Internet-based questionnaire during the summer of 2010. Companies participating in the annual survey included: Cardinal Logistics, DSC Logistics, DHL Exel Supply Chain, Genco Supply Chain Solutions, Kuehne+Nagel Logistics, Landstar, Menlo Logistics, Panalpina, NYK Logistics, Penske Logistics, Ryder Integrated Logistics, Schenker, Schneider Logistics, Transplace, UPS Supply Chain Solutions, UTi Integrated Logistics, Caterpillar Logistics Services, CEVA Logistics and Wincanton.

About Northeastern University’s College of Business Administration

Northeastern University College of Business Administration, established in 1922, provides its students—undergraduate, graduate and executive—with the education, tools and experience necessary to launch and accelerate successful business careers. The College credits its success to expert faculty, close partnerships with the business community, and its emphasis on rigorous academics combined with experiential learning. The college also offers graduate and undergraduate concentrations in supply chain management, as well as graduate certificates in supply chain management.

The College is highly ranked by several prestigious publications. BusinessWeek ranks the undergraduate program 32nd in the U.S., #1 in internships, and #19 in the student survey in its 2010 “Best Undergraduate B-schools.” U.S. News & World Report ranks the College’s Bachelor of Science in International Business program #13 in the country. Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine ranked the undergraduate business program 14th most entrepreneurial in the U.S.

For more information about Northeastern University’s College of Business Administration, visit http://www.cba.neu.edu/.

About Penske Logistics

Penske Logistics is a wholly owned subsidiary of Penske Truck Leasing. With operations in North America, South America, Europe and Asia, Penske Logistics provides supply chain management and logistics services to major industrial and consumer companies throughout the world. Penske Logistics delivers value through design, planning and execution in transportation, warehousing, and international freight forwarding and carrier management. Visit http://www.penskelogistics.com to learn more.

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The forum will present the most current research on radio frequency identification (RFID) item-level tagging, a technology that allows merchandise to be identified and tracked through the use of radio waves.

“Major retailers are beginning to take notice of the significant value that RFID item-level tagging creates,” said Heather Morys, CSCMP’s education programs services associate. “And, as more retailers adopt this supply chain tool, supply chain managers need to understand how their companies can leverage this technology as well as how it will impact their suppliers and their customers. RFID Forum 2010 will provide them with the knowledge and information they need.”

Attendees will tour UARK’s RFID Lab and participate in hands-on demonstrations involving case and pallet portals, sweet-spot testing, and point-of-sale (POS) systems and display signs. A question and answer session will follow. An optional RFID primer course is available prior to the tour for attendees to learn RFID basics or refresh their skills.

Following the tour, there will be sessions and discussions led by executives from major retailers who have tested item-level tagging in their stores. Keynote presentations, educational sessions, and panels will focus on digital inventory accuracy, offshore source tagging and in-store testing, connecting customers to the RFID technology experience, and the future of RFID. The content that will be covered is based on studies undertaken by the UARK RFID Research Center, in partnership with CSCMP, VICS, and Dillard’s.

Senior executives from Jones Apparel Group, Macy’s, Wal-Mart, Conair, and IBM Global Business Services will discuss their insights on RFID issues, including the challenges and benefits of item-level tagging implementation.

This forum is sponsored, in part, by ADT, Avery Dennison, Impinj and Motorola. More information is available at http://cscmp.org/events/rfid/index.asp or by contacting Heather Morys at hmorys@cscmp.org or +1 630.645.3454. Registration is available at http://cscmp.org/events/rfid/registration.asp.

Founded in 1963, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals is the leading worldwide professional association dedicated to education, research, and the advancement of the supply chain management profession. With over 9,000 members globally, representing business, government, and academia from 63 countries, CSCMP members are the leading practitioners and authorities in the fields of logistics and supply chain management.

For more information, please contact:

Madeleine Miller-Holodnicki, ABC
Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals
333 East Butterfield Road, Suite 140
Lombard, Illinois 60148-5617 USA
mholodnicki@cscmp.org

SCN has partnered with AKCELL Consulting to offer all SCN members a 10% discount on their courses! Just logon with user name scn@ackcellconsulting.com and use password scnmembers to access the discounted registration.

Below are two courses rapidly approaching you may want to look into:

Strategic Sourcing for Professionals Toronto Sept. 29-30,Ottawa Oct. 5-6,Calgary Oct 19-20

Structured Negotiations for Success Toronto,Oct 12-13,Ottawa Oct 26-27,Calgary Nov. 19-20

So join for a course this Fall and learn from the best, Chris Provost, author of Grow Your Profits will be joining AKCELL Sept 7th as Senior Vice President of Value Chain Consulting and Training, from Walmart where he was the Director of Fleet, Strategy & Shared Services and Director of National Transportation he led among other areas Logistics-Transportation Strategic Sourcing and Negotiations; he has also led Network Logistics with Unilever Foodservice and Supply Chain Operations as Senior Directing Manager with Fellowes.

IDGA’s Military Logistics Summit 2010 will present updated DoD mission priorities and cutting edge information to support major deployment, re-deployment, and distribution operations. The event will bring together thought-leaders and decision-makers in logistics, sustainment, and readiness operations to discuss the latest implementation strategies and program initiatives to ensure the flexibility and preparedness of our military’s future.

“Over the years, the Military Logistics Summit has become the leading event for senior-level defense logistics professionals,” said Thomas Engleman, the event’s producer. “This year, we’re introducing an ‘Ask the Expert’ feature, where a logistics expert will be on-hand specifically to answer questions. We try to do something new every year, while keeping the same quality and standards people have come to expect.”

Specific summit topics that will be covered include:

* Changing regional priorities affecting all aspects of the defense transportation network,
* Enhancing combat unit readiness through more effective supply chain management and optimization processes
* Executing performance-based lifestyle product support for more efficient and cost-effective sustainment.

The speaker roster includes:

* LTG Mitchell Stevenson, USA, Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, G4, US Army
* LTG James Pillsbury, USA, Deputy Commanding General, US Army Materiel Command.
* VADM William Burke, USN, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Fleet Readiness and Logistics, N4, US Navy
* MG Randolph Strong, USA, Commanding General, CECOM LCMC, US Army
* An entire speaker list can be found on the event’s website.

For more information on speaking, exhibiting or attending IDGA’s Military Logistics Summit, please visit http://www.MilitaryLogisticsSummit.com or contact Erin Gilbert at ErinGilbert@idga.org.

The Institute for Defense & Government Advancement (IDGA) is a non-partisan information-based organization dedicated to the promotion of innovative ideas in public service and defense. IDGA brings together communities comprised of military, government, vendors and academia for education, networking and advancing the communities in which it serves. For more information, please visit http://www.idga.org.

This will be accomplished by making SCN a hub for a true network of Supply Chain Bloggers and these are all listed below for your information and I will soon add connections to all of their posts on the SCN site as well as their own companies and blogs in case you wish to visit with them directly.

We are of course always looking for more supply chain practioners and thought leaders who also would also like to become contributors to the Supply Chain Network!

Cheers

@JeffAshcroft

In much the same way as there are ho-hum or downright poor parties, many logistics and supply chain operations suffer from the same fate. So what are the common aspects and “chemistry” which once combined result in great supply chains and excellent parties? The first shared attribute is visualization which must take place taking into account all available knowledge, data and a developed understanding of the task or operation to be planned. This acts as a basis for the second attribute which is quantification which simply means gathering all available numerical data to define the logistics requirement, including volumes, dimensions, weight, item counts and a number of other related details. The two columns below list some of these factors which will then form the basis for specific logistics planning in both cases. In fact as you will see any of you who have planned a successful party have already developed some of the basic logistics skills.

_______ Party _____________________ Supply Chain__________

Number of Attendees____________ Volume/Type of Product
Type of Party__________________ Storage and Handling
Size of Venue__________________ Size of Warehouse/Fleet
Support Staff/Work_____________ Whse Workers/Drivers
Sound System/Music____________ Operating Systems
Food/Drink/Supplies____________ Required Racking/MHE
Timing/Duration of Event _________ Service Level Required

In both cases the numerical calculation of all of these factors leads to a Cost/Result both Quantitative and Qualitative

This type of data is the starting point for the next attribute.Planning which is based on accurate and validated quantification, the keystone for the successful logistics and supply chain operation and no truly excellent party or supply chain operation will come to pass without this. Advanced planning in both cases based on as close an approximation of the end requirement as possible will lead to an optimal Cost/Result. For example the space or venue size required for a party is directly proportional to the number of attendees and type of party to be held ie; sit down, buffet etc. In the same way, the warehouse space and trucking requirements of a supply chain are directly proportional to the Types/Volumes of product and the required storage/handling and processing ie; crossdock, storage/picking etc.

Based on the timing set out, decisions must be made to acquire/book required space/resources and supplies, with any change in the base metrics and requirements again directly effecting the Cost/Result. For example, if a party is booked at a hall standing room only for a finger food buffet and a later decision is made to switch to a sit down dinner, the space required would probably at least double, not to mention increased supplies/staffing and preparation/serving costs. Similarly if a warehouse is leased to support a flowthrough/crossdock operation, and a determination is made that all product now requires storage, perhaps a warehouse twice as large or more might be required, again significantly impacting human resource requirements, materials handling equipment (MHE) fixturing, systems and supplies.

Now is it necessary for someone throwing a party to understand the cost and interrelationship of all of the above aspects to have a successful event. The answer is clearly no, if they can clearly define their needs to an expert party planner/caterer and stick with the plan/metrics, the outcome can be very positive. However in this case much depends on the quality of planner and this requires careful selection by the party host based on previous personal experience with the planner or positive recommendations and references from other trusted sources.

In much the same way, the Logistics Professional need not necessarily understand the details involved in executing supply chain operations to be successful. The use of solid and experienced third party firms to execute a logistics operation based on a well defined and accurate requirement is however again crucial. However, unlike parties of which aspects are easily grasped by the lay person we would suggest those responsible for organizing and outsourcing logistics develop at least a partial understanding and grounding in each of the aspects of logistics and supply chain operations. This will allow one to communicate intelligently with providers and understand the basic aspects and levers relevant to their operations.

The ten topic areas to review are:

Logistics & Supply Chain Introduction
Distribution & Warehousing
Freight & Transportation
Global Logistics
The Internet & Supply Chain
Logistics Strategy
Logistics Support Services
Logistics Systems
Standards in Logistics and SCM
Supply Chain Management

Following through and reviewing each of the above areas is not designed to replace a PHD or Masters in Logistics. It will however definitely provide one with a more complete grounding and understanding of the entire scope of Logistics and Supply Chain Management.

Jeff Ashcroft