Blog Archives
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Allowing Drivers To Get Involved Can Greatly Improve Your Operation
By Rob Shelton - Tuesday May 22, 2012
I am often surprised by haulers in the UK who don’t engage drivers more in the day-to-day running of a fleet. I don’t mean inviting them to board meetings, or allowing them free-reign to do what they want – I mean asking for feedback on how routes are planned, how a customer could be better served or how equipment could be better utilized. Drivers see an operation in a very different way to a planner, traffic clerk or transport manager and I think they can add real value to an operation - even down to how the TMS which plans their routes is configured. What are the benefits? More than you’d think. An involved driver is a proud and hard-working driver – they feel valued and listened to and because of this will in turn go that... -
"Graying" With Envy
By Sean O'Farrell - Monday May 21, 2012
I recently received a call from a major retailer, requesting a presentation addressing automation in the grocery industry. Offering a strong background in grocery and automation, I welcomed the invitation but asked that we answer a few questions together as I needed to better understand what was driving the automation decision. I quickly produced five critical questions that I knew would help prepare my slide deck – they are as follows: 1. Did they feel competitive pressures from another grocer in their region automating? 2. Were they considering network consolidation / optimization? 3. Was the growing SKU count inside the distribution center requiring ways to store and pick more in the same footprint? 4. Do they want to... -
Intermodal Equipped With Opportunities
By Tyler Wolfe - Tuesday May 1, 2012
By: Tyler Wolfe As manufacturers begin inching toward recovery and truck tonnage climbs, capacity shortages remain among the top of shipper’s concerns. With CSA regulations looming; some experts fear as high as 15 percent of trucks could disappear from US roadways threatening an already fragile capacity market. These capacity threats coupled with intense consumer cost pressures are leading many companies to rethink their supply chain strategies and consider expanding their service options in search of new cost containment opportunities. It is for this reason that manufacturers and retailers alike are beginning to transition freight volumes traditionally managed by truckload carriers over to intermodal channels. This growing trend has... -
The Sizzle Sells the Steak!
By Neetin Datar and Paul Pretko - Monday March 12, 2012
By: Neetin Datar and Paul Pretko Its evening time and you are sitting at a restaurant. You have already given some thought to what you going to eat for dinner. You are about to order when suddenly another waiter briskly walks by you with a sizzling platter of steak in hand. What happens next? Yes, you know it – you end up ordering that steak. Don’t deny it; it happens to all of us! A similar phenomenon is occurring in foodservice distribution industry. The sizzle in this case is enterprise mobility i.e. sales reps equipped with smart phones or tablets and cool enterprise mobile apps to be used anytime anywhere. And steak of course continues to be a foodservice distributor’s existing customer relationships backed up by their... -
Fuel: Making the Difference for Foodservice Fleets in 2012
By Sean Evans and Ryan Mossman - Tuesday December 13, 2011By Sean Evans, Marketing Specialist – Fuel Center By Ryan Mossman, Vice President and General Manager – Fuel Center While 2011 has been a tremendously challenging year for foodservice fleets of all sizes, 2012 looks to bring more of the same. Fuel costs in 2011 climbed to levels not seen since 2008 with even greater price swings, and a number of severe weather events across the country wreaked havoc on logistical plans. Instability and political events in the Middle East continue to add pressure to supply translating into higher fuel prices and a greater burden on fuel manager budgets. Higher fuel prices have also meant alternative methods of transportation, such as rail, are gaining ground on foodservice fleets. So what can a... -
Preparing for the NLRB's Proposed Changes To Union Election Rules
By Robert T. Quackenboss - Monday November 21, 2011
By: Robert T. Quackenboss On November 30, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will vote on sweeping proposed changes to the rules by which it conducts union representation elections. The proposed changes fall broadly into three categories: (1) a shortened time period between the filing of the initial election petition and the election date; (2) post-election NLRB review of contested issues that were previously resolved pre-election; and (3) increased disclosure requirements for employers. Should the proposed changes be adopted as the NLRB moves forward with an implementation plan, employers will need to substantially alter their approach to union elections. A Shortened Election Process Under the new rules, elections... -
Food Safety Gets a Boost from Recall Preparedness
By Tom Kozenski - Friday November 4, 2011
By Tom Kozenski When you hear the phrase recall preparedness, it implies a strong system of track and trace within an organization, backed by computer data about origins of ingredients for products, and information about where finished goods are within the supply chain. But it’s important to realize that putting these data systems in place benefits food safety even if a recall never occurs. At our company we use the term “inventory genealogy” to describe knowledge about which lots of raw materials have been used in a final product. And with good technology that can be traced to products on retail shelves. This visibility is great for a precision recall where the exact lot code and exact locations are known, but it also provides... -
FSMA: Focus On Prevention
- Thursday November 3, 2011
The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) S. 510 was signed into law in 2011. The law significantly expands the powers of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with respect to foods it generally oversees and its main goal is to focus the department on food contamination prevention. The bill is considered to be the first major federal legislation on food safety since 1938 when the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act was passed giving the FDA authority to oversee the safety of food, drugs and cosmetics. Since then the FDA has had only a limited role in controlling food safety as the industry regulated itself. With the passage of time however U.S. food production has become more centralized and the importation of foods has risen... -
Finally, Safer Standards for Ground Beef
By Lara Sowinski - Thursday November 3, 2011
At long last, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced last week that it would add six deadly strains of E. coli to the list of prohibited items in ground beef. Up until now, only one form—H7:O157—which was behind the Jack in the Box outbreak in 1994, has been banned. These strains of E. coli, known as the “Big Six,” are estimated to “cause almost 40,000 illnesses, 1,100 hospitalizations, and 30 deaths annually,” according to Food Safety News . Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, the head of food safety for the USDA, deserves credit for finally getting the Big Six banned. “This is one of the biggest steps forward in the protection of the beef supply in some time,” she said. Sadly, the beef industry, in particular the American...
