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After the past two years, it's understandable why the supply chain industry is so hyper-focused on efficiency. While countless new machine learning technologies can multitask, running thousands of data points at once, it can be difficult for team members to decide how to split their time best. This article will briefly address seven major supply chain updates from the past week that supply chain professionals can read in the time it takes to warm up a cold coffee or cool down a sun-heated car.
While some might be willing to pay a higher cost for a better product, this is not the case for those dealing with the ocean shipping industry. Everyone from shippers to end-consumers has dealt with increased costs from ocean carriers over the past two years; despite that, the service has not improved. In fact, it's significantly declined. President Biden is hopeful that the recently signed Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA) will be a turning point for "the consumer price that hit a new 40-year high this month," according to Supply Chain Dive.
Amazon's seventh annual pseudo-holiday is back with member-only deals from Tuesday, July 12, to Wednesday, July 13, 2022. Despite the singular title that originated in 2015 on Amazon's 20th anniversary, customers have gotten to experience an extended Prime Day every year since 2018. Modern Shipper reported that 2022's shopping experience will have more opportunities to purchase from third-party sellers, even "rewarding customers who buy from small businesses with some big prizes — including tickets to Super Bowl LVI."
As UPS continues to see an increased need for air cargo capacity, the global package delivery company announced on June 17, 2022, that it would continue to institute peak/demand surcharges. The UPS update revealed that the revision of these surcharges particularly impacts the Pacific Asia region, with current charts and tables to determine each country's rates. Those involved in international parcel shipping must adequately prepare their back office for these changes to correctly bill their customers with the adjusted surcharges.
Despite an increase of out-of-stock items over the past two years, there were always boxes to get them to their destination. However, as companies plan for the 2022 peak season, Supply Chain Dive suggested that creative sourcing of their paper and packaging goods should start months ahead instead of weeks to promote their business resilience. This comes amidst a U.S.-wide consumer push towards an eco-friendly lifestyle that has expanded past products and materials to sustainability in logistics.
As shippers and carriers adjust their business plans amidst trucking costs' inflation, many are losing hope of gaining access to Russian crude oil anytime soon. After four months of the war, the US oil market is turning its sights inward to see the disheartening unavailability of refining capacity compared to pre-pandemic years while increasing reliance on refined oil products. In a mid-June article, Truckload Indexes discussed the 3:2:1 model for barrel calculation to reveal the drastic changes in diesel prices and their crunched capacity causes.
As the FedEx brand continues to evolve with the business logistics needs of today, the brand has developed a new role, Chief Customer Officer, to be held by Brie Carere. FedEx says she will be the one to "bring the strategy, sales, product development, digital experience, marketing, communications, customer experience, revenue management, and FedEx Office retail teams under one function. This new alignment will support a strategy that focuses on a complete end-to-end customer experience with an emphasis on digital innovation." With 21 years of experience at FedEx, Carere left her position as a Chief Marketing and Communications Officer to fill this new role. She is also co-President and co-CEO of FedEx Services, duties she shares with Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer Rob Carter.
In a similar move to their giant parcel competitor, UPS announced Bala Subramanian's appointment to Executive Vice President and Cheif and Technology Officer. In the newly created role on the UPS Executive Leadership team, Subramanian will be responsible for "technology and industrial engineering to drive more innovative, agile and flexible solutions for UPS stakeholders," according to a UPS press release distributed by Globe Newswire. Subramanian will report to Chief Executive Officer Carol B. Tomé as the company focuses on strategizing the development and execution of technology to give employees and customers an excellent data-driven experience.
In an industry as fast-paced as freight, every moment counts. Delaying even a few hours could minimize a company's opportunity to enable cost control through a gas purchase before prices rise. While setting a goal is the first step to pursuing more efficient, automated management, what steps are next to see trackable progress? Just as a few hours can go by before a shipping manager remembers their now cold coffee sitting on the edge of the desk, time flies faster than most could understand. To learn how to take back your coffee time, don't put off partnering with a track-record proven business logistics and auditing company by contacting Intelligent Audit to see what they can do for you.
Set up a call with one of our experts to discuss how Intelligent Audit can help your business uncover opportunities for cost reduction and supply chain improvements through automated freight audit and recovery, business intelligence and analytics, contract optimization, and more.
