Trends and Issues in Supply Chain Management

Professional Supply Chain Certification
The Institute of Supply Management offers three certifications for supply chain professionals. the Certified in Supply Management (CSM), the Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity (CPSD) and Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM). This article examines these certification programs.

Supply Chain Management Certification
Supply chain management professionals are actively pursued by companies in the US and globally. In recent years companies looking to hire staff for supply chain positions are looking favorably at candidates with supply chain certification. This article examines some of the educational options that supply chain professionals can choose from.

Pick To Light Warehouse Systems
Companies that operate fast moving and complex warehouses are constantly looking at technology and processes that increase the efficiency of the warehouse. By implementing a "pick to light" system, accuracy and productivity can increase significantly. This article examines the basics of light-directed systems and the advantages they offer.

Pallets
Pallets make the logistics world go round. The pallet is found in almost every warehouse and without it the transportation of goods would be significantly harder, and much more costly. The wooden pallet, now joined by the metal and plastic pallet, will hold the raw materials that are used in manufacturing, the finished goods sold to customers, and then start all over again. This article looks at the history of the humble pallet.

Metal Pallets
Pallets are used by companies all over the world to move materials from one location to another and to store material in warehouses. Traditionally these pallets have been made of wood, but more recently some companies are looking to pallets made of other material to overcome some shortcomings that traditional wood pallets have. This article examines the benefits of the metal pallet.

Plastic Pallets
Every company that moves items such as raw material or finished goods uses a pallet and material handling equipment to move those items. Pallets are used in every nation and in every warehouse. The majority of those pallets are made from wood, but the plastic pallet is becoming more popular. This article looks at the advantages of using plastic pallets.

Inventory Shrinkage
Inventory shrinkage is most often thought of as result of shoplifting, but that is not completely true. A large portion of inventory losses are due to theft by a company’s own employees, through either theft, embezzlement, collusion with vendors, administrative errors, or vandalism. This article looks at the reasons why inventory shrinkage occurs.

Standard for Wood Pallets
Wood pallets have traditionally been the way in which material is moved from vendor to customer and then onto the consumer. The wood pallet sits in warehouses and stores throughout the world. In the US there are millions of pallets in use every day and the vast majority is made from wood. For the manufacturer of the wood pallet there are voluntary guidelines and this article looks at these standards.

Euro Pallets
Pallets are everywhere. They are used in the supply chain to move raw materials and finished good, while billions of dollars of merchandise sits on pallets in tens of thousands of warehouses around the world. The pallet that most of us know is the traditional wooden pallet that is seen in warehouse stores such as Costco and Ikea. This article looks at the euro pallet and its use in Europe.

Project Management Certification
The Project Management Institute (PMI) is an organization that is dedicated to the education of project managers so that they have the skills necessary to perform the tasks required of them. One way in which the PMI does that is to offer globally recognized credentials that certify project management expertise. This article looks at the certification offered by the PMI.

Pick To Voice Warehouse Systems
Companies that operate fast moving and complex warehouses are constantly looking at technology and processes that increase the efficiency of the warehouse. By implementing a "pick to voice" system, accuracy and productivity can increase significantly. This article examines the basics of voice directed systems and the advantages they offer.

Emerging Economies For 2011
There are a number of other economies that are currently emerging and depending on their attractiveness to foreign investment and manufacturing prowess; any of these could change the overall landscape of world economies. This article discusses the reasons why these countries are the top ten emerging economies for 2011.

GS-1 Global Traceability Standard
The GS-1 standard is important in the food supply chain. Companies want to be able to track their products through the various stages of their supply chain and be able to trace the item no matter what company or location the item is located. This article describes the elements of the GS-1 traceability standard.

Environmental Health and Safety (EHS)
Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) covers a wide range of environment, health and safety management issues. A major concern is the protection of employee’s health in the workplace, and that is addressed with an increasing amount of federal and local legislation. Also, companies are becoming more concerned with the environment in their communities and where they do business.

Radio Frequency Identification
Supply chain management is investing in RFID as it can give them advantages in visibility of their products through the supply chain. The benefits are seen as improving on other methods of visibility such as EDI, bar coding and Advance Ship Notifications (ASN).

Global Supply Chain Trends Survey
With responses from over 300 international supply chain organizations, the sixth annual global supply chain survey has highlighted the trends that will be seen in the coming years. The article reviews some of the highlights of the survey from growth of India and China, to the popularization of environmental sustainability.

Trends in Sales and Operations Planning
Sales and Operations Planning is an area where companies are sometimes using methodologies that were developed years ago or are on the cutting edge of new S&OP thinking. This article discusses the current S&OP trends being adopted by leading companies.

Greener Methods to Load Trucks
SC Johnson has adopted a number of best practices in their supply chain and one of them was a Truckload Utilization Project. This article examines the program and how in 12 months, the company eliminated 1,882 tons of greenhouse gases.

Supply Chain Predictions for 2008
This article reviews some of the predictions that AMR research have made for supply chain advancements in 2008.