White Papers

After living and working in unprecedented times for nearly two years, no one is surprised to hear the 2021 peak season will be challenging. The constant disruptions have rattled the logistics industry to its core, creating a domino e
ect impacting everything from capacity to driver shortages to port closures to containers sitting in terminals for months on end. Last year’s peak season introduced a number of problems, such as increased rates and shipping delays, shrinking profit margins, and upset consumers across the globe.

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Supply chain control towers offer deep visibility into the flow of goods, allow for streamlined collaboration with trading partners, and help supply chain professionals to sense disruptions before they occur so they can make proactive decisions.

Download the eBook today to learn how a control tower can help positively transform your supply chain.

Increase eCommerce revenue and decrease warehousing costs with programmatic logistics.

Flexe teamed up with Forrester Research to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study to examine the impact a programmatic approach to logistics has on enterprise organizations. As a provider of programmatic logistics to the Fortune 500, Flexe brings deep logistics expertise and groundbreaking solutions to even the most complex supply chains.

Key Takeaways:

• Drive 119% ROI with Flexe Logistics Programs
• Decrease warehousing costs by 12%
• Reduce final-mile transportation cost by 10%
• Increase eCommerce revenue by 20%

Download the Forrester Research TEI study that examines the potential return on investment (ROI) enterprises realize by deploying Flexe Logistics Programs.

Online retail sales jumped 40% from 2019 to 2020 amidst significant supply chain disruption, marking a permanent shift in consumer buying behavior at a time when global supply chains are strained and slow. Now, many retailers are realizing their supply chain and sourcing operations are not flexible or resilient enough to support omnichannel fulfillment.

As global markets continue to recover from the impact of the last 18 months, the global freight and shipping market itself is in the middle of a unique and challenging situation. All adding significant pressure and focus on global logistics players at a time of need.

At ECU Worldwide, our processes, services, and global infrastructure have allowed us to deliver innovative solutions to keep pace with growing global demands, even through the most challenging situations.

Supply chain and logistics teams are seeking ways to build robust transportation budgets to help their business to adapt to more pandemic headwinds.

While 2020 saw unprecedented market swings, capacity imbalances may continue as the recovery boosts some sectors more than others - making flexibility and contingency planning even more essential to your budgeting process.

As you refine your strategy, building variability into your budget can position your business for success. Download the DAT iQ budgeting eBook to learn how leading transportation and logistics teams are approaching variable budgets and implementing best practices to solve for uncertainty in 2021.

It’s time to tackle yard waste – the sort of costly and time-consuming inefficiencies that happen at the loading and unloading docks at warehouses, distribution centers, retail outlets, and myriad facilities around the world that receive and send out goods. We’re talking bottlenecks that prevent smooth movement of trucks in and out, long lines for pick up or delivery, and unclear protocols that leave drivers and warehouse staff confused and frustrated.

Finish strong. A frequently-used motto in the health and fitness industry. For NordicTrack, the motto is not only heard when customers are coming to the end of a virtual exercise class, it’s also on display daily through the last mile delivery of its fitness equipment to homes across the country.

Cross-border trade is set to skyrocket as nearshoring becomes more common for manufacturers post-pandemic. Smart and responsive cross-border order management and supply chain strategies are needed to navigate the process.

Why are agile freight procurement teams so successful? A study by McKinsey found that they were more resilient to market disruptions, even though their supply chains were leaner than non-agile teams.

This brand new whitepaper has everything you need to know about agile freight procurement and how you can roll it out at your business.

The highest level of service at the best possible rate. That’s the goal as you’re procuring transportation. How do you know you’re hitting that goal? You can use internal analytics, conduct bids, or reference external benchmarks. Our preferred approach is a hybrid of all three: combining analysis of your own service requirements and carrier performance metrics with benchmarks on rates, capacity, and volume to compare your freight network to the broader market.

Request your copy of “Winning is Knowing” to see how leading-edge business intelligence tools can help you see a complete view of the freight markets, adequately plan and budget for your procurement cycles, and serve your business objectives.

The 5 best strategies to overcome the challenges of container shipping management: A Complete Guide

Import and export are extremely complex environments to manage for any industry. It requires detailed planning and critical execution, involving multiple partners, in different time zones, with various expertises. These challenges often result in a supply chain that is fractured. Cluttered information, poor decision-making, and miscommunication are some of the many obstacles that stand in the way of a smooth, free-flowing supply chain. Surprisingly, these barriers are unnecessary and are easily avoided, with the right tools and strategy that is.

Continue reading to discover the 5 best strategies in the industry on how to overcome these barriers and get your logistics running like a well-oiled machine.

When it comes to shipping high-value loads, security is the priority, so ensuring products arrive on time and safely - and that they are protected from pilferage and theft - is key. The whitepaper breaks down how you stay ahead of business trends such as:

· Increased Global Security Requirements
· Digital Transformation
· Outsourcing
· Increasingly Complex Supply Chains

Download this whitepaper to learn how an end-to-end supply chain integrity solution can result in real ROI for your business.

From governmental regulations, port strikes, extreme weather events and more, network optimization models can provide the decision support needed to ensure agility (and possibly cost avoidance) when you need it most. Optimization models serve both strategic and tactical purposes for business planning situations across various supply chains. To strengthen your supply chain’s resistance to unforeseen events and better prepare for unplanned opportunities, consider building and maintaining a model to help your business manage through disruptive events that happen all too often. To read more please click here

The white paper demonstrates how the strategic use of an Ocean Freight Tracking System (OFTS) can drive tangible business benefits. In doing so, we will show how buyers, whether Forwarders or BCOs, can determine how they should measure the return on investment of deploying an OFTS.

Specifically, five key areas will be covered:

1. Free time optimization to reduce demurrage and detention charges
2. Carrier rate negotiation
3. Inventory management
4. Supply chain and shipping network optimization
5. The use of employee time to focus efforts on more value-added activities

This is a time of unprecedented supply chain disruption. Knowing where your shipments are – and when they will get to their destination – is more critical than ever. When your shipments get lost or delayed, it can cost you not only money but also precious time to replace your missing goods. Plus, there can be knock-on issues like idled labor and delayed delivery to your customers. Now, in-transit visibility is a necessity, not a nice-to-have.

With in-transit shipment visibility, you can better respond to supply chain disruptions, reducing and managing risks. Internet of Things (IoT) sensors work with visibility solutions to give your supply chain managers the precise location and condition of shipments, so they can quickly respond to minimize the disruptive impact of shipment delays and issues.

Understand how marketplace structures can improve freight utilization rates and promote supply chain sustainability

Technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, internet-of-things sensing and blockchain are transforming supply chains, automating processes and making companies more responsive to market demand signals. Yet, capacity utilization and lack of transparency is still a major challenge, which comes at a cost to consumers and the environment. How can capital markets controls, technology capabilities and models help to alleviate these pains?

Through innovative application of proven capital markets structures, shipping and logistics organizations can transform their operations leveraging:

• Implementation of proven matching models fit for complex markets

• Creation of electronic order books

• Application of blockchain and smart contracts

• Data provenance solutions

To learn more about how these structures, and technologies that enables them, can help to improve price discovery, transparency, optimize capacity utilization rates, reduce complexity and achieve better sustainability, download our whitepaper here.

Why is Nasdaq Technology in Shipping & Logistics?

Nasdaq’s mission-critical technology is road-tested in some of the world’s most demanding markets. Through its B2B commercial arm, Nasdaq is bringing proven capabilities in speed, resiliency and complex data management beyond capital markets to enable new business models, create growth opportunities and fuel innovation. Visit our website to learn more or contact us.