Kapoklog Logistics China Sourcing Freight Forwarding Agent

 What you should know about the economy, consumer spending habits and supply chains What you should know about the economy, consumer spending habits and supply chains Economy Economies of countries go up and down, depending on a lot of factors. A robust economy is one that has an expanding Gross Domestic Product or GDP. The GDP is the total economic output of a country or region. In poor economic times, the GDP will retract, or grow at a very slow rate. Large established economies like the United States do not expand at fast rates. Established nations have much less room for growth. There are of course different ideas on economics and how to foster growth in order to have a prosperous economy. There are dozens of economic schools of thought, but the main ones are supply side and Keynesian economics. Supply side This theory of economics is one that wants a marketplace that the government leaves alone. Supply side economists favour tax cuts and remarkably few regulations. Economist...

  6 Benefits of Logistics Automation in a Transportation Management System About a week and a half ago, we had an amazing guest blogger, Progressive Automations, give their thoughts into why Automation systems were the future of industrial automation. In the blog post, they touted that "movable and compact" were the type of systems we will see as the future of industrial automation. Sticking with the theme of automation, today we will focus on logistics automation. Now, automation, or automatic control, in general is known as the use of various control systems for operating equipment such as machinery, processes in factories, boilers and heat treating ovens, switching in telephone networks, steering and stabilization of ships or aircraft and other applications with minimal or reduced human intervention. Some processes have been completely automated. The biggest benefit of automation is that it saves labour, however, it is also used to save energy and materials and to improve ...

  Adoption of Cloud B2B Services Continues to Grow in Japan It has been 18 months since I first discussed how Japanese companies were taking a keen interest in moving to cloud based B2B services. In that particular blog entry I highlighted five reasons why Japanese companies were considering a move to cloud based B2B platforms. I wanted to take the opportunity to revisit each of these reasons and update according to some of the industry trends that I have been seeing over the past 18 months. Kapoklog Logistics also wanted to provide some personal insights from my recent trips to Japan. As you will see it certainly provides some validation in terms of my original findings relating to cloud B2B adoption across Japanese companies. Reason 1. Introduce Flexibility : Japanese manufacturers need to scale production as seamlessly as possible to ensure they can meet varying consumer and market demand levels . By moving a B2B environment to the cloud, it allows companies to build flexibilit...

  Spring Cleaning Your Supply Chain By kapoklog Logistics Supply Chain Knowledge Centre It’s almost that time of year again where we get the lawn equipment and the vacuum to give our homes a good clean inside and out, but isn’t it about time we did the same with our supply chains? The new fiscal year gives logistics and supply chain professionals a chance to look at all of our operations and processes. This organizational review should start with looking at existing staff and making sure their talents are being properly used. Take some time to speak with your department heads directly. If your fulfillment lead has to step away from the desk and work on the floor most days, it could be a good time to shift resources and increase staff. The Spring is also a great time to run through your processes one by one. Set aside enough time to review your workflow and the systems that pass information along as you move forward. Take note of these and see if you can extend a transportation or w...

  Productivity Improvements are Manufacturing’s Next Necessity The U.S. economy is projected to slowdown as we continue to recover and manufacturers must focus their time and investments on improving labor productivity to prevent lowered revenues from becoming the new normal. The overall economy is set to grow annually by 3%, the average for the past century, until we reach post-recession levels, according to a new report from TD Economics. The rate will slow to roughly 2% afterwards, hurt by declines in labor force and labor productivity. To keep manufacturing from seeing the slowdown in revenue growth, we must turn to smart policies that promote both increased sales and increased jobs. A common focus for 2025 will be a focus in lean logistics principles and meeting consumer demand before that demand has been entirely actualized. The key is evolving to project consumer demand across a longer term and applying advanced-staging techniques on a customer level instead of just as a di...

  3D printing: what manufacturers need to know 3D printing has continued to hit the headlines with some interesting use cases, the first being architects in Amsterdam that have started work on the world’s first 3D printed house. According to Hedwig Heinsman of Dus, the architects responsible for the project, the building industry is one of the most polluting and inefficient industries out there. Boasting zero waste, lower transport costs and recyclable materials, this could very well be first glimpse of the future of housebuilding. We’ve also seen a Dutch hospital successfully performing the first operation replacing a patient’s skull with a 3D-printed version. This is the latest example of where 3D printing is having a significant impact in the medical field, with its capacity to quickly and cheaply prototype customer parts is helping patients across the globe. These are just two areas where the process of 3D printing is revolutionising the way in which we solve the world’s great...

  Business Process is happening every day in every organisation in a series of connected, repeatable activities triggered by an event with an outcome or output. Business Process Monitoring (BPM) is the analysis of these processes and their repercussions, providing insights into performance and measuring and effecting change. While it can be tempting to measure and monitor everything, focus is key. Metrics should be line with the overarching business strategy. The business case will also be significantly influenced by core values. For instance, retailer Argos may prefer to compare price against competitors, whereas John Lewis may focus more on measuring customer satisfaction. Other criteria could be the time it takes a process to complete; queuing times; volume or percentage of sales; the times the Service Level Agreement (SLA) is met or missed; the errors or defects made; or ratios such as conversion or success rates. These considerations will in turn influence the methodologies to...

  Different Methods of Conveyance by Freight Exchange Over the years, the action of transporting goods has taken on a number of forms. However, technology has had the biggest impact on transportation. Online freight exchanges have made it easier for people to transport cargo from one point to another. They have transformed the transportation industry in five major ways: Better marketing of transportation services Online freight exchanges are cheap and effective advertising. The transportation company simply has to post their services. They will then get access to thousands of clients. This type of visibility was rare before online freight exchanges. Therefore, they have helped transportation companies a lot with marketing. Better communication with clients, agents and partners In the transportation industry, communication is very important. Everyone who is involved needs to know what is going on. They need to know whether the goods are on the right track. They also need to be infor...

 4 Questions to Ask when Hiring a Logistics Service How to start with a International Freight Forwarder 4 Questions to Ask when Hiring a Logistics Service How to start with a International Freight Forwarder A company that deals with transportation and freight should get a professional logistics team or consultant. This is because logistics is one of the most important aspects of their business. They could have the best customer service, accounting, sales and technology. However, if their logistics is poor or weak, they will not be able to get the goods to the right destination on time. This will be very bad for the business. When recruiting a logistics service provider, the freight company should ask them a number of questions. What logistics management and analytical skills do you have? This is one of the most important questions to ask the potential logistics manager or consultant. The answer should cover all the major logistics management skills. The individual or company should...

  Are UK manufacturers too trusting of suppliers? According to research by Achilles, only 51% of UK manufacturers actively check their supply chains for ethical malpractice such as conflict minerals or child labour. Without checks and audits in place, these issues can slip under the radar, putting manufacturers, buyers and other parties at risk of reputational damage. While people might assume that all suppliers would be forced to comply with a standard code of ethics, this isn’t always the case. High profile disasters like Rana Plaza prove that unscrupulous suppliers do exist – and the only way to identify them is to audit them regularly. This is easier said than done as most buyers find that they struggle with visibility to audit supply chains from tier two onwards. Adrian Chamberlain, Achilles’ CEO, thinks that the key to more effective audits is for manufacturers to collaborate, telling Supply Management: “If a number of manufacturers are asking the same questions you are more ...

  Why Manufacturers Should Focus on Improving Lead Time By Kapoklog Logistics A realistic discussion of lead time in supply chains and manufacturing may provide the industry with the right way to measure the success and innovation within our industries. Lead time just may provide an all-inclusive measure that gives customers and managers a way to measure effectiveness and efficiency. The problem with today’s discussion is that lead time is that is often expressed in ways that are unclear. Marketing and sales reps often adjust lead-time estimates to best fir the company’s goals instead of using a standard definition, such as the actual number of days from when a part or product is ordered until the first batch of the order is delivered. Keeping the discussion of lead time in plain language would better serve our industry because it keeps expectations the same and allows us to compare products and services across multiple suppliers and sectors with a straightforward metric. The N...

  The key benefits of a warehouse management system for the put away process Welcome to the first in a series of blog posts on the Return on Investment (ROI) which can be gained from the implementation of a Warehouse Management System (WMS). In this series I will be looking at each of the key warehouse processes and delving deep to show you the impressive cost savings you could gain for your company by implementing a warehouse management system. The blog will aim to highlight the non-productive times spent capturing data manually compared to automating the data capture process. As Indigo has been around for over 30 years, we have extensive experience in demonstrating ROI and these blog posts will give you food for thought in terms of how you can save thousands for your company. In this first post I’ll examine the put away process. Read on as there are some stunning cost savings to be made… Typically, in a business which doesn’t run a WMS, the receipt of stock into a warehouse is a ...