BY MARK B. SOLOMON, SENIOR EDITOR
DEDICATED/CONTRACT CARRIAGE
transportationreport
IT advancements
make electronic
communications
in the supply
chain easier and
better than ever.
But that’s not
where the
problem lies,
experts say.
THE EARLY YEARS OF THE 21ST CENTURY
have brought with them an abundance of supply chain technology tools allowing companies to electronically communicate with more
ease, speed, and efficiency than ever before.
Now, if they can only work on the more
traditional forms of interaction: such as the
verbal kind.
Over the past two years, four studies—two
from Scranton, Pa.-based third-party logistics
service provider (3PL) Kane Is Able; one from
Raleigh, N.C.-based consultancy Tompkins
Associates; and another by a consortium led by
academic C. John Langley—have, to one degree
or another, dissected the communication disconnect between shippers and 3PLs, or between
shippers and their customers. The studies have
different participants and scenarios. But the
conclusions are essentially the same: Someone’s
not talking, someone’s not listening, or the talker and the listener are not on the same page.
The most recent study, commissioned by
Kane, prepared by Auburn University, and
released in early October, focuses on the rela-
tionship between small to mid-sized consumer
packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers—those
with $1 billion or less in annual revenue—and
the large retail and grocery chains that order
and stock their products. The 24-page report
paints a somber, yet perhaps unsurprising, pic-
ture of big retailers paying lip service to the
needs of smaller CPG shippers.
A PUSH FOR CO-LOADING
For small to mid-sized shippers, the lack of
communication is keenly felt in executing
