inbound
“Big data” projects can produce
impressive results, but they also
require supply chain managers to
learn a whole new vocabulary. If
you know a terabyte from a petabyte or can summarize the differences between descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics,
you’re in better shape than most.
The rest of us need a little help getting up to speed.
To help flatten the learning
curve, the industry group MHI
has released a 20-page white
paper on big data analytics and
how it can add value to supply
chain operations. Produced by
MHI’s “Solutions Community”
industry group, the report, titled
Adding Value to Manufacturing,
Retail, Supply Chain, and Logistics
Operations With Big Data Analytics,
was written by academic experts
Ishita Gupta and Manjunath
Kamath of the School of Industrial
Engineering and Management at
Oklahoma State University.
While there is no single definition of “big data,” the paper
explains how it is generated by a
host of systems and devices, such as
log files, GPS devices, smartphones,
surveillance cameras, the Internet
of Things, and social media. The
resulting flood of data comes in
all forms—structured, semi-struc-tured, and unstructured—and
some of it is more trustworthy than
others, the authors say.
To find out more and get familiar with the new terminology,
download the white paper at www.
mhi.org/solutions-community/
white-papers. And by the way, a
petabyte is equal to 1,000 terabytes
(and a terabyte is 1 million million
bytes). n
Report takes deep
dive into big data
With no end to the driver shortage in sight, motor carriers are stepping up their
efforts to support driver-training programs in a bid to develop a pipeline of talent. The latest example is Green Bay, Wisconsin-based truckload and logistics
services provider Schneider Transportation Management. Schneider recently
donated 10 “gently used” Class 8 vehicles to commercial driver’s license (CDL)
driver-training programs at community and technical colleges in Oklahoma,
Wisconsin, Iowa, and Texas.
The company is providing Freightliner Cascadia models that include automated manual transmissions and some of the industry’s most advanced technologies. That choice of transmission is deliberate, since driver training is significantly more efficient when using an automated manual transmission that allows
trainers to focus on maneuverability and awareness, rather than gear changing,
Schneider says.
According to Schneider, the strategy could also help to broaden the pool of
potential drivers by attracting candidates who were often overlooked in the
past. “Women and younger adults are an emerging driver pool, and we believe
technologies like automated manual transmissions, safety, and connectivity
will attract a more diverse audience to the industry,” Rob Reich, executive vice
president and chief administrative officer at Schneider, said in a release. n
Not your usual training wheels
Marine cargo carriers are scrambling to prepare for “IMO 2020,” a new set of environmental regulations that kick in Jan. 1. The regulations, issued by the International Maritime
Organization (IMO), are designed to curb
pollution by prohibiting ships from using fuel
with a sulfur content higher than 0.5%. That’s down from the previous limit of
3.5%, which was set in 2012.
Low-sulfur fuel is more expensive than the traditional, sludgy “bunker” fuel,
however, so container carriers are looking for green alternatives. Now, Danish
shipping giant A.P. Møller – Maersk thinks it may have found a winning mix
in an unlikely place—a waste byproduct of pulp and paper mills that is usually
burned to produce steam and electricity.
Maersk is exploring the use of LEO, a blend of ethanol, the plant-based gasoline substitute, and lignin, a structural bio-polymer that contributes to the rigidity of plants. The company says that lignin is easy to find; it is isolated in large
quantities as a byproduct in paper factories.
To explore LEO’s potential as a maritime fuel, Maersk has teamed up with
the Norwegian/Swedish shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics to
collaborate with Copenhagen University and major customers including BMW
Group, H&M Group, Levi Strauss & Co., and Marks & Spencer.
The resulting LEO Coalition plans to explore the commercial viability of using
the new fuel for containerships. “Shipping requires bespoke low-carbon fuel
solutions [that] can make the leap from the laboratory to the global shipping
fleet. Initiatives such as the LEO Coalition are an important catalyst in this process,” recently departed Maersk COO Søren Toft said in a release. n
It’s still not easy being green
