14 DC VELOCITY FEBRUARY 2019 www.dcvelocity.com
newsworthy
go figure …
44%
Percentage of transportation industry professionals surveyed who say the driver shortage/capacity crunch will
be the biggest challenge facing supply chains in 2019,
eclipsing such concerns as rising freight costs, managing
customer expectations, and lack of visibility.
SOURCE: KUEBIX
following a heavy focus on robotics based
on strong results from initial trials. While order
picking is a key focus of robotic development, the
technology is expected to have an impact that
extends beyond e-commerce fulfillment, with
robots working alongside humans while performing low-value tasks that increase overall warehouse productivity.
Increased uncertainty drives greater agility. In
today’s global and interconnected supply chains,
new tariffs, renegotiated trade agreements, and
regional climate events can have a ripple effect
that paralyzes an entire supply chain, according to
DHL. This is making proactive supply chain planning more important than ever. Designing supply
chains that can circumvent natural disasters or
quickly reconfigure to accommodate shifts in costs
or material availability resulting from tariffs has
become critical to maintaining high service levels,
the company adds.
Talent gets the attention it deserves. While the
talent gap remains a challenge, solutions are starting to emerge, according to DHL. The company
says it has automated every step of the recruiting
process, from online applications to pre-hire testing to onboarding, to increase the quantity and
quality of applicants for hourly positions. DHL
Supply Chain is also working closely with a number of universities and colleges to promote career
opportunities in supply chain management.
Digitalization closes the transportation service
gap and helps shippers think beyond today’s
shipment. Digitalization is being applied broadly
to a host of supply chain issues, but the area that
will benefit most directly in 2019 is transportation, DHL says. A number of digital solutions are
emerging to enable the industry to make better
use of available transportation resources and
close the service gap. Cloud-based transportation
management systems (TMS) are extending the
value of transportation management software to
smaller enterprises, providing the insight and data
to optimize resources, the company says. In addition, increased use of the Internet of Things (Io T)
in the form of fleet management systems allows
data from truck operations to improve utilization
and reduce downtime. However, DHL says the
biggest opportunity is in the emergence of digital
freight platforms that create online marketplaces
that quickly and efficiently connect shippers with
carriers, streamlining processes, optimizing costs,
and expanding the available options.
—V.K.
Trade group posts retail-focused
policy agenda for 2019
Retail industry leaders will focus on competitive pressures,
privacy concerns, trade, and a host of other issues as the 116th
Congress gets under way, according to an official public policy
agenda released by the Retail Industry Leaders Association
(RILA). RILA said Jan. 7 it has launched an “ambitious”
retail-focused policy agenda for 2019, with priorities on competition and innovation, growing the retail work force, and
securing efficient supply chains.
The group said it will continue
to work with the Federal Reserve
and Federal Trade Commission
on reforming the payments ecosystem, for example, and will
also stay engaged with Congress
and the Trump administration
in voicing its concerns about the
negative effects of tariffs and the
China trade war on the retail
economy. The group is also
focused on infrastructure issues
and said it will continue efforts to
increase awareness about port inefficiencies as well as related
topics such as the trucking industry’s driver shortage.
Austen Jensen, RILA’s senior vice president of government
affairs, said he expects privacy to be an issue “right out of the
gate” in the new Congress, citing a shift in concern from data
security to consumer privacy among government and industry
leaders. RILA said it is focused on education and awareness
about privacy laws, as well as updating outdated laws to reflect
issues and concerns in the digital economy.
Trade issues will also take center stage this year, especially in
light of the uncertainty surrounding tariffs on Chinese imports
and the pending approval of the United States-Mexico-Canada
Agreement (USMCA) on trade. Hun Quach, RILA’s vice
president of international trade, said the group supports the
administration’s efforts to modernize the North American
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the form of the p. 16
