DC Velocity - January 2017

inbound

If you want to compete in the e-commerce world, you’d better be fast. Customers have come to expect next-day delivery or even same-day delivery in certain regions. That capability can be crucial when it comes to delivering home medical supplies or equipment for last-minute business meetings, but what if you want something really important … like a six-pack of beer?

If you happen to live in certain parts of California, you’re in luck. Under terms of a partnership between alcohol delivery company Saucey and retail giant BevMo, BevMo customers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Sacramento can order beer, wine, and spirits online and Saucey will deliver the order in under an hour.

Although Saucey is not the only alcohol delivery service in the market, it claims to be a cut above the rest. As for what distinguishes Saucey from its peers, the company says it has developed a network of some 1,500 couriers whom it has trained in the firm’s ID verification process and inventory management methods. That enables the workers to handle more orders per hour than unknown handlers outsourced through a “shared economy” smartphone app, Saucey claims.

When you really, really need a drink …

Who’s the most innovative of them all? According to German automotive giant Volkswagen, if you’re talking about logistics innovations, the hands-down winner is Knapp AG.

Every year, VW holds a competition to identify the best new logistical approaches and IT concepts from sources both inside and outside the company. Following a multistage screening process that includes concept presentations and factory visits, the finalists are invited to VW’s Wolfsburg, Germany, headquarters to present their solutions at VW’s annual Logistics Innovation Day. At this year’s event, Austria-based systems integrator Knapp beat out a field of 18 other finalists to take top honors for its autonomous, flexible AGV (automated guided vehicle) shuttles.

Knapp’s winning solution merged two systems in order to provide a continuous supply of components to VW’s production lines. Known as the “Take Away” concept, the solution combines Knapp’s Open Shuttle transport system with its YLOG-Shuttle storage system, effectively automating the entire warehouse with direct connections to work stations on the production floor, the company says. “Combining the highly flexible storage system YLOG-Shuttle System with the highly flexible transport system Open Shuttle offers an ideal solution for the automatic supply to production work stations,” Christian Brauneis, Knapp’s director of business unit industry solutions, said in a press release.

Volkswagen names Knapp top innovator

If you work in logistics, warehousing, or supply chain management and were listening to “Marketplace,” American Public Media’s hip business-themed radio show, a few days before Christmas, you might have heard a familiar voice. On Dec. 20, Marketplace aired a chat with Ann Drake, chairman and CEO of the third-party logistics company DSC Logistics, as part of the show’s “Conversations From the Corner Office” series of interviews.

In a session titled “Why aren’t there more female CEOs?,” host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Drake about what’s keeping women from reaching the highest levels of business management. Drake is well positioned to answer that question. In addition to her own experiences as a female exec in a male-dominated industry, she’s been deeply involved in initiatives to help more women ascend to executive positions. She is a past member of the Committee of 200, a women’s business leadership organization, and in 2012 was the first woman to receive the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Distinguished Service Award. Three years ago, she founded AWESOME (Achieving Women’s Excellence in Supply Chain Operations, Management, and Education), a nonprofit that supports the advancement of women’s supply chain leadership.

Drake is also active in a brand-new organization called Paradigm for Parity (P4P), a coalition of CEOs dedicated to addressing the leadership gender gap in corporate America. In the interview, Drake spoke at length about what the group aims to accomplish and why such an initiative remains necessary in the 21st century.