DC Velocity - July 2019

inbound

If somebody asked about your “digital consciousness,” you might assume they were inviting you to a computer-age meditation retreat. But that’s actually a term used in a new index created by the industry group MHI and consulting firm Deloitte to refer to an organization’s progress toward embracing a digital supply chain mindset.

The Supply Chain Digital Consciousness Index (DCI) is designed to help organizations gauge their progress on the digitization journey, the index’s developers say. Launched in the 2019 MHI Annual Industry Report, the framework lets users track their companies’ progress through a series of stages— dormant, developing, heightened, and elevated.

At stake is nothing less than a company’s very existence, according to the report. “Digital technologies and innovations continue to fuel escalating customer expectations for service that is better and faster, creating relentless pressure for supply chains to perform flawlessly, efficiently, and transparently. Only a digital supply chain that is agile, fully automated, and self-learning will likely be able to meet these demands and com-pete/thrive in the future,” MHI states on its website.

Interested readers can visit the DCI web page, www.mhi.org/ subwebs/dci/, to calculate their own company’s digital-matu-rity score. According to MHI, the result could “help companies identify where they are on the digital supply chain journey and then chart a clearer path to where they need to go.”

How “digital” is
your supply chain?

There are many challenges to running a grocery supply chain, including maintaining tight controls over your food’s freshness, temperature, and location. But one of the toughest problems to address can’t even be seen by the human eye—the growth of bacteria on pallet surfaces.

One pallet vendor is now tackling that issue through a partnership with a provider of antimicrobial and odor-control technologies. Oxford, Mich.-based pallet manufacturer Lightning Technologies says it is working with the antimicrobial engineering firm Microban International of Huntersville, N.C., to treat its pallets with technology that automatically inhibits the growth of bacteria.

The new pallets could help solve a long-standing sanitation problem for produce and meat growers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and food retailers, according to Lightning Technologies CEO Jeffrey Owen. “The growth of bacteria on coated and untreated wood pallets has been a significant vulnerability for all food-related industries,” he noted in a release.

The antimicrobial enhancement is the latest upgrade to Lightning’s pallets, which also feature embedded radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips that can connect to an Internet of Things (IoT) network to help shippers monitor location, temperature, impact, and humidity, the firm says.

Bad news for microbes

The trucking industry has long struggled with a shortage of drivers, a problem that’s often exacerbated by ultra-high rates of turnover and attrition. But a recent study is shedding light on one of the causes—and a possible solution for that.

The study, conducted by Grand Haven, Mich.-based consulting firm Atlas Injury Prevention Solutions, examined the overall health and wellness of drivers compared with other people working in the transportation industry. Its aim was to identify health risks correlated with the drivers’ jobs—information that could then be used by employers to identify higher-risk drivers and prioritize them for health treatment, according to the authors of the study, Relationship Between Demographics and Wellness in the Transportation Industry.

The survey report detailed the results of a five-year study of 15,165 drivers and non-drivers (workers employed in terminals, warehouses, shops, and offices). It measured factors including body mass index (BMI), tobacco use, age, and gender and how these factors affect driver and non-driver health.

Among other findings, the study showed that drivers are 80 percent more likely than non-drivers to have at least three out of five conditions involved with metabolic syndrome (MetS), placing them at increased risk for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. The research also showed the driver group had a 30-percent higher obesity rate than the non-drivers and that drivers are 130 percent more likely to smoke.

The report includes specific recommendations for wellness and employee education programs based on the study’s findings. The full report can be downloaded at Atlas’s website, http://atlas-ips.com/resources/research/.