This past summer, while visiting a wholesale distributor’s distribution center (DC), I watched receiving personnel spend an afternoon unloading boxes from a tractor-trailer in nearly 100 F heat.

In Part 1, I posited that innovation is something completely new or different being introduced that changes the marketplace — it’s one and done. 

Research suggests that people react negatively to the word innovation. Some companies seem to be finding that using other terms helps employees engage more with the process.

The use of robots is quickly evolving, especially in distribution-focused operations. 

In Part 1 of this column we examined the concept of just-in-time inventory management amid major supply-chain disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the devasting effects of last year’s Winter Storm Uri

We’ll explore a series of questions in this month’s column. 

Being sustainable is not just about being “green” — or only about sustainable supply chains. 

You know, for me, the last 18-plus months have felt like a science fiction movie. Hasn’t it? 

For as long as the term “metamorphosis” has been in use, distribution management has been characterized by tacticians, focused on ensuring that orders rolled and were filled. Execution and firefighting were highly valued skills.