Once Upon a Time

| Ernie Schell

This column, my last on systems for Operations & Fulfillment, is about transitions. In the months to come, I’ll be writing on applications, but I want

Pick of the Bunch

| Rama Ramaswami

What do exotic produce and third-party logistics services have in common? Their buyers are picky. This year, companies that use 3PLs are examining the

Break Time

| Thomas G. Dolan

There was a time when most goods sold in this country were made in this country when you received a faulty shipment, you could send it back. But now that

Honey, I Shrunk the Dot

| MCM staff

There is the real world, and there is the electronic world. Tech shop findtheDOT, Inc., based in Oakland, CA, offers a technology designed to connect

The Whole Shebang

| Rama Ramaswami

When you finally make logistics VP, you have it all and you get to do it all. In its 2001 survey of career patterns in logistics, The Ohio State University

GOLDEN RETRIEVER

| Richard Sawyer

If you’re still chasing CRM, ERP, SCM, VIM, TIM, and what have you, you’re barking up the wrong tree. None of these much-heralded applications have had

NOW HEAR THIS

| Karen Berman

HE STRAPS ON A SMALL WIRELESS TRANSMITTER, adjusts a headset, and he’s off. Is he a salesman setting out on a road trip in a state that prohibits hand-held

Reverse Gear

| Lew Waddey

A company may outsource all or a portion of its operations. Typically, a firm that chooses to outsource the fulfillment portion of its business does so

Sense and Sensibility

| MCM staff

A lift operation enhanced by an obstruction sensing system is a new offering by McConnellsburg, PA-based JLG Industries, Inc. The self-propelled vertical

Just for You

| Curt Barry

The sector of the direct-to-customer marketplace is populated by thousands of modest catalogs, single-product companies that do direct marketing through