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Panama Canal had to Place Limits on Shipping Due to El Niño Drought

A drought caused by the El Niño weather system forced the Panama Canal to limit how deeply ships are immersed as they pass through the waterway.

The canal’s lower water levels mean a ship’s maximum draft will drop from 39.5 feet to 39 feet on Sept. 8, the Panama Canal Authority announced in a shipping advisory. A ship’s draft refers to the distance between its keel and the waterline and determines what depths it can safely pass through.

Canal officials, who laid the blame for the limit on the global El Niño weather pattern, say the limit may fall another half a foot on Sept. 16 if rainfall does not return to normal levels. The month of June and early part of July were the driest period in over a century, the AFP reports.

While the change only affects 18.5% of ships traveling through, some ships may have to reduce their cargo to be able to pass through, which could have consequences for manufacturing and trigger far-reaching delays.

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ATA Report Sees Growth in Freight, Trucking Through 2026

A new report released Monday by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) projects freight volumes will increase by nearly 29 percent over the next 11 years.

“The outlook for all modes of freight transportation remains bright,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello in releasing its U.S. Freight Transportation Forecast to 2026. “Continued population growth, expansion of the energy sector and foreign trade will boost trucking, intermodal rail and pipeline shipments in particular.”

Forecast, a collaboration between ATA and IHS Global Insight, projects a 28.6 percent increase in freight tonnage and an increase in freight revenues of 74.5 percent to $1.52 trillion in 2026.

Forecast is a valuable resource for executives and decision makers in both the private and public sector,” said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves. “Knowing where the industry and economy is headed can help shippers and fleets make key business decisions and instruct lawmakers and regulators on the best policies to move our economy forward.”

For the first time, this year’s Forecast includes near-term projections for 2015 and 2016 and estimates for changes in the size of the Class 8 truck fleet.

Among Forecast’s findings:

Trucking will still be the dominant mode of freight transportation, although the share of tonnage it hauls dips slightly. Even though truck tonnage grows over the forecast period, trucking’s share will dip from 68.8 percent in 2014 to 64.6 percent in 2026.

Due to tremendous growth in energy production in the U.S., pipelines will benefit more than other modes. Between 2015 and 2026, pipeline volumes will increase an average of 10.6 percent a year and their share of freight will increase from 10.8 percent in 2015 to 18.1 percent in 2026.

While railroads’ share of freight tonnage will drift down from 14.2 percent in 2015 to 12.3 percent in 2026, intermodal freight will be the second-fastest growing mode at 4.5 percent annually through 2021 and increase 5.3 percent per year thereafter.

The number of Class 8 trucks in use will grow from 3.56 million in 2015 to 3.98 million by 2026.

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Logistics

Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics is the management of the flow of things between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet requirements of customers or corporations. The resources managed in logistics can include physical items such as food, materials, animals, equipment, and liquids; as well as abstract items, such as time and information. The logistics of physical items usually involves the integration of information flow, material handling, production, packaging, inventory, transportation, warehousing, and often security.

In military science, logistics is concerned with maintaining army supply lines while disrupting those of the enemy, since an armed force without resources and transportation is defenseless. Military logistics was already practiced in the ancient world and as modern military have a significant need for logistics solutions, advanced implementations have been developed. In military logistics, logistics officers manage how and when to move resources to the places they are needed.

Logistics management is the part of supply chain management that plans, implements, and controls the efficient, effective forward, and reverse flow and storage of goods, services, and related information between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customer’s requirements. The complexity of logistics can be modeled, analyzed, visualized, and optimized by dedicated simulation software. The minimization of the use of resources is a common motivation in all logistics fields. A professional working in the field of logistics management is called a logistician.

Origins and definition

The prevalent view is that the term logistics comes from the late 19th century: from French logistique (loger means to lodge) and was first used by Baron de Jomini. Others attribute a Greek origin to the word: λόγος, meaning reason or speech; λογιστικός, meaning accountant or responsible for counting.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines logistics as “the branch of military science relating to procuring, maintaining and transporting material, personnel and facilities”. However, the New Oxford American Dictionary defines logistics as “the detailed coordination of a complex operation involving many people, facilities, or supplies,” and the Oxford Dictionary on-line defines it as “the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation”. As such, logistics is commonly seen as a branch of engineering that creates “people systems” rather than “machine systems.”

According to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (previously the Council of Logistics Management) logistics is the process of planning, implementing and controlling procedures for the efficient and effective transportation and storage of goods including services and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption for the purpose of conforming to customer requirements and includes inbound, outbound, internal and external movements.

Academics and practitioners traditionally refer to the terms operations or production management when referring to physical transformations taking place in a single business location (factory, restaurant or even bank clerking) and reserve the term logistics for activities related to distribution, that is, moving products on the territory. Managing a distribution center is seen, therefore, as pertaining to the realm of logistics since, while in theory the products made by a factory are ready for consumption they still need to be moved along the distribution network according to some logic, and the distribution center aggregates and processes orders coming from different areas of the territory. That being said, from a modeling perspective, there are similarities between operations management and logistics, and companies sometimes use hybrid professionals, with for ex. “Director of Operations” or “Logistics Officer” working on similar problems. Furthermore, the term supply chain management originally refers to, among other issues, having an integrated vision in of both production and logistics from point of origin to point of production. All these terms may suffer from semantic change as a side effect of advertising.

Business logistics

A forklift stacking a logistics provider’s warehouse of goods on pallets
One definition of business logistics speaks of “having the right item in the right quantity at the right time at the right place for the right price in the right condition to the right customer”. Business logistics incorporates all industry sectors and aims to manage the fruition of project life cycles, supply chains, and resultant efficiencies.

The term “business logistics” has evolved since the 1960s due to the increasing complexity of supplying businesses with materials and shipping out products in an increasingly globalized supply chain, leading to a call for professionals called “supply chain logisticians”.

In business, logistics may have either an internal focus (inbound logistics) or an external focus (outbound logistics), covering the flow and storage of materials from point of origin to point of consumption (see supply-chain management). The main functions of a qualified logistician include inventory management, purchasing, transportation, warehousing, consultation, and the organizing and planning of these activities. Logisticians combine a professional knowledge of each of these functions to coordinate resources in an organization.

There are two fundamentally different forms of logistics: one optimizes a steady flow of material through a network of transport links and storage nodes, while the other coordinates a sequence of resources to carry out some project (e.g., restructuring a warehouse).

Logistics outsourcing

Logistics outsourcing involves a relationship between a company and an LSP (logistic service provider), which, compared with basic logistics services, has more customized offerings, encompasses a broad number of service activities, is characterized by a long-term orientation, and thus has a strategic nature.

Outsourcing does not have to be complete externalization to a LSP, but can also be partial:

A single contract for supplying a specific service on occasion
Creation of a spin-off
Creation of a joint venture
Third-party logistics (3PL) involves using external organizations to execute logistics activities that have traditionally been performed within an organization itself. According to this definition, third-party logistics includes any form of outsourcing of logistics activities previously performed in house. For example, if a company with its own warehousing facilities decides to employ external transportation, this would be an example of third-party logistics. Logistics is an emerging business area in many countries.

The concept of a fourth-party logistics (4PL) provider was first defined by Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) as an integrator that assembles the resources, planning capabilities, and technology of its own organization and other organizations to design, build, and run comprehensive supply chain solutions. Whereas a third-party logistics (3PL) service provider targets a single function, a 4PL targets management of the entire process. Some have described a 4PL as a general contractor that manages other 3PLs, truckers, forwarders, custom house agents, and others, essentially taking responsibility of a complete process for the customer.

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KITTING – FULFILLING YOUR REWORK NEEDS

Although kitting, fulfillment and distribution may seem less glamorous than other aspects of business, their importance can’t be overlooked. Effective kitting and fulfillment processes reduce cost and lead times while minimizing the amount of obsolete inventory. With our suite of kitting and fulfillment options, you can deliver messages to customers and employees worldwide through just one point of contact. We build fulfillment plans tailored to give you control over the entire ordering and supply chain process with just one provider.

Whether kitting for critical orders, fulfilling your rework needs, shipping direct to customers or supplying your distribution channel, Laney and Duke leverages shared resources to provide cost-effective kitting solutions. We understand that quality, fill rates and on-time delivery are crucial in today’s economy and we deliver with exceptional performance.

COST-EFFECTIVE KITTING SOLUTIONS

  • TOTAL SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
  • JUST-IN-TIME OPERATION
  • OPERATIONAL FLEXIBILITY
  • CAPACITY TO HANDLE A WIDE RANGE OF KITS – FROM 10 COMPONENTS TO 1,000’s
  • BARCODING AND LABELING TO YOUR SPECIFICATIONS
  • TOTAL TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION
  • FREIGHT MANAGEMENT

 

Laney & Duke provides kitting services in Jacksonville, FL by way of their superior labor and knowledgeable supervision. We create displays or kits based on your specifications while meeting your sensitive deadlines. With experienced quality control personnel, you can be sure that your product will reach the customer on time while exceeding their expectations.

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WHAT IS THE BEST OPERATIONAL FIT FOR CROSS DOCKING?

Cross docking or flow through distribution is a goal of many retailers, but it works better in some scenarios and for some type of goods than others. Cross-docking services involves transferring your cargo from an incoming shipping medium to a different, outgoing shipping medium with little or no time spent in storage.

Laney and Duke has many requests each week from local as well as national trucking companies needing our help to transload products from a container to a trailer or flatbed.

Sometimes the trucking company’s customer requires the load be received to them in a particular fashion that the trucking company was not aware of. As a result, they need our cross-docking services for temporary storage or simply transload their goods from one container to another to satisfy their customer’s requirements.

SO WHERE DOES CROSS DOCKING HAVE THE BEST FIT? 

  • Use cross docking for products with high, stable demand: If demand is fairly constant, then the inventory serves little purpose, and the product is a good candidate for cross docking. If demand is highly variable or the cost of a stockout is high, then traditional warehousing is probably the best strategy.
  • Use cross docking for products for which customers are willing to “wait a few days”: This is typical for larger purchase items such as major electronics or appliances. When a “stockout” in a store does not mean a lost sale, cross docking can become very attractive.
  • Push distribution systems should cross dock everything that can be sold in stores now: This model is especially associated with heavy discount retailers,  where merchandise is acquired at a discount and everything is pushed to the stores. Customers are used to constantly changing merchandise and inventories.Warehouse club stores take a similar distribution approach for many of their SKUs. When customers have a low expectation that any particular item will be in stock, it is a “perfect situation” for cross docking.

WHAT CAN LANEY & DUKE CROSS DOCKING SERVICES OFFER?

Laney & Duke offers everything you need for cross-docking services in Jacksonville, FL including drayage to and from the Jacksonville ports. Whether it’s stripping full trailer loads or trans-loading onto overseas containers or stripping full container loads for domestic delivery, Laney & Duke has you covered. No matter your shipment or needs, Laney & Duke can meet your unique supply chain requirements.

Let Laney & Duke handle your cross-docking needs in Jacksonville FL to truly see how this tool can help you maximize the efficiency of your operation. Call today for a quote.

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ERP & ECOMMERCE EDI COMPLIANCE

One of the most important services a 3PL provider can provide is a seamlessly exchange information via EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). The 3PL provider also must be ERP & eCommerce EDI compliant. Does your company require a 3PL partner that is EDI compliant?

Laney & Duke is EDI compliant.

Laney & Duke incorporates EDI compliant warehouse management software by Camelot to streamline warehouse inventory and billing operations. Camelot, headquartered in Charlotte, NC, is a software solution provider to the global 3PL industry with installations in over 200 3PL organizations, managing 500+ locations worldwide. Camelot’s warehouse management solution helps us manage your warehouse operations better and in the end will make you a better strategic partner for your customers.

So What is EDI?

EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), a standard method of exchanging files that has been around since the 1980’s. EDI is used in some degree in almost every industry and EDI compliance is a must. Over the years, EDI has become widely adopted throughout the retail, manufacturing, transportation and health care industries for exchanging data between entities. Some industries require their trading partners to use of EDI in an effort to reduce ordering costs for things such as ordering, invoicing and shipment notifications.

EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) Benefits:

  • Eliminates manual reentry of orders.
  • Generate appropriate confirmation notifications and transmit to customers.
  • Mapping utility is included to configure data templates to your customer specifications thereby reducing mapping costs.

What’s the next step to implement EDI?

The next step for any potential account is to get their IT department to speak with our IT professional at Laney and Duke to discuss the “mapping” details as it relates to integrating their system to ours to accomplish exactly what the potential customer requires.

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CHOOSING A FOOD GRADE WAREHOUSE

If you are looking for a certified food grade warehouse provider, there are a number of considerations that are extremely important to understand in order to make sure that you select the right provider for your business. To begin with, understanding the differences between the varying types of food grade warehouses offers some helpful insights. Some warehousing companies offer all three types of temperature ranges, whereas some only specialize in one or two of the options – so you’ll have to check with the specific provider in order to determine if they can meet your needs.

There are three main types of food grade warehouse companies – frozen food grade facilities, dry food storage facilities, and refrigerated facilities.

Frozen Food Grade Facilities – Frozen storage usually operates its environment within the temperature range of 0 degrees Fahrenheit and below. Refrigerated Facilities – Refrigerated, or climate control facilities, can keep food at a comfortable temperature range of 34-39 degrees Fahrenheit. Dry Food Storage Facilities – Dry food grade storage facilities usually operate within the 50-70 degree Fahrenheit range.

Factors to Consider When Comparing Food Grade Warehouses

Once you find a provider that meets your needs with regard to the temperature requirements of your food products, you’ll want to investigate the potential provider’s overall capabilities, certifications, standards and procedures, and track record of success with managing food grade commodities for others. In order to feel comfortable with the vendor, it makes great sense to tour the facility in order to personally gauge the strict adherence to regulations. Some of the items below are most important to investigate:

  • Is the facility clean and free of bacteria, fungus or health hazards –  Obviously, a food grade facility should be a very clean environment. In order to keep food in the required condition for consumption, it should be free of anything that would adversely impact its condition, such as bacteria or fungus. Make sure to keep a sharp eye open as you tour the facility.
  • Condition of the building and regulations –  It’s important to check the overall health of the warehouse, both inside and out. In particular, check to make sure that it is well maintained (no cracks and holes in walls and windows) and that the doors are sealed, and check the overall temperature and humidity. This will keep pests out. Furthermore, the warehouse should have a pest control plan, detailing the precautions that the warehouse staff take in order to eliminate this risk. And definitely make sure that the outside of the building is well maintained and kept, as this can have an impact on the overall health of the facility.
  • Master sanitation schedule and overall SOP’s – Does the warehouse have a master sanitation schedule? One of the best signs of a high quality food grade warehousing company is the presence of detailed procedures, and a sanitation schedule should be at the top of the list. This schedule provides the details behind what measures and steps the personnel take in order to maintain a clean facility. Furthermore, every process and procedure should be logged in the company’s SOPs (standard operating procedures). These are detailed steps to ensure the quality operation of the warehouse and its staff.
  • Personal hygiene and training – As an extension of the sanitation schedule, the warehouse company should maintain a high degree of personal hygiene, including a detailed training schedule to make sure that the facility is adequately equipped with sinks, etc., and that staff are well trained in terms of maintaining their personal hygiene throughout their shifts. As a part of this function, make sure that the company has controls over any hazardous materials, such as cleaning supplies, etc.
  • Lot tracing and FIFO – Food products must be strictly controlled with regard to its age, and thus warehouses must have the capability of tracking product based upon lots and utilizing the FIFO (first in, first out methodology). In particular, check out the company’s warehouse management system to verify their capabilities.
  • Registered with the FDA – This one is a bit of a given, but be sure to check that the warehouse is in fact registered with the FDA. Occasionally, some warehousing providers aren’t aware of regulations for common, dry food products and lack the proper registration.
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THE BENEFITS OF CROSS-DOCKING

Cross-docking is a flexible operations arrangement between firms that involves multiple suppliers arriving at a designated time at the handling facility where inventory receipts are sorted and consolidated into outbound trailers for direct delivery to the customer. Cross-docking is typically used to avoid storage and materials handling. Mass merchants in the retail industry using cross-dockingreceive store-specific assortments and are able to maintain continuous inventory replenishment without having to hold large stocks of inventory.

Laney & Duke offers everything you need for cross-docking services in Jacksonville, FL including drayage to and from the Jacksonville ports. Whether it’s stripping full trailer loads or trans-loading onto overseas containers or stripping full container loads for domestic delivery, Laney & Duke has you covered. No matter your shipment or needs, Laney & Duke can meet your unique supply chain requirements.

Benefits of Cross-docking

  • Allows the efficient consolidation of products.
  • Decreases inventory levels due to elimination of storage.
  • Enables faster product flow by eliminating “dwell”.
  • Enables more frequent deliveries.
  • Decreases inventory
  • Decreases inventory obsolescence due to reduced inventory and faster product flow.
  • Decreases labor requirements and costs due to decreased material handling through elimination of put-away to storage and order picking.
  • Decreases inventory damage costs due to less material handling.
  • Supports businesses Just in Time strategy.
  • Accelerates payments to suppliers.
  • Improves the relations with the supply chain partners.

Let Laney & Duke handle your cross-docking needs in Jacksonville FL to truly see how this tool can help you maximize the efficiency of your operation. Call today for a quote.

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LANEY & DUKE ADDS LOCAL FLORIDA LIFESTYLE CLOTHING COMPANY

Laney & Duke added a new local customer called Flomotion, headquartered in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.  Founded in 2010, Flomotion is a Florida-based lifestyle brand, offering surf and outdoor clothing for men and women. Combining a love of action sports with fashion, music, and design, Flomotion is for people who are committed to living a laid-back and active Florida lifestyle. With a fresh array of men’s and women’s fashions.

Their catalog is designed in-house and ranges from shirts and hats to swimwear and accessories. Flomotion’s products are found in retail locations across the United States – primarily in surf, skate, and specialty stores, but they are also sold through their online store. In addition to clothing, Flomotion has a vast family of artists, athletes, and adventurers, who represent the brand globally.

Laney & Duke provides warehousing, order retrieval (shipstation) and pic-n-pack services for Flomotion. Flomation is in the process of expanding to Texas, California, and the Northwest.  Laney & Duke is excited to grow with them.

Much like other features and services within the shipping industry, pick and pack services is exactly what it sounds like: processing packages, disassembling their contents and reassembling them with correct shipping labels. Laney & Duke provide pick and pack services in Jacksonville, FL that are second to none.

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REDUCING COSTS WITH BARCODE LABELS

Barcode labels have been in use for many years in shipping and manifesting systems, but many warehouses still don’t fully use this technology. Barcode printersshould be utilized in every warehouse, because barcodes help you reduce costs and increase control of your operation. You can use barcodes in warehouse paperwork (purchase orders, pick tickets, etc.); for individual employee identification to track who did what; on individual products; and on cartons or pallets to identify the contents and track activities. Each warehouse location can have a unique barcode that facilitates inventory moves.

The backbone of any barcode inventory system is the barcode label. In a warehouse, labels are used to identify locations, pallets, individual items, and shipments. At Laney Duke we have applied barcode technology to areas such as receiving, putaway, replenishment, picking & packing, shipping and manifesting, returns, cycle counts, value-add functions and labor tracking.

Among other functions, barcode labels let you track the what, who and when for all warehouse activities within the four walls. As a result, potential savings can occur in the following areas:

  • A decrease in clerical costs due to reduced need for manual data-entry functions
  • Fewer errors thanks to improved inventory tracking and positive verification of activities
  • Increases in overall inventory accuracy
  • Ability to track employee performance that can increase productivity
  • Improved scheduling of warehouse activities

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