Walmart: In Need Of Stronger Domestic Leadership

Greg Foran, in his eighth month as the new president of the U.S. division of Walmart, recently met with analysts to discuss his outlook for the company. The meeting, attended by more than 100 senior analysts was a disappointment since it was mostly just a review of basic merchandising and procedures. There were few hard facts, and I think that Mr. Foran is in awe at running 4500 stores – a fact he repeated several times. He did not project the impression of a strong, confident manager.

His theme was that he is proceeding slowly and cautiously to make changes. That is not what I expected, even hoped to hear, since it means his stores are a long way from a brighter outlook. Both from an operational and merchandising point of view the stores are in need of a new direction. I would have liked to hear about his plans for this fall season since the retail industry is proceeding at breakneck speed to consolidate and become more efficient. I felt that he was pleased with the Express and Walmart Neighborhood Market stores – small formats that are easy to expand and multiply – but he also gave a strong endorsement to the superstores. However, there was no announcement of any new expansion plans.

Greg Foran is trying to improve the customer experience through aggressive pricing and improved shopping environment. He specifically called out that he is focused on the food area, assuring analysts that the food and produce will improve. This is a long term project requiring infrastructure. He also hopes to accelerate merging digital with physical stores, developing a strong omnichannel philosophy with the aid of improved systems.

He justified the move to raise salaries and improve associates morale, which was announced last month, and will increase selling costs by about $ 1 Billion for the year, by reducing inventories in stores. However, Walmart is also looking for vendors to reduce prices on commodity products, thus raising profit margins to offset the increased operating costs. Vendors, I believe, in many instances have already cut their margins in order to do business with Walmart. I do not believe you can squeeze more juice out of dry lemons and it runs counter to the pricing policy of Sam Walton who would have passed any vendor savings on to his customers by reducing prices. The idea of raising salaries is just; it will raise morale and should generate more sales. The idea to reduce inventory is good if it forces the company to be on a faster track to replenish merchandise. The idea of forcing vendors to support this initiative by reducing prices is not realistic.

But Sam Walton is on Greg Foran’s mind. Sam’s direction empowered store mangers to enhance their store assortment with special merchandise that appealed to their customers in specific areas. Apparently under the last two weak regimes, headed by Eduardo Castro and Bill Simon, store managers were not permitted to change assortments and could not act independently. That is being changed, and while it may only by a small percentage of the assortment, it will reestablish individuality to stores.

All in all, Walmart needs a stronger manager than Greg Foran to run their domestic division. The customer must come back to Walmart stores sooner than he envisioned. There must be incentive programs for associates to support the business and loyalty programs for customers that will encourage customers to shop more aggressively.

Rail-air freight could be the solution for shippers going from Asia to the Americas

By Alex Lennane in Shanghai

03.11.2015 · Posted in Air, Loadstar posts, Topics Add to favorites

Rail-air freight is becoming an increasingly feasible option for shippers looking for more sustainable long-haul routes.

Problems on the rail link between China and Europe have mostly been solved, speakers from DHL Global Forwarding and DB Schenker told delegates at the World Cargo Symposium in Shanghai this morning.

“Rail is becoming an important solution in the industry,” acknowledged Nover Jin, DHL GF’s product head, air freight for east China. “It will replace some sea freight and take over some air freight. It is flexible, can meet business peaks and has on-demand performance.”

There had been concerns over security, different rail gauges in different countries and the weather on the rail link between Chongqing and Duisberg. But for the most part, these had been solved, said Mr Jin.

Both DHL GF and DB Schenker are using temperature-controlled containers or insulated containers for goods unable to contend with the severe cold in winter.  Eight different rail companies across the network were working better together and DPS tracking had improved security.

“As soon as a container door is opened a signal is generated,” explained Lothar Moehle, director air security standardisation for DB Schenker.

“We have to allow for an option for Customs to open a container, but if a shipper requires it, a signal can be generated that alerts a security company connected with the police.”

He did acknowledge that both the reefer options and security cost shippers more, but the rail-air link to the Americas from China could speed up journey times significantly: from 50-55 days by sea, westbound, to 23-25 days by rail and air.

“We use rail as a base to add on air,” said Mr Moehle.”Customers got caught out a few years ago. Air freight become too expensive while ships started slow-steaming, and that opened a gap for a solution.”

Noting that at first it had seemed counter-intuitive to go eastbound for what had been a transpacific service, Mr Moehle explained that containers leave China and arrive in Duisberg, where they are taken by truck to an air hub, such as Frankfurt, Amsterdam or Luxembourg. The container is then unpacked and transferred into several air shipments, and flown to the destination in the Americas.

DB Schenker had started the route for a European electronics customer wanting a faster service from China to Sao Paulo. “It wanted to reduce transit times and this service had an economic advantage.”

The freight cost, capital cost and time can make rail-air an efficient option.

Rail worked for most commodities, said Mr Moehle, including hi-tech, automotive, manufacturing, consumer goods and telecoms. He added that it also had an environmental benefit over air freight.

Forwarders consolidate where possible along the route, but Deutsche Bahn does offer an LCL service.

“This is a sustainable business, provided the political situation [across the countries] allows it. It’s early days, but it could be a regular alternative,” argued Mr Moehle.

The service could be facilitated by China’s forthcoming acceptance of the TIR trucking licence scheme. In January it started the process of joining the TIR, which can be applied to any journey that includes trucking, even if it is only the first or last mile.

“In theory, TIR means a container on rail wouldn’t need to be opened, but you can’t stop a Customs official with suspicions,” said Marek Retelski, TIR and head trade facilitation at the International Road Union.

“But when China joins TIR we will be able to use trucks in a faster and cheaper way.”

Other countries signing up to the scheme include Afghanistan, the UAE, and Pakistan, while there is also interest from Argentina, Brazil, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and several countries in Africa.

‘Glorious’ first quarter air freight to fade as west coast port operations take off

By Alex Lennane

04.02.2015 · Posted in Air, Loadstar posts Add to favorites

The huge boost provided to air freight by the US west coast port congestion crisis has already begun to ease off, as port throughput performance begins to improve, according to UTi.

Figures out this week showed that February was a bright spot for the air cargo market. IATA reported an 11.7% rise in freight tonne kilomtres (FTKs), year-on-year, while WorldACD saw a rise of 8% in volumes. While yields fell 6.8% over the year, they increased 1.6% from January. Los Angeles Airport said it saw freight volumes for February rise 21.9%, year-on-year.

But – as expected – this happy and significant increase is not sustainable. In an analysts’ call yesterday at the release of its annual results, UTi chief executive Ed Feitzinger noted that the congestion crisis was calming.

“February was a disaster if you were moving cargo through the US west coast ports,” he said. “A lot of people were trying to route cargo around the ports or use air freight instead.”

UTi, which posted poor results as it attempted to turn around its business, saw its air freight volumes out of Asia to North America rise 25% in February – a result which contrasted sharply with its January figures, which fell 5%, year-on-year. Hactl, in contrast, saw volumes rise 13% in January and up 29% in February, he said.

“Congestion at the ports is beginning to ease, so we aren’t expecting to see 25% growth on outbound air freight traffic from Asia for the rest of the year,” said Mr Feitzinger.

He relayed anecdotal evidence – his office overlooks the San Pedro Bay in which Los Angeles and Long Beach ports sit, side-by-side. “You can visibly see it getting better, from a week and a half ago, and this morning I counted that the number of ships waiting at anchor was seven.”

Throughput, he said, has improved by 50%, on a measure of the average time it takes for a container on a waiting ship to come to berth, be unloaded and then moved through the terminal.

“[The congestion] had a huge impact in terms of clients needing to move air freight, and we had quite a lot of charters in both months. I think it will begin to really subside in April and May.”

Asia-Pacific carriers enjoyed much of this renewed interest in air freight. The region itself saw a 28% volume improvement while yields rose 3% in February, said WorldACD, while the wider Asia-Pacific to North America trade lane saw a staggering 90% rise in volumes and 13% rise in yields.

“The origin Japan, which returned dismal figures for quite a while, saw its fortunes change, showing a glorious transpacific performance,” noted the research company, with volumes doubling. A chunk of this growth can be attributed to the high number of charters originating in Japan and heading to the US, much of which were owing to the US airbag recall. One source active in the Japanese charter market said that volumes were still high in February and early March, but again, slacking off now.

IATA, no doubt stung by recent comments which questioned its analysis of January figures without mentioning the Chinese new year, said that the February results, much of which were related to the west coast ports, were also affected by CNY.

“Much of the impressive February result is due to the timing of the Lunar New Year activities. Air freight is given a strong boost in the weeks leading up to the holiday, which last year fell in January,” it said.

WorldACD, meanwhile, said it noted “an interesting phenomenon” concerning the new year. “In the days preceding CNY, local carriers’ activity in Hong Kong and China seemed to shrink seriously, but the overall market did not suffer: it only dropped significantly in the week after the auspicious day [February 19].

Push vs. Pull Strategies: Dealing with the On-Demand Market

• by Alexa Cheater
• Published April 2nd, 2015

Our partner Celestica recently published the following article, ‘Staying Ahead of Today’s On-Demand Market: Push Versus Pull Strategies.’ The author, Robert Rejano, Processes and Applications Advisor, Celestia, discusses the key differences between push and pull strategies and their impact on the supply chain.

Rejano asks ‘So why does technology even matter when supply chain principles haven’t really changed in decades?” We explore the answer.

You can start the show… whenever you’re ready

Using an interesting analogy centered on the rapidly changing television industry, Rejano suggests push strategies are akin to old analog rabbit ears – you can watch the programs you’re interested in, but only when the network decides to air them. Pull strategies are more like today’s on-demand options. Think digital video recording (DVR) and online streaming. They allow you to choose what you want to watch, and when you want to watch it.

Bullwhip Effect

When it comes to supply chain strategy, push strategies enable planned material delivery so production can meet a specified demand within a defined schedule. Planning is optimized to cascade independent demand down to the dependent levels through MRP. That demand is then handed off to the next supplier and so on and so forth. Each node’s MRP is optimized independently, which is known as single-stage optimization.

Push strategies work when demand is predictable, but there are challenges when forecast accuracy is poor, whether due to the customer’s ever-changing mind or a failure in your own S&OP. This can lead to what is known as the bullwhip effect. As customer demand is conserved at the node that made contact with the end user, that node will tone up or down the demand the OEM plans based on historical experience. When the next supply node performs the same demand adjustment, the resulting modified demand is amplified.

Multi-Echelon Supply Chain

A multi-echelon supply chain is defined as a network of multiple tiers of supply nodes. Demand flows upstream from the end user through to the last supplier and supply flows downstream from the last supplier through to the end user.

Some of the risks inherent in this strategy are poor cash flow performance, holding costs, lost capacity due to production of undesired product, and poor on-time-delivery to request (OTD-R) performance.

Push Model

• Production approximation based on anticipated demand
• Slower reaction to demand change
• Higher inventory
• Waste
• Inventory management through firefighting
• OTD-R across all products low

The alternative to the push model is the “pull” model

Advanced optimization tools have opened the door for pull strategies to excel in today’s fast-paced business environment. A pull-driven supply chain uses a series of pull signals to trigger replenishment of stock, starting from the customer order pull and cascading from there. Each node has a calculated reorder point (ROP). The bullwhip effect seen in push models is mitigated by the fact buffers are optimized as a total system, so small demand does not become amplified.

One of the challenges of pull strategies is companies have invested heavily in their ERP systems, which don’t handle ROP well without customization. Another challenge is the requirement for subject matter experts to fully optimize the system.

Single-Use Kaban

In consumption-based pull strategies, there are instances when a ROP is sized to exclude certain spikes. The single-use Kaban (SUK) allows replenishment beyond normal levels for a specified defined period. It can also be used for infrequently ordered or special-order items.

Pull Model

• Production precision based on actual consumption
• Agile enough to keep up with changing demand
• Lower overall inventory
• Waste reduction
• Inventory management through visual/systematic process
• On-time-delivery to request across all products high

Key Factors of Success

Ultimately you need to make a decision on your replenishment strategy based on the maturity of your supply chain. Regardless of pull or push, there are key factors that allow the system to be successful.

• Identify root cause of forecast accuracy issues – at the root of many inventory and OTD-R issues is inaccurate forecasting. A systematic, data-driven process for monitoring and improving performance is paramount.
• Plan for every part – through proper segmentation, every item, from customer-facing product down to sub-assembly and component should have a supply strategy that drives to the right level of exception management.
• Manage exceptions – processes need to be enabled that allow the supply chain team to plan the majority of the items with minimal intervention, allowing for strict focus on super A-class items, critical components and unplanned shortages.
• Enable an agile supply chain – depending on the length of the S&OP cycle and the amount of time it takes to propagate demand from customer-facing nodes down to lower-tier suppliers, decisions made today may take weeks before they are realized at the lower levels of the supply network. Eliminating this lag enables a truedemand-driven supply chain while optimizing inventory levels.

In an environment where delivery and inventory are key indicators of success, having the ability to optimize the entire supply chain based on defined service levels and acceptable cost of inventory, plan top down and bottom up,see the possible risks, and make quantitative and qualitative decisions based on those risks, is key. That’s why it isn’t difficult to see why the use of pull strategies is on the rise.

Amazon pushes mobile product-ordering convenience with Dash service

By Michael Barris

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April 2, 2015

Amazon Dash launches for Prime members.

Amazon’s testing of its Dash push-button household item-ordering service may meet consumers in their moment of need but miss the mark with those who rarely wait to the last minute to replenish supplies of essential goods such as toilet paper.

By pushing the Wi-Fi enabled button that connects to a smartphone through Amazon’s mobile application, the consumer can reorder from brands such as Tide, Clorox and Huggies when supplies run out. The service, available by invitation only to select Amazon Prime members, continues Amazon’s effort to expand its offerings as mobile sales increase.

“While it might take some time to catch on, this is a stroke of brilliance,” said Wilson Kerr, vice president for business development and sales with Unbound Commerce, Boston.

“For a long time, online retailers have been trying to bridge the gap between the virtual and real worlds. By branding these Wi-Fi-enabled instant reorder buttons, Amazon is connecting cooperative name brand recognition, with brand-loyal consumers, and instant online reordering, converted in the moment when a consumer realizes they are in need,” he said.

Product offerings
Each Dash device comes with a different product name. It can be mounted to any object through an adhesive strip on plastic clip.

Meeting consumers on mobile in moment of need.

Desired products and amounts can be set with the app.

Saying or scanning items into the device allows the user to view the list on desktop or mobile to purchase and schedule delivery.

Users can cancel their order within 30 minutes. The order will process just once.

Dash buttons so far are available for coffee, detergent, razors, toilet paper, diapers, dog food, trash bags and other items.

While Dash is an exciting development, it faces challenges in its multitude of product buttons.

“Different buttons per brand is interesting, but not scalable for the many products the modern consumer buys on a daily or weekly basis,” said Andy Hobsbawm, chief marketing officer at Evrythng. “Direct interaction with a digitally activated product via a mobile phone eliminates the need for multiple, brand-specific buttons – it provides a more frictionless, seamless experience of re-ordering household products and beyond.”

Amazon, which did not disclose the Dash trial’s size, has been looking for ways to branch out and entice mobile users to sign up for its platforms. In 2014, it suffered its first annual loss in at least a dozen years.

It expanded one-hour delivery service in some cities, to compete with bricks-and-mortar stores near customers’ homes.

In another effort to establish itself as a go-to-destination on mobile, it recently began to produce and acquire original films for early distribution on its Amazon Prime Instant Video platform.

Membership in Prime costs $99 annually, following a $20 increase last year.

Mobile ordering
Dash could affect the way people order items on mobile simply by taking other devices out of the picture.

Promotion on Amazon mobile Web site.

“[It] remains to be seen if it will be used to replenish consumer packaged goods or not, said Sucharita Mulpuru, vice president and principal analyst serving business and channel strategy professionals for Forrester Research, Boston. “It doesn’t seem like it would be terribly profitable for Amazon and it’s not like there’s so much friction in buying goods now anyway.

“Amazon is always throwing things out there,” she said. “They need to continue enforcing the narrative that they are an innovation machine to justify their weak financials.

“This definitely helps in that way,” she said.

The pros and cons of public, private and hybrid clouds

IMAGE: MASHABLE/CHRISTOPHER MINESES

PRESENTED BY HP HELION

HP Helion allows any organization to build, manage and consume workloads in a hybrid IT environment while also delivering agility, interoperability, security and reliability.

BY STEPHANIE WALDEN5 MINUTES AGO

By now, you've heard about the cloud -– and you’ve also likely heard about the benefits of using cloud computing for your business or enterprise.

But people outside the world of IT may not know that there are multiple types of cloud — and we're not talking about cumulus versus cirrus. Have you heard of the "private cloud" or the "hybrid cloud"? Do you know the advantages of each?

While there isn’t a specific industry or workload that universally makes sense for each type of cloud, there are certain considerations enterprises should take into account when deciding upon the right fit: For example, does the company frequently handle sensitive customer information online? Do they have a highly secretive recipe or patented design that needs to be protected? In these cases, public cloud computing may be a riskier choice.

If you're at a loss when it comes to the intricacies of various types of cloud, we've prepared a quick primer to help you sort through the different technologies, including a few key pros and cons.

The public cloud

In a nutshell, the public cloud is generally the most well-known and straightforward type of cloud computing. Public commodity cloud providers typically offer convenience — it's easy for enterprises and developers to set up, use and access the public cloud. Additionally, scalability is often a driving factor for businesses utilizing the public cloud. However, this type of cloud is not without risks.

Here's a brief breakdown of some of the main characteristics of the public cloud:

• Easy to use: Some developers may favor the public cloud (at least in the U.S.) due to its ease of access. Generally, the public cloud operates at a pretty fast speed, which is also alluring to some enterprises.
• Typically a pay-per-use model (cost-effective): Often, public clouds operate on an elastic pay-as-you-go model, so users only need to pay for what they use — some versions of public cloud are even free but price increases when larger workloads are migrated to the cloud.
• Operated by a third party: The public cloud isn't specific to a single business, person or enterprise; it is constructed with shared resources and operated by third-party providers.
• Flexible: Public clouds allow users to easily add or drop capacity, and are typically accessible from any Internet-connected device — users don't need to jump through many hurdles in order to access.
• Can be unreliable: Public cloud outages have made headlines in recent weeks, leading to headaches for users.
• Less secure: Particularly outside of the U.S. where data sovereignty comes into play (where your data is stored and who may have access to it), the public cloud often has a lower level of security and may be more susceptible to hacks. Some public cloud providers also reserve the right to shift data around from one region to another without notifying the user -– which may cause issues, legal and otherwise, for a company with strict data security policies.

The private cloud

For businesses concerned about knowing exactly where their data is stored and having complete control over it — and who, ultimately, has access — the private cloud provides a higher degree of peace of mind. Additionally, private clouds may be the best option for companies that must jump through a lot of regulatory hurdles or handle sensitive data, or for companies concerned over their own intellectual property being hosted on the public cloud.

Managed private clouds are one specific form of this type of cloud computing: This service refers to clouds that, though specific to an individual business, receive some assistance (such as operating service monitoring and patching) from a third party. This allows for a company to select the custom cloud model that fits its needs while leveraging secure third-party help for maintenance.

Here are the main features of private cloud computing:

• Organization-specific: Private clouds are developed specifically for one organization or enterprise; unlike the public cloud, they aren't shared among many users.
• More control and reliability: Private cloud services and infrastructure are maintained onsite, or in a privately hosted environment such as a third-party data center. This gives an enterprise the utmost control over access — IT can know where information is deployed and can keep an eye on the boundaries that surround that data. Additionally, managed private clouds allow for strong service level agreements, which can increase reliability.
• Customizable: IT can customize storage and networking components so that the cloud is a perfect fit for the specific organization and its needs.
• More costly (arguably): Proponents of public cloud computing often tout its cost-effectiveness as one of the primary advantages. While private cloud may rack up costs due to increased management responsibilities and smaller economies of scale, it's worth weighing the risks/costs of security.
• Requires IT expertise: Some companies may not have the infrastructure to completely build out and manage a custom private cloud within their own IT department -– it can require a good deal of up-keep. In these cases, a managed private cloud may be a viable option.

The hybrid cloud

The hybrid cloud allows for a "mix and match" approach, enabling enterprises and savvy CIOs the ability to pick and choose various elements from either the public cloud or private cloud -– or a combination of the two — that make the most sense for their particular company. For example, a company could host its ecommerce website — complete with customer credit card information — on a private cloud, but could also host its non-sensitive material (such as marketing collateral, etc.) on the public cloud.

Typically, the hybrid cloud provides a balance of convenience and security — and in fact,experts predict that 2015 will see a huge rise in the number of enterprises using hybrid cloud services. Enterprise cloud providers, often advocate a hybrid cloud approach, focused on a using the right destination for the right application that makes sense for individual business needs.

Here's an overview:

• Flexible and scalable: Since the hybrid cloud, as its name suggests, employs facets of both private and public cloud services, enterprises have the ability to mix and match for the ideal balance of cost and security.
• Cost effective: Businesses can take advantage of the cost-effectiveness of public cloud computing, while also enjoying the security of a private cloud.
• Becoming widely popular: More and more enterprises are adopting this type of model.

Ultimately, hybrid clouds look to be a promising solution for the future.

No one likes surprises; prepare your CEO for Rising Freight Costs!

By Mike Regan, Chief of Relationship Development, TranzAct Technologies
April 02, 2015

Last week was an interesting week. On Monday, I was in Orlando taking part in a panel that addressed 200 transportation and logistics professionals at an industry conference. As part of our panel discussion, we highlighted some sobering trends in transportation that could result in 15% to 20% rate increases for shippers over the next three years.

There are some big issues on the table for both carriers and shippers. So in closing the panel, I asked the audience whether they were a.) aware of these issues and b.) whether they agreed that these issues could lead to much higher rates. Everyone raised their hand to each of these questions. Then I asked how many people were sharing this information, and the possibility of increased rates, with their company’s senior executives. There were very few raised hands.

The next day, while attending the ProMat Conference in Chicago, I had lunch with some Presidents and CEO’s of companies who were exhibiting at the conference. As we went around the room and talked about business issues, I highlighted some of the facts that our panel had covered the day before and mentioned the possibility that their companies could see their freight rates go up by 15% to 20% over the next three years. Some CEO’s wanted to know why their transportation people weren’t bringing these issues to their attention. After all, freight costs can be a big deal for companies like theirs—and yours.

So let me ask you a question: Are you keeping your C-Level executives informed about transportation issues that could potentially impact your supply chain and increase your freight costs? Here are three reasons why you need to take this question seriously.

First, your C-Level executives hate unpleasant surprises. When surprises occur, CEO’s are likely to ask:  “How did it [the surprise] occur? Why did it occur? What are we doing to prevent it from hurting us?”

As an example of an unpleasant surprise, look at what happened recently at the West Coast Ports. Everyone had access to the same information. Some companies acted on that information; other companies believed that things would eventually work out and there would be minimal disruptions. Transportation professionals who failed to act found themselves having to explain to their C-Level executives why their inventory/products were stuck in containers on ships with no timetable for when those ships would be unloaded.

Second, one of my CEO buddies likes to remind his associates that, “Bad news doesn’t age well.” He brings this up to stress the importance of sharing information on a timely basis, so that his company is proactive in addressing threats to their business. What kind of information should you be sharing? Why not start with the fact that your truckload rates will go up by as much as 15% to 20% over the next two to three years unless your company is proactive and willing to change certain things?

Before asking, “Is that possible?” consider that in the past month several truckload carriers have announced that they are significantly increasing their compensation for drivers. Additionally, while fuel costs have decreased, truckload carriers are experiencing cost increases in virtually every other part of their business. Add it all up, and you can expect truckload carriers to seek sizeable rate increases—and get them because of their advantage in today’s seller’s market.

The third reason you need to talk to your CEO is because if you don’t, others will. Based on experience here are some things I have learned about this:
1. You can’t hide from reality. For transportation and logistics professionals, here is your reality: You must reduce costs. That’s difficult when your carriers are seeking higher rates. Reducing costs may require changing practices and processes. But companies won’t change until they understand why and how they need to change. And the people that may have to sign off on those changes are the C-Level executives. 

2. There is no job security, so what do you have to lose by telling the truth? In Orlando, we talked about some sobering trucking and transportation trends. Here is something else that is sobering: All of this information is in the public domain. If your costs are going up and your freight budgets are blown, here is what your C-Level executives want to know: “What happened? What are we doing to address the situation?” 

If you can’t answer, or if you are afraid to answer these questions, then don’t be surprised when your CEO calls in a consultant to help them address what they need to do to reduce their costs. That is the essence of the “if you don’t, others will” principle. Your CEO isn’t going to accept poor results or unpleasant surprises. So here is your choice: Give them the information and the answers they need, or say “Hello!” to the consultants they hire.

In order to help you start a dialogue with your C-Level Executives, we have prepared the C-Level Spotlight. It’s a Cliff’s Notes version of important things that are happening in transportation; things that they need to be aware of so that together you can come up with a game plan for how your company can have a world class game plan for managing your transportation and supply chain costs—and avoid unpleasant surprises.