Modern Warehousing: The transformation of the black box

In this battle for efficiency and profitability, the warehouse has taken centre stage. Companies are recognizing that what happens in the warehouse can make a big difference to the supply chain and to their bottom line. They are also starting to acknowledge that some of the biggest productivity gains are potentially within the walls of [...]

Transforming the Indian leather industry

Robert Bell writes: Years ago I worked in a company called Irish Leathers in a place called Carrick-on-Suir in Ireland. I followed the process through from the livestock in the surrounding fields; the slaughter house; raw skin collection and then, the production of wet blue hides before the finishing process began. The colouring and plate [...]

The Zambian logistics pilot project (I)

The World Bank, The UK Department for International Development, and USAID recently released the results of a logistics pilot project in Zambia, in which the availability of various medical supplies was improved. This is the first of a three-part series in which I talk with two of the team members and finish with some personal [...]

Thoughts on ethics and the Supply Chain

Writing on the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807, G.M. Trevelyan, the historian, called it “one of the turning circumstances in the history of the world”. As we look to Logistics to make a more transformative impact on global business practice, we could turn to the campaign waged by William Wilberforce and the [...]

The private / public mix in health logistics

I guess that it will be clear how important the public sector is for health logistics in developing countries. But how about the public sector? What could be its role? Combine the words “logistics” and “private sector” in one sentence, and obviously third party logistics (or 3PL) will jump immediately to mind. However, there are [...]