Today's Pickup: Logistics And Analytics: A Perfect Marriage; Central Casting Takes Its Lumps At UPS

Good day,

Data analytics is made to order for a complex, interdependent industry like logistics, according to a story in CIO Applications. Citing a report, the story said 93% of shippers and 98% of third-party logistics (3PL) firms consider data analytics a critical tool to enable intelligent decisions. Analytics "is one of the most effective approaches that will transform the operating processes of logistics," according to the story.

Did you know?

About 72% of 4,000 retailers surveyed expect their holiday sales to be affected by geopolitical issues such as tariffs, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and Brexit, according to DHL Express' U.S. unit. Nearly one-quarter expect those issues to have a "significant" impact on sales. 

Quotable

"Showing up is important. But it's more about substance than symbolism."

— Charles Freeman, senior vice president for Asia for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, commenting in U.S. News and World Report on Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross' recent visit to Asia and Ross' statement while there that the Trump administration remains engaged and committed to the region even as the U.S.-China trade war drags on.

In other news:

Firm readies largest industrial building in Kansas City

NorthPoint Development is building Kansas City's largest industrial building, a 952,956-square-foot structure in Kansas City's Logistics Park. NorthPoint also built the prior largest industrial building — 822,177 square feet — in the same park. The building is being developed on "spec," meaning no specific tenant is lined up. (Kansas City Business Journal)

Vietnam logistics competition heating up

In accordance with Ho Chi Minh City's development strategy to make the city a major logistics hub and reduce related costs to 16% by 2025, e-commerce platforms are accelerating the competition for logistics warehouses. (PR Newswire)

Logistics investments paying off for ag retailers

It's taken hard work and trial and error, but logistics systems are now bearing fruit for retailers who have committed to making them work. (Croplife)

Abe, Modi talk joint defense logistics pact

Tokyo hopes to sign an agreement to allow the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the Indian military to share food, ammunition and other items when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits India possibly in December. (Nippon.com)

Amazon delivery hub bumps RV storage lot in California

Amazon Logistics AMZN said last week it plans to open a delivery center in Mission Viejo sometime in 2020 at the site of an existing recreational vehicle depot. The current business operator is working with RV owners to relocate the vehicles, according to the city. (Maybe they could drive for Amazon Prime … or maybe not.) (OCR.com)

Final thoughts:

Jim Barber was right out of UPS Inc. UPS central casting. Smart, seasoned, commanding and with all the right credentials (head of Europe, chief operating officer), Barber was the more than odds-on favorite to succeed David P. Abney in the top job upon Abney's retirement, which many have expected sometime in 2020. (UPS CEOs typically spend five to eight years in the job, and Abney would be starting his sixth year). Which is what made the recent announcement of Barber's retirement at year's end all the more shocking. Some at UPS believed that after 34 years, Barber just wanted to get off the corporate treadmill.

Others familiar with UPS politics, however, said Barber was ready to ascend to the top job when the UPS board and the company's powerful management committee decided Abney would stay in the seat through the end of UPS' massive four-year reengineering plan in 2022. Barber was not interested in waiting until then, so he called it a career at Big Brown, these people said.

Hammer down, everyone!

Image Sourced from Pixabay