A failure by Congress to raise the debt ceiling and prevent a default on US government debt would result in an "economic catastrophe" that will push interest rates higher for even longer, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Tuesday. "A default would raise the cost of borrowing into perpetuity," Yellen said.
Ground parcel rates for the first quarter were up 25.2% over the fourth quarter of 2022 and 29.5% higher than January 2018, according to the TD Cowen/AFS Freight Index, which predicts future increases for both ground and express packages. AFS Logistics President Micheal McDonagh says shippers "might be more aggressive to try and get [customers] on board, because you need volume somewhere."
Consumers see health benefits as well as a refillable and endlessly recyclable product when they view a glass bottle, said executives at TricorBraun and affiliated company Zuckerman Honickman. Another benefit is that glass "provides an absolute barrier to protect natural products from perishing more quickly," said TricorBraun Vice President of Supply Chain Rosalynd Resendiz.
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Social Commerce: Back to basics US consumers have shifted their buying habits, making social media a key part of the sales process. Join experts from SmartBrief and Square as they discuss how to take advantage of consumers' new shopping habits and tap into social media. Watch now.
The percentage of women in the supply chain workforce dropped from 41% in 2021 to 39% this year, an issue that's exacerbated by factors such as a lack of career opportunities and significant pay gaps, writes Harshida Acharya, Fulfillment IQ chief marketing officer. Acharya offers five ways women can "encourage change," including becoming self-advocates, cultivating "a network of supply chain superheroes" and guiding and mentoring others.
Working with several differently organized enterprise resource planning systems makes it difficult for procurement teams to "normalize and standardize all of the information into a more unified system," says Pascal Bensoussan of iValua. Corralling all the procurement data into a single version of the truth simplifies all processes and opens the door for automation, says Hiscox Chief Procurement Officer Karl Poulsen.
Technology can help distribution sales representatives leverage data and knowledge to optimize their interactions with potential buyers and add value to the conversation, says Global Industrial Chief Sales Officer Claudia Hughes. During the sales process, Hughes says that analytics, marketing and sales "have to be interconnected, but I think that companies have to layer in how the opportunities are starting in the pipeline, whether it's online or rep outreach, and then [determine] where does the technology fit into each step of that process."
Providing great customer service can be more challenging than some assume, so companies need to lay the proper foundation for success, writes consultant Micah Solomon. It's important to ensure that employees are empowered to address customer concerns, be proactive about fulfilling customers' needs and recognize that personalized service is essential, Solomon writes.
Coaching isn't about sucking oxygen out of an employee's realm; rather, it's about "creating space to be filled by the employee," executive coach Ed Batista writes. A successful coaching style involves connecting, reflecting, directing and then asking.
