Chain Links: What we’re reading this week

 

Different ways to earn your supply chain chops in the classroom. Automation fuels the future. And Llamasoft gets $50 million in funding from Goldman, Sachs

 

Hazmat transportation blog and videos provide up-to-date information

A blog produced by LabelMaster, a provider of hazardous materials compliance software, products, and services, offers up-to-date, important information about all aspects of hazardous materials transportation in multimedia. Expert commentaries on current events and hot topics like lithium-ion batteries and new chemical labeling regulations are available in article form and in video interviews as well as infographics and news reports.

Source: LabelMaster

 

Rise in holiday sales relies on shoppers’ digital interactions

Deloitte’s annual retail holiday sales forecast predicts that 64 percent, or $434 billion, of U.S. retail store sales this holiday season will be influenced by shoppers using their desktop and laptop computers, tablets, and smartphones to do activities other than simply buy goods – such as finding inspiration, reviews, product locators, or the option to buy online and pick up in the store.

Source: Deloitte 

 

Llamasoft lands $50 million to develop supply chain software

Look for fast growth from the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based supply chain software company Llamasoft after the company received $50 million in financing from investment banking giant Goldman, Sachs & Co. to fund technology development and growth initiatives in its supply chain design, analytics, and planning solutions.

Source: Llamasoft

 

Logistics Companies Expect Business Gains From Pacific Trade Deal

Supply chain providers are gearing up for a surge in business they believe the historic agreement will bring to Pacific trade.

Source: Wall Street Journal

 

Building the World—A DHL Perspective on Future Engineering & Manufacturing Supply Chains 

According to this recent study from DHL, manufacturing and engineering account for 70 percent of all global trade volume. For this reason along, it is important to keep up on key trends in the sector, such as: regionalized supply chains, new collaboration models, intelligent and sustainable manufacturing, and the compromise between supply chain efficiency and redundancy.

Source: DHL Customer Solutions and Innovations

 

Robots Fuel the Next Wave of U.S. Productivity and Job Growth

A new white paper from the Association for Advancing Automation tries to combat the common perception that robots take jobs away from people. Instead the paper shows a positive correlation between increases in robot sales and decreases in unemployment levels.

Source: Association for Advancing Automation

 

A New Path to an MIT Master's Degree

Last week, MIT upended the traditional education model by announcing a pilot program that would allow learners worldwide to take a semester's worth of courses in its top-ranked, one-year Supply Chain Management (SCM) master's program completely online, and then complete an MIT master's degree by spending a single semester on campus.

Source: MIT News

 

The Supply Chain Management World University 100: Best B-Schools For Supply Chain Talent

Research firm SCM World polled 719 supply chain professionals around the world in September 2015 and asked: “As a marker of supply chain talent, please select your top three universities.” Here’s what the study revealed.

Source: Forbes.com 

 

Rail shutdown would cost $30 billion, study finds

A shutdown of the nation's railways at the end of the year if Congress does not move a deadline for automating most of the nation's trains would cost the U.S. economy $30 billion, according to a study conducted by the American Chemistry Council. 

Source: TheHill.com