Reuters Events | Supply Chain & Logistics Business Intelligence

3D printing and piracy; XPO buys again; K+N expand footprint

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by UTi Worldwide

UTi is an industry leading non-asset based, supply chain management provider with 313+ facilities in 59+ countries, including 245+ logistics centers. With over 21,000 professionals around the world, we deliver competitive advantage to each of our clients' supply chains with innovative, integrated, client-centric solutions. At UTi, there’s not a weak link in the chain.
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3D printing has been once again catching my eye this week and there are a couple of articles I found on other respected news sites (BBC and dailyfinance.com) that I have shared on my scoopIT site http://www.scoop.it/t/supply-chain-logistics-freight-transport. I think the subject of piracy/counterfeiting is a really important one throughout the supply chain, but even more so when copyright is only the digital design rather than a physical good. It is these cases which will proliferate with the growth of 3D printing and I will be watching to see which solutions will come to the fore. 

As it’s nearly the holiday season, our gift to you this week is an infographic on how the trucking industry feels about technology at the moment…..IT budgets are up and TMS improvements are in vogue.

We’re also looking for your help on a brand new survey we have compiled with HP that investigates key IT trends and challenges currently affecting the logistics and supply chain industry. One lucky participant also has the opportunity to win a wireless HP printer and all those that contribute will receive an exclusive copy of the comprehensive report being released early next year.

Lastly, the 3PL Summit and CSCO Forum in Chicago next June (11-13) is really building up to be a great event. We are delighted to announce that Julio Nemeth the Senior Vice President - Product Supply, Global Operations with Procter & Gamble has confirmed as a speaker, as has Herb Shear, Chairman of GENCO – you can see the full event information at www.3PLSummit.com. 

News this week:

Cyber Monday Sales Dwarf Black Friday's

What Would a World With Effective Extended Supply Chain Look Like? 

Spinnaker Strengthens Its Core Supply Chain Planning and Logistics Services 

XPO Logistics to Acquire NLM, the Largest Web-based Expediter in North America

XPO Logistics announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Landstar System, to acquire NLM, the largest provider of web-based expedited transportation management in North America.
Kuehne + Nagel expands in Geel, Belgium

Featured This Week: Trucking Tech Infographic – Investment strategy, Future outlook, and the Space for Innovation

EFT has just released an infographic on trucking IT, providing the industry with a snapshot on investment trends, impactful technologies and innovation gaps in the trucking space.

Based on a survey of over 200 top executives conducted in November of 2014, the infographic was designed to provide industry executives with a quick, easily digestible overview of some of the latest trends in technology in trucking.  

Click here to access the infographic directly

Key findings include:

• Increased interest by fleet executives in TMS improvements – 32% wanting improvements
• IT budgets showing signs of increases – 57% reporting increases
• Only 5% of fleets reported decreased budgets

Featured This Week:Logistics and Supply Chain Technology Trends – Share Your Thoughts

In partnership with HP, we’re going to investigate and analyse the key IT trends and challenges currently affecting the logistics and supply chain industry, which technologies are crucial for your business, and why.
The survey should only take you approx. 5 minutes to complete, so please take some time to fill it out. You could also be in with a chance of winning an HP Wireless Printer!