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If you have always been a big fan of following futuristic trends, then twenty years ago you might have assumed that by this year peel and stick labels would be a thing of the past and your products and packages would be engraved by lasers. The reality is that as supply chains have gotten more sophisticated and Ecommerce continues on its decades-long growth trend, “labels” have not only NOT gone away, they are more prolific and ubiquitous than ever – and more important than ever.

Aside from a growth trajectory with no visible end, here are some of the labeling trends we think are important to be aware of today.

How has your business responded to the rapid changes in the distribution and logistics industry this year? Chances are that the rapid evolution of your processes and how you supported them are not just a band-aid for making it through to 2021, but the blueprint for your current and future facilities well beyond this crisis and into the future.

It’s hard to imagine during the heyday of lead acid batteries that anyone would have thought something called “Battery Day” could be seen as a futuristic, sleek, design-savvy symbol of innovation. But in case you missed it, yesterday September 22^nd was the annual Shareholder meeting for Tesla, an event they have branded as “Battery Day”, and is used as a showcase for new innovations, ideas and plans coming out of Tesla.

Photo by Franck V. on Unsplash

“Industry 4.0” is a term now in common use generally to describe the “fourth industrial revolution”, a term that it is used interchangeably with. But what does it mean, on a high level and specifically for what impact it might have on your business?

To get us all on the same page, let’s first go back to “Industry 1.0” and be clear about the other distinct eras of industrial revolution:

Yesterday morning we woke up to see a familiar name in the news as John B. Goodenough was announced by the Nobel Prize Committee, along with two others, as the recipients for this year's Nobel Prize in chemistry. We’ve written about John in earlier posts (See “A Week For Gratitude”) and can say we’re thrilled to see the recognition he, M. Stanley Whittington and Yoshino Akira received for the work they did over two decades in three countries that led to what one committee member referred to as “a highly charged story with tremendous potential”!

As a major pillar of the distribution industry, shippers and logistics service providers are a critical element of any business’ customer satisfaction goals. But as a facility manager or a business that relies on a shipping partner to help you meet your service goals, how much information do you share between you in order to ensure you can make the relationship as productive as possible? A recent industry survey by Descartes Systems Group, a solutions provider for fleet management operations, provides some useful insights.

There are a lot of innovations in manufacturing getting press in recent years, but most of them relate to the improvement of productivity through process improvement – continuous improvement, supply chain management, culture and developing talent. But there is one radically innovative technology that is flying under the radar but is already poised to bring the sci-fi future into today’s factories.

(Or, we just wanted  to use the word “Big Ass” in a serious business article.)

While we’ve seen the topic of staff retention in warehouses and manufacturing plants  come up more frequently than ever, most of the discussion until now has been focused on compensation and skill training. While there are legitimate needs to address stagnant pay, lack of career paths and insufficient training, in many cases retention is much more about creating a great work environment.

Despite low unemployment and a long-term economic growth streak with record profits now approaching a full decade, distribution centers and warehouses have continued to experience trouble retaining skilled or experienced staff. The problem lies more in how management values the contribution of their people in those facilities – which also makes it somewhat easier to resolve. Today we look into the problem with the help of some great research from ProLogistix through the WERC organization.

What new technologies change the way products are made and delivered? How does the increase in urban populations affect manufacturing trends? What does the growing global economy mean for manufacturing leaders?

Manufacturers and logistics companies must keep current with the changes in their industry if they want their businesses to survive. Here are 5 trends that manufacturing leaders can’t afford to ignore.