Datex Blog 

Chinese Tariffs Continue on Medical Equipment Recently 160 businesses and organizations wrote a letter to the White House to request a suspension in tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of goods imported from China.  Analysts and industry associations are concerned...

Coronavirus Disrupting Supply Chains According to a new survey by the Institute of Supply Chain Management, nearly 75% of companies are reporting supply chain disruptions due to coronavirus-related transportation restrictions. The survey also reported that over 80% of...

What is a 4PL? A 4PL is an outsourced service provider that manages the warehousing, inventory, fulfillment, transportation and logistics on behalf of its clients, often the entire supply chain from the production line to the point of final distribution.  4PLs, also...

Cost and Complexity Still Plague Retail Industry Retail logistics is mired by inefficiencies and unnecessary costs.  Today, ground transportation, fulfillment and retail logistics are all being reconfigured to better serve the retail industry.  Last mile delivery...

Cargo Thieves Continue to Target Trucks in Transit A recent report by international transport and logistics insurer TT club and supply chain intelligence firm BSI indicates that 87% of cargo thefts involved trucks in 2019.  This is up by 3% over the previous year and...

Blue Collar Worker Shortage Turns Severe  The younger generation is eschewing trade school and apprenticeship opportunities, turning instead to college for white collar jobs.  The agriculture, mining, manufacturing, construction, transportation and supply chain...

As of February 13th, 60 million people in China have been quarantined to prevent the spread of the dreaded coronavirus.  For those of you keeping a close eye on the situation to make informed decisions, here is a real time coronavirus COVID-19 global case tracker by...

How Macy’s Plans to Change Its Old, Siloed Supply Chain Model Before the advent of ecommerce, Macy’s viewed the supply chain as transactional.  This meant that its primary focus was in moving goods from point to point while optimizing costs at each point along the...

The highly complex pharma life sciences industry seems to be constantly changing.  To keep up with the pace of change, ensure regulatory compliance and meet the needs of patients and drug manufacturers, pharma manufacturers have ramped up outsourcing to 3PLs and other...

Recall of Contaminated Surgical Gowns Results in Cancelled Surgeries Industry giant Cardinal Health recently announced two voluntary recalls for surgical gowns.  In January, Cardinal Health advised healthcare providers to cease utilization of some specific types of...

We live in a global world.  There is simply no getting around that fact.  Around the world, goods are traded, shipped and delivered to the doors of consumers as well as to businesses.  Many factors have influenced the growth of the third party logistics industry. ...

Philippines Turns Plastic Trash to Fire Cement Plants and Build Roads An innovation in an approach to sustainability has taken hold in the Philippines.  Plastic garbage including discarded shopping bags, sachet wrappers and plastic packaging is now being used to fire...

Is Alcohol the New Secret Weapon to Higher Retail Sales? High end retailers have introduced a new experiential feature in select store locations and have hopes that it will boost retail spending.  What is this magic elixir you ask?  Alcohol.  The new 320,000 square...

U.S. and China Sign “Phase One” Trade Deal Signed Wednesday, January 15th, the new deal mandates that China will purchase an additional $200 billion in U.S. goods and services over the next two years, based on 2017 figures before the trade war began.  In 2017, China...

California Clears the Way for First State Prescription Drug Label In an effort to reduce prescription drug prices, the state of California announced its intention to be the first state to launch its own prescription drug label. The idea, proposed by Governor Gavin...

Amazon Improves on Sustainability and Stretches Free Return Policy Recent research conducted by Oracle Retail indicates that 77% of shoppers plan to return holiday gifts this season.  Typically between 30 and 50% of those who received gifts return them due to wrong...

Pharma contract manufacturers help fast track new drug products to market What is a contract manufacturer in the pharmaceutical industry? Did you know that only about one third of pharmaceutical manufacturing is actually conducted in house?  It’s true.  From cell...

 Time to Park:  Trucking Industry Leader Celadon Closes In a surprising turn of events, one of the largest U.S. trucking firms is calling it quits. Last week, two former Celadon executives were charged with fraud and conspiracy for allegedly hiding millions of dollars...

Learn the order fulfillment steps from the manufacturer to the end customer Let’s start by getting an understanding of what ecommerce order fulfillment is.   Here is an easy-to-understand Order fulfillment definition: Order fulfillment is the steps involved in...

 China Cautions Tariff Cut Before Phase One Trade Deal with U.S. Still in search of a satisfactory end to the China-U.S. trade war, the Chinese commerce ministry recently emphasized that some American tariffs must be rolled back before a phase one deal can be...