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State of Logistics 2016: Pursue mutual benefit USC partners with U.S. Department of Commerce on the digital supply chain Differing comments prevail for STB’s proposed reciprocal switching regulations AAR reports mixed carload and intermodal volumes for week ending October 22 NAM to lead coordination and production of Manufacturing Day More News It’s not every day that supply chains make national news, including an agreement with the government, unless it involves a product recall. Yet, an important partnership agreement between the U.S. Department of Commerce and the USC Marshall Center for Global Supply Chain Management signed on October 14 went largely unnoticed. The signing event brought together U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, Nick Vyas, the executive director of USC Marshall’s Center for Global Supply Chain Management and James G. Ellis, the dean of the business school. The goal of the project is to “allow for collaboration on digitalization of the nation’s supply chains, including applications related to IoT (Internet of Things),” according to the press release. “Through this new partnership, we hope to encourage ports around the country to increase efficiency by adopting new technologies that will provide more information on the flow of goods to port users and stakeholders,” Secretary Pritzker said at the time. “The ability to move cargo quickly through our ports is critical to national and regional trade, economic growth, and our nation’s overall competitiveness.” I had a chance to talk by phone with Nick Vyas, a contributor to SCMR, after the event was over. I asked him what he thought were the challenges facing our country from a supply chain perspective and what were the opportunities going forward. “The challenge is that over the last 20 to 25 years, we […]