The Brief – June 11 2018

How Some Manufacturers and Distributors Are Thriving in the Age of Amazon: Part One — Differentiating

By Bill McBeath

Monday, June 11, 2018

Amazon (and others) have profoundly raised customer expectations for frictionless commerce, fast-free delivery, and nearly infinite selection. This impacts not just retailers, but manufacturers and distributors as well. Here we explore three examples of companies thriving in this competitive environment by differentiating with unique services and experiences. [ Read: How Some Manufacturers and Distributors Are Thriving in the Age of Amazon: Part One — Differentiating ]

JDA’s Journey to a Global Optimization Platform — Highlights from Focus 2018

The mood at this year’s JDA Focus (their annual conference) was optimistic, coming off of healthy growth last year, with tons of new innovations, and major R&D investments underway. Here we cover the highlights, including their ‘moon shot’, the Autonomous Supply Chain. [ Read: JDA’s Journey to a Global Optimization Platform — Highlights from Focus 2018 ]

Will AI Bring Another Gilded Age?

AI has the potential to make society better, but history has shown us the potential for these kinds of major economic transformations to cause society-wide upheaval and disruption as well. A lot will depend on the response of our governments in helping people make the transition to new skills and jobs. [ Read: Will AI Bring Another Gilded Age? ]

Blockchain’s Role in the Produce Supply Chain: Part Five — Hybrid (On-chain + Off-chain) Systems

With today’s technology tradeoffs, the optimal approach for managing the produce supply chain appears to be a hybrid, combining blockchain technologies with an off-chain Networked SaaS architecture. Here we describe an example of an end-to-end (grower-to-retailer) produce freshness and safety management system that takes a hybrid approach with blockchain. [ Read: Blockchain’s Role in the Produce Supply Chain: Part Five — Hybrid (On-chain + Off-chain) Systems ]