INPRACTICE
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10 READER PROFILE: ALLISON BENNETT IRION BRINGING SUPPLY CHAINS TO BREAKTHROUGH RESEARCH AND SCIENCE
GOOD QUESTION Can we ever fully trust AI in supply chain management?
From rebuilding a 1962 Dodge Power Wagon with her dad to leading national supply chain strategy at Argonne, this engineer’s journey has been anything but typical. A pivotal moment at sea on Sept. 11 shifted her career toward national security and critical material supply chains. Now, Allison Bennett Irion drives efforts to build a secure, domestic supply chain for the nation’s energy and economic future.
INFOCUS 1 INFO SNACKS 12 NOTED 14 TAKEAWAYS 64 PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: DRONES 66 IN BRIEF 88 LAST MILE A warehouse robot with finesse
59 CASEBOOK: RURAL RETAILER REROUTES THE FINAL MILE Blain’s Farm & Fleet, a family-owned Midwest retailer, has always prioritized customer service. After same-day delivery for holiday shopping exceeded expectations, the company made it a year-round offering through a partnership with crowdsourced delivery platform Roadie.
68 ANNUAL WEB GUIDE WEB_CITE CITY
This categorized guide to leading transportation, logistics, supply chain, real estate and technology websites can help streamline your search for new partners.
INSIGHT 4 CHECKING IN AI generates supply chain pocket change 6 GOOD QUESTION Can we ever fully trust AI in supply chain management? 8 10 TIPS
CONTENT PARTNERS 18 How to Make Floor Loading an Efficient Shipping Option Offered by Gorbel 20 Four Ways a 3PL Can Help Shippers Navigate Tariff Volatility Offered by Phoenix Logistics 22 Scaling Smarter with Robotics, Goods to Person, and Agile Fulfillment Offered by VARGO 23 Create Efficiencies for B2B and D2C Fulfillment with Unified Warehousing Offered by Hub Group 24 Smart Load Planning for Smarter Warehousing: Optimizing Warehouse Operations in an Era of Ecommerce Growth Offered by EasyPost 25 How to Modernize Your Warehouse Without Starting Over Offered by Hai Robotics 26 How Shippers Can Prepare for NMFC Changes Offered by SMC 3
Reducing transportation costs 28 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE How to manage lead time with machine learning 30 SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCE Beyond reshoring to regionalization
INFO 62 SUPPLY CHAIN INSIGHTS 86 RESOURCE CENTER
Inbound Logistics (ISSN 0888-8493, USPS 703990) is mailed monthly to approximately 60,000 business professionals who buy, specify, or recommend logistics technology, transportation, and related services, by Thomas, a Xometry company, 6116 Executive Blvd, Suite 800, North Bethesda, MD 20852. Periodicals postage paid at North Bethesda, MD, and additional mailing offices. All rights reserved. The publisher accepts no responsibility for the validity of claims of any products or services described. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic means, or stored in any information retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. Postmaster send address changes to: Inbound Logistics, P.O. Box 1167, Lowell, MA 01853-9900
May 2025 • Inbound Logistics 3
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