Robotics, AI, autonomous vehicles, renewable energy all grab headlines and promise great things as we move into the next year. Some of the projects that are in play are truly remarkable in the ways they are expected to change how we do things. The supply chain runs in the background of consumer activities and is more complex than most people who aren’t involved with the supply chain imagine. But when issues slow the process of getting goods to their final destinations everyone has opinions about what should be done to make things better. Global delivery giant DHL has some ideas of their own that leverage its presence and the technology available.

There was a time when supply chain software was tightly focused on managing the transactions that went into processing orders. The software providers were specialized in EDI transactions - data files formatted according to the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standard. EDI files associated with logistics have become integral to the process. These electronic documents were originally separate from inventory control, shipping manifests, and payment processing, but the volume of transactions and the number of companies doing business electronically has made integration between supply chain logistics and ERP systems more common than ever.

Black Friday 2018 is in the rear view mirror and whatever your results are they depended largely on the state of your supply chain. So now is the time to take a look at what happened while there still may be a few days to make adjustments before the final days of the retail shopping year.