Welcome to the Blume Global Hong Kong Office!
by Dr. Mark Yong, Managing Director of APAC Friday, February 21 marks the official grand opening of our regional Hong Kong...
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Roses are Red, Violets are Blue… Hey LSPs, We’ve Got a Valentine Treat for You
Happy Valentine’s Day from the Blume Global Team! As one of the biggest spending holidays of the year, Valentine’s Day proves to be a busy one for everyone in the supply chain, especially LSPs. This year consumers are planning to spend an average of $196.31 on their loved ones, including family and pets, with total…
How Can You Achieve Complete Supply Chain Digitization?
by Gilles Leyrat, Executive Advisory Board Member, Blume Global As I recount the past 25 years, there has been tremendous change and evolution in the supply chain industry. I’ve witnessed customer demands dramatically increase with the rise of digital technology, as customers now expect their orders to be delivered within one to two days, which…
All About Supply Chain — Unpacking Supply Chain’s Biggest Headlines in January
We are now a month into 2020, and the supply chain industry is facing a tremendous amount of uncertainty in the face of Brexit being finalized and the spread of the coronavirus. However, on the other side of the world, global leaders feel hopeful in light of the newly revised North American Free Trade Agreement…
Blumer Spotlight – Casey Haas, Account Executive
For our Blume Spotlight this week, we’re featuring our Account Executive Casey Haas, a recent addition to our Sales Team in our Pleasanton office. Casey, can you tell us a bit about yourself? Casey: I’m from Orlando, Florida and lived there pretty much my whole life before moving to California to join Blume. For college,…
Looking at the U.S. from a European Logistics Background
by Ronald Kleijwegt, VP Global Sales & MD EMEA I often tell people I was born in logistics. With my father and uncles running a trading company in The Netherlands, having neighbors with trucking companies and studying logistics management — my whole life and career have been around logistics. In the late 90’s I moved…
Taking on Supply Chain’s Biggest Challenges — Part 3: Large Inventory Management
“We want what we want, and we want it NOW!” Customers have now come to expect and even demand their purchases to be delivered within one to two days, with 69 percent of them claiming they wouldn’t make another purchase from a retailer, if their delivery was late. In addition, physical retailers face high customer…
Blumer Spotlight – Vidya Narayanan, Senior Product Marketing Manager
Today, let’s get to know our Senior Product Marketing Manager, Vidya Narayanan. She’s been with Blume for over a year and has been with us through the rebranding of the company. Vidya has been a critical part of the marketing team in developing value propositions for Blume’s customer segments and enabling our sales teams. Hi…
All About Supply Chain — Unpacking Supply Chain’s Biggest Headlines
2020 has finally arrived and with it, the start of two new laws which have the potential to disrupt and greatly change the supply chain industry as we know it. In this blog, we will be unpacking two of the biggest stories of January so far and considering how they impact the entire supply chain…
Insights from the JOC Port Performance North America Conference
by Tom Koontz, Sales Director Recently, I attended JOC’s Port Performance North America Conference. As the title suggests, this annual conference is focused on container terminal productivity, with representatives from diverse groups, including: terminal operators, port authorities, motor carriers, railroads, labor unions, chassis providers and of course shippers. Here are some of the key themes…
Blume Global Gives Back This Holiday Season
As we head into the holiday season, it’s time to spread the joy and give back to our local communities. This year our Wellesley office decided to partner with the Friends of Boston’s Homeless — a non-profit organization which supports men’s and women’s homeless shelters in the area. The team came together to purchase materials…
Tackling Supply Chain’s Biggest Challenges — Part 2: Transportation Capacity Constraints
In the supply chain, the saying “time is money” is particularly accurate. More than 100 million hours of time are wasted per year in procurement, supplier management and freight-administration functions equaling nearly $2 billion, according to a study by digital freight forwarder, Zencargo. With capacity constraints, the transportation industry especially contributes to the waste and…
A Conversation with Yamini Vellore, Blume Global CIO and Head of Customer Success
The global nature of today’s supply chain makes it more complex than ever — but also particularly susceptible to inefficiencies. These inefficiencies not only lead to the ineffective use of company time and resources while achieving suboptimal results, but often exacerbate the supply chain’s negative effects on the environment. We spoke with Blume Global CIO…
How the Port Industry Can Overcome Barriers to Digitization
Every headline within the supply chain industry seems to be signaling a move towards digitization—with words like artificial intelligence and automation popping up left and right. It has become all the more relevant as stakeholders throughout the supply chain are facing pressure to increase their efficiency and productivity, with the continued rise in demand and…
Read All About It! – The Latest in Supply Chain News
The supply chain industry is thriving—and the proof is in the news. Supporting evidence can be found every day in headlines that explore how companies are shaking things up along the supply chain journey in new and different ways. Let’s take a look at some recent industry news stories and announcements, and examine the impact…
Tackling Supply Chain’s Biggest Challenges — Complex Shipment Journeys
We’re now only a few days away from Black Friday, one of the biggest retail holidays of the year—and with it comes one of the busiest seasons for the shipping industry. This year, the National Retail Federation estimates that 165.3 million people will shop Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, with Black Friday accounting for about…
Key Insights from FreightWaves LIVE 2020
by Marisa Martin, Sales Director Last week I had the opportunity to attend FreightWaves LIVE where the best in class companies came together to discuss the future of the industry. The FreightWaves leadership did a great job of organizing the event and promoting collaboration amongst technology stakeholders. Here are two key insights I gained: …
Gobble, Gobble—How Motor Carriers Can Utilize Technology to Prepare for Thanksgiving
Tis the season, for our yearly excuse to stuff ourselves with turkey and pumpkin pie. With Thanksgiving now only a week away, the supply chain industry is busy at work to ensure that the grocery stores are stocked with turkeys for your holiday meals. In 2017, the United States produced 7.49 billion pounds of turkey,…
The New Age of Smart Ports
By Andy Murden, Sales Director Looking back 15 years ago at my time working near the Port of Jebel Ali in Dubai, my perception of ports was that they were old-fashioned, dirty and congested. Though port congestion is still a present-day reality, I was surprised by what I learned from attending the Smart Digital Ports…
Guide to a Data-Driven Supply Chain – Part 4: How Data is Powering Smart Supply Chains
Data-driven technology is transforming the supply chain industry as we know it. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are no longer nice-to-haves, but necessary partners for driving success within supply chain organizations. However, as our CEO Pervinder Johar shared, AI’s success in businesses will be largely dependent on developing technological capacities based off industry-specific…
What a Year! Blume Global Receives 2019 Golden Bridge Award for Corporate Branding
A few weeks ago, our team received the 2019 Golden Bridge Award for Corporate Branding, recognizing our successful transformation to a leading, innovative supply chain brand in just 9 months. After almost a year of brainstorming sessions, meetings and projects to bring the Blume Global brand to life—our whole team is proud to see how…
Blumer Spotlight – Shubhendu Shrivastava, AVP of Product Development
Shubhendu, tell us a little bit about yourself. Shubhendu: I was born in a small town called Vidisha in central India and moved to the US in 2006 through a job. I have a son who is 14 years old and my name means Blessed Moon— Shubh (Blessed), Endu (Moon)! Wow, so interesting! And what…
Key Points from JOC Inland Distribution Conference 2019
By Nick Neises, Sales Director This past week I headed to Chicago to attend this year’s JOC Inland Distribution Conference. The event brought together various leaders within supply chain to help envision what this next year will look like in the industry. One common theme was that data-driven technology is now a must for all organizations seeking to excel. Some other key points from the event included: …
Guide to a Data-Driven Supply Chain – Part 3: Unexpected Sources of Data
Every minute of the day, data is being created all around us. Everything from the photo you just posted to the weather alert you received on your phone, data is being captured in places we would have never expected. This data then helps to inform the world around us by enabling machine learning and artificial intelligence based solutions, even within the supply chain industry. As we shared in our second blog in the series, an important aspect to…
Insights from Our Latest Webinar “Manual to Digital…”
Last week in our Pleasanton headquarters, we hosted our webinar called, “Manual to Digital: Why Freight Digitization Will Save You Time and Lower Costs.” It was led by three of our very own Blumers: Product Marketing Manager, Vidya Narayanan; AVP of Solutions, Dipti Gupta; and LSP Solutions Expert, James Miller. In the webinar, Dipti and James spoke from their past experiences working with LSPs. They shared steps these organizations can take to overcome commonly faced challenges…
Blumer Spotlight – Christine Sobczak-Barwicz, Director of Product Management
Blume Global has employees all over the globe (California, Boston, Hong Kong, India – to name a few locations). Today, we are putting the spotlight on Christine Sobczak-Barwicz who lives in New Jersey, but recently visited the Pleasanton HQ office for a week-long customer workshop. Christine was born in Montreal, Canada where her first primary…
3 Ways Digital Supply Chains Benefit Motor Carriers
Motor carriers around the world are continuing to rely on manual, paper-based processes to find loads, accept or reject tenders, submit proof of deliveries and invoices. This ultimately prevents them from maximizing business opportunities, optimizing driver usage and collecting payment with minimal disputes. As customer demands continue to rise and competition increases in the industry, motor carriers need to innovate in order…
Guide to a Data-Driven Supply Chain – Part 2: 4 V’s of Data for Logistics
Within the supply chain, big data lies at the center of every process, asset movement and decision made. Big data is often thought about in four parts, otherwise known as the 4 V’s: volume, variety, veracity and velocity. As we covered in our last blog, when your organization successfully addresses the challenges of working with data in the supply chain, you will be able to unlock…
What’s Next in Supply Chain—Two Blumers Share Their Thoughts
This past week our Blumers Felicia Utami and Kyle Vamvouris attended CSCMP’s, “What’s Next? Supply Chain Predictions” panel, featuring our AVP of Solutions, Dipti Gupta. Here are their top takeaways from the event. By Felicia Utami, Supply Chain Product Marketing Manager I was a student member of the Phoenix Chapter of CSCMP during my…
Blumer Spotlight – Renata Swickard, UI Lead
Diversity is something we are proud of at Blume Global. Today, we are putting the spotlight on Renata Swickard, our UI Lead, who was born in Brazil and speaks four different languages. She is fashionable and has a great eye for design of any type. Hi Renata, how are you doing today? Renata: In one word—busy,…
Guide to a Data Driven Supply Chain – Part 1: Address the Challenges
With buzzwords like machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) barraging the supply chain industry, leaders face the challenge of making informed and timely decisions around incorporating new technologies. A core tenet in seeing results from these technologies is the use of data. Yet, bad data is an all too common industry pain point and can be a major barrier for digitizing your supply chain. Given the rise of innovative technologies, fueled…
2 Weeks, 2 Suitcases, 2 Conferences – 3 Main Takeaways
By Kyle Vamvouris, Sales Development Manager Over the last two weeks I had the pleasure of traveling across the country to listen to leaders in supply chain and logistics speak about the future of our industry. This industry is changing quickly and currently in the epicenter of massive innovation. The only challenge is that this world is so complex that it can be easier to be passive instead of trying to make…
Takeaways from JOC LogTech
By Glenn Jones, Global Vice President of Product Strategy This past week Dipti Gupta, our AVP of Solutions, and I headed to JOC’s 2019 Logistic Technology Conference. This is an annual conference that brings together shippers, the service providers who serve them, and other supply chain stakeholders to discuss the impact of technology in their industry. It was as an opportunity for me to hear about some of the greatest…
Blume Year in Review
This past year at Blume Global has been one of incredible growth and progress. From bringing on our world-class executive team, moving into our newly renovated Pleasanton headquarters and welcoming over 100 new employees, we have a lot to celebrate. To take a look back at this year, we decided to talk to some of…
The Impending Force of Rising Tariffs – Navigating Their Effects
For more than two years we’ve lived under the threat of new tariffs — with duties that have been levied, threatened and retaliated. Constant political changes, such as Mexican import tariffs announced and then cancelled, have created an environment of uncertainty that challenges even the most resilient supply chains. Regardless of your strategy, your supply…
Blumer Spotlight – Mark Yong, Director of Global Customer Operations
Ever wish you could communicate in almost any language? How awesome would it be to be a ‘Citizen of the World?’ Today, we are spotlighting Dr. Mark Yong, Blume Global’s new addition to the Hong Kong office. Mark is truly a global citizen and his shining personality ensures he makes friends wherever he goes. Mark,…
Blume Global Expands Executive Team in EMEA
Blume Global is committed to driving value for our customers and partners around the world and is focused on forging the future of the global supply chain ecosystem. To further establish the company’s presence in the European, Middle Eastern and African (EMEA) markets, Blume recently welcomed Ronald Kleijwegt as the company’s Vice President of Sales…
What Back to School Season Means for the Supply Chain
Back to school season is upon us and with that means an influx of shoppers heading to retail stores and ecommerce sites to stock up for the school year. According to the National Retail Federation, families with children in elementary school through high school are expected to spend an average of $696.70, while the total spending for families with kids going back to school and college is estimated to reach $80.7 billion. The increase in demand…
Blumer Spotlight – Yamini Vellore, CIO
As Blume Global’s CIO, Yamini Vellore is responsible for protecting Blume data and ensuring we provide our customers with the resources and support they need to succeed. She also leads the customer success, professional services and tech-ops teams. As someone who has spent her entire career in the technology and supply chain arena, we’re excited…
2019 Supply Chain Trends – Where Are We?
We’re a little over halfway through 2019 —a good time to look back at predictions for the supply chain industry, including where we are in artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, the need for better data to drive predictability, and the uberization of freight. Earlier in the year discussions and reports indicated that a responsive, real-time supply…
Blume Global Expands Executive Team in APAC
By Yamini Vellore, Chief Information Officer & Head of Customer Success at Blume Global On a global scale, the Asia-Pacific region is a center of activity for the shipping and logistics industry. According to ResearchandMarkets.com, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) Contract Logistics market accounted for $80,963,700 in revenue in 2017. It is expected to grow at a…
The Amazon Effect on Amazon Prime Day
This year we again saw Amazon Prime Day as the largest shopping event in its history, with its one-day delivering program offering more than 10 million products from “coast to coast.” Most notably, it was officially extended an additional 24 hours, which meant another full day of deals and steals delivered to your doorstep within…
Blumer Spotlight – Dipti Gupta, AVP Solutions
A seasoned software sales and services professional, Dipti brings to Blume a deep background in enterprise applications and a passion for creating the best possible customer journey. She has defined and evangelized Blume’s customer lifecycle experience and developed a comprehensive support strategy to deliver a valuable service to our team and our customers. The following…
Supply Chain Success Depends on Technology – and Talent
There is a link missing in the global supply chain that can’t be filled with hardware or software. Supply chain professionals – including analysts and media – have talked about it for the past five+ years. As Gartner states in a Smarter with Gartner post: “Chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) report that their talent strategy…
Blumer Spotlight – Adnan Khan, Product Strategist
Today, we are getting to know Adnan Khan – a Product Strategist at Blume Global. Adnan has worked across various supply chain functions and brings an interesting market perspective to his role at Blume. Also, learn about why he didn’t pursue his initial dream of being a street racer. Adnan, can you tell me a…
The Supply Chain Industry Has Never Been More Exciting
By Dipti Gupta, AVP, Solutions at Blume Global When you spend over 15 years in any industry it’s a true testament to the passion behind it. For me, the supply chain industry is going through a major shift, especially now that impactful technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and blockchain are just beginning…
Blumer Spotlight – Jim and Paul Haberlin
25 years. That’s how long this company has been in existence, and with that time comes family legacies. We have a few families working for Blume Global, but today we want to highlight the Haberlin family. Jim Haberlin, is the longest tenured employee of Blume Global and his son, Paul Haberlin, also works at Blume….
Achieving 20/20 Vision into Your Supply Chain
by Sharad Mathur, Senior VP of Research and Development, Blume Global According to IBM, Chief Supply Chain Officers (CSCO) cite a lack of visibility into supply chain operations as the key hurdle in mitigating disruptions, while another 84 percent report it to be their biggest business challenge. While efficient and effective operations must be fueled…
Blumer Spotlight – Amanuel Teweldeberhan, Senior Data Scientist
Amanuel Teweldeberhan is a Senior Data Scientist at Blume Global, based out of the Pleasanton office. He brings great diverse experience and insights into the work he does at Blume. He was born and raised in Eritrea and his education and career have taken him to all corners of the world. In our Blumer spotlight…
Blumer Spotlight – Jenniffer Suwinski-Russ, Client Services Manager, Chicago
Jenniffer Suwinski-Russ is a Client Services Manager based out of the Blume Chicago office. In her Blumer Spotlight, she discusses her role, what she likes about working for Blume Global and why she does what she does. Enter Jenniffer… What’s your current role for Blume Global and what are some of your key responsibilities? Currently,…
Blume Global Celebrates 25 Years of Supply Chain Innovation
By Pervinder Johar, CEO, Blume Global The supply chain industry has gone through significant change over the past several decades and I’m so glad to have experienced much of it firsthand. The growth of networks across the US, the sheer volume of data, and technologies like blockchain and IoT, all in the name of efficiency….
Blumer Spotlight – Jona Jesudass, Director, Program Management
Jona Jesudass lights up the Pleasanton office with her infectious smile and positive energy. It’s no wonder she makes a great program manager for our growing Blume Global R&D team. In this Blumer Spotlight, we talk with Jona and learn a little bit about why she does what she does and why she likes working…
How Real-Time ETA Optimizes the Supply Chain
As a shipper, it’s hard to predict your product’s estimated time of arrival. It’s a moving target — unpredictable factors such as weather and port congestion, coupled with capacity limitations and equipment shortages greatly impact each arrival time. Across your supply chain, every move your product makes can present a potential delay. But what if…
Blumer Spotlight – Matt Ryan, Manager of Customer Analytics
Matt Ryan is Manager of Customer Analytics, based out of our Wellesley office since August 2014. He and his team provide the data-driven insights that we deliver to our customers. And he has a wealth of knowledge and experience with Blume Global and the supply chain. Here’s our Blumer Spotlight interview with Matt: What’s your…
Springing Toward Sustainable Supply Chains
We made it to spring. While we didn’t see the drawn-out periods of excessive weather that challenged us over the past two years, these few months did bring a handful of winter events that sent minor shocks throughout logistics networks already disrupted by port congestion and driver shortages. Spring is a time of renewal, with…
Blumer Spotlight – Esther Yau, Client Services Manager, Asia Pacific
Esther Yau is a Client Services Manager based out of our Hong Kong office. Since 2007, she’s been at the forefront of helping our clients in the Asia Pacific region. Here’s our Blumer Spotlight Q&A with Esther Yau: What’s your current role for Blume Global and what are some of your key responsibilities? I am…
Blumer Spotlight – Samreen Asad, Technical Product Manager
Samreen Asad is a technical product manager at Blume Global with previous work experience at Tesla and other companies. She’s working on some great things and has some interesting stories already in her relatively short time at Blume Global. Enter Samreen… What’s your current role for Blume Global and what are some of your key…
Blume Global Pleasanton Office Grand Opening Celebration Recap
On February 20, 2019, we held our official grand opening celebration for our Pleasanton office. It was a momentous occasion celebrating our growth and all those that have helped us along our journey. And of course, it was a celebration of the new space we now call our work home in Pleasanton, adding to our…
3 Key Challenges for Chief Supply Chain Officers
Supply chains are at the center of how a company does business and what kind of experience it ultimately delivers to its customers. That’s why the chief supply chain officer (CSCO) has become a must-have leadership role in the C-suite. The Evolving Role of CSCOs According to the Deloitte Industry 4.0 Investment Survey 2018, 62%…
How a Robust Supply Chain Ecosystem Benefits Everyone
By Ritika Suri, Chief Business Officer With free and fast shipping from retail giants like Walmart and Amazon, consumers have been conditioned more than ever to expect that their packages will be delivered quickly and painlessly. But have you ever wondered what it takes for a package to go from your favorite retailer to your…
Getting Closer to SAP’s Users: Blume Global Joins ASUG
By Dave Katona, Partner Ecosystems and Channels at Blume Global I’m thrilled to share that Blume Global has joined the Americas’ SAP User Group (ASUG) as a Partner. ASUG is the country’s largest community of SAP professionals, representing more than 2,300 companies in traditional and emerging industries. The supply chain ecosystem is intricate and broad,…
Blumer Spotlight: Sherie Costa, Solutions Consultant
Sherie Costa is a solutions consultant for Blume Global, based out of our Wellesley office near Boston. She joined Blume Global in 2008 and has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the supply chain industry, making her an ideal person to work closely with our customers to support their needs and help with their…
Why SoCal’s Port Is So Crowded—and Technology’s Solution
Southern California’s Los Angeles-Long Beach port is enduring some of the greatest delays in recent history—congestion that is expanding to east coast ports. This congestion is making already-difficult situations for shippers and truckers even more challenging. Why is the LA–LB port so clogged? Looming tariffs – Importers bringing goods from Asia front-loaded their shipments into…
Q&A With Blume Global CTO Mark Pluta
As chief technology officer at Blume Global and with more than 20 years of experience in the supply chain industry, Mark Pluta leads the AI platform development and science teams, and drives architectural strategy for the cloud-based Blume Digital Platform. Prior to Blume Global, Mark was SVP, Head of Business Products for Infosys/Edgeverve, held leadership…
How Real-Time Track and Trace Reduces the Impact of Product Recalls
Vehicles. Baby carriers. Over-the-counter medicines. Romaine lettuce. What do these seemingly unrelated items have in common? They’ve all been recalled in 2018. Whether sparked by faulty construction or salmonella and E. coli fears, a product recall has far reaching impact. And it’s clear that recalls are on the rise. In the first six months of…