Kraft  Foods has eliminated more than 50 million truck miles since 2005 through a focus on transportation sustainability efforts.  The company made these sustainability improvements by shifting wheat shipments from truck to barge and by using technology to reduce costs and emissions in transportation.  

Kraft's initiative is called Project MOST (Management of Optimized Sustainable Transportation) and utilizes Oracle's Cooperative Routing which is an integrated option for Oracle's Transportation Management application.  By looking at your entire logistics network over time, Cooperative Routing has allowed Kraft to strategically examine the use of carrier and fleet resources in their supply chain.  It does this by identifying historical shipping patterns and determining optimal asset utilization, while bringing visibility to potential continuous move opportunities.

Kraft has achieved a strategic approach to transporation by mostly eliminating one-way freight with the establishment of permanent lane assignments that have improved service, reduced costs and lowered their carbon footprint.

I read an article from Dan Gilmore of SC Digest that discusses how companies are looking for new ideas on how to use their supply chains in dealing with the downturn and how to prepare for the recovery.  Companies should consider work on projects designed to improve their supply chains so that they are more competitive as the economy improves.  Areas that companies are looking to make improvements include supply chain network redesign, supply chain reorganization, SKU-rationalization projects, aligning metrics with people and the way you deliver value to the customer.  Additionally, it makes sense to eliminate silos of optimization in an organization so that there is a holitic view and decisions are made with the entire supply chain in mind instead of optimization of one area at the expense of another. 

http://www.scdigest.com/ASSETS/ON_TARGET/09-08-31-1.PHP?CID=2682

Logistics Management has an article covering how supply chain leaders should rethink their companies'  risks and potentially rebalance the trade-offs between cost optimization and effective risk management.  

The article discusses the three emerging areas of significant supply chain risk which are supplier stability, product quality and demand forecasting.  They suggest the following four step process to mitigate your supply chain risk.

http://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/CA6663599.html

A new report from Aberdeen Group shows that given the current economic climate, 91% of companies are actively seeking ways to improve their inventory performance through process change.  The study also showed that 62% of companies reported a drop in customer demand over the past year which has resulted in the new focus on inventory to avoid write-offs and improve working capital. 

The report also shows that the use of information technology is critical in improving inventory with 61% of respondents making inventory-related technology recommendations within the past six months.  Best-in-Class companies are more likely to use technology for improving inventory replenishment, demand analysis, inventory segmentation and inventory optimization. 

http://www.aberdeen.com/summary/report/benchmark/5965-RA-inventory-management-capital.asp