This month marks the end of six years of blogging within the supply chain industry and the beginning of a promising 7th year as well as a new chapter for the All Things Supply Chain blog. Six years ago, I decided to create a content platform for the supply chain industry where managers could gain insights into topics such as inventory management, demand planning, supply chain optimization, logistics management and the like. We made it our aim to produce informative, but at the same time entertaining, fun and thought-provoking reads that create some excitement within the industry.
Seeing that our sixth year has been our best year yet in terms of page views, site visitors and new subscribers, it is safe to conclude that the demand for this type of content is on the rise, and we as an industry can learn a lot from each other. We are on pace to crush our numbers from last year, so 2018 will represent the sixth consecutive year of 20% (or more) per annum growth.
The statistics show that we have already reached and exceeded the 50,000 pageview mark for the year. Aside from the encouraging stats, this article will provide some highlights from the past year as well as some more details for the months and years to come.
Guests, guests and more guests
I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the contributions from our guest authors. This has been a growing trend for us over the past couple of years; more and more authors are looking for a place to share their experience with the rest of the supply chain industry. In 2016 we were excited to have 4 guest authors contribute to the site. This year we had 14! It is always beneficial to have fresh insights, new innovative ideas and varying writing styles and voices on a blog platform. These are the contributions from guest bloggers we received over the past 12 months:
- The Rise of On-demand Warehousing – by Charlie Pool
- 5 Tips for Truck Drivers for Safe Winter Driving – by Justin Fox
- 15 Steps on Limiting Cargo Theft and 8 Tips to Reduce Warehouse Costs – by David Madden
- Why SKUs Are Essential for Returns – by Erhan Musaoglu
- Why Supply Chain Visibility and Transparency Need to be Top Priorities in Your Business in 2018 – by Paul Trudgian
- Safeguarding Your Supply Chain in Light of Truck-Driver Shortages – by Jennifer Allison
- Supply Chain, Logistics…And Robotics – by Julie Workman
- Top Warehouse Safety Mistakes and How to Avoid Them and 11 Simple Ways Your Warehouse Can Go Green – by Cory Levins
- Digital Marketing in the Supply Chain and Logistics World – by Leslie Sullivan
- Optimizing Your Product Packaging: 5 Factors You Need to Consider – by Abhijeet Shah
- Common Mistakes in Import and Export Business – by Victor G. Hermosa
- Four Tips for Optimizing Inventory Management and Supply Chain Transparency Increases with IoT Adoption – by Megan Ray Nichols
- 9 Tips For Effective Warehouse Inventory Management – by David Davies
Last but not least I would like to thank Kelly Barner for her contributions over the past few years as she has become less of a “guest” on the platform and more of a regular voice sharing thought-provoking articles on a wide range of procurement and supply chain management topics.
The list above has clearly grown on a yearly basis and we would be happy to have your voice on the platform if you are interested in sharing your experience with the supply chain world. Just send an email to editor@allthingssupplychain.com for more information on how to become a guest blogger.
Awards and Recognition
It is always nice to be noticed by external sources for the work we are doing on All Things Supply Chain. For example, in March of this year our blog was recognized by the Warehouse Tech Writers’ Awards as the best independent blog within the warehouse and supply chain blogosphere. Furthermore, we were included on a list of the Top 75 Supply Chain Blogs and Websites to follow in 2018. This type of recognition shows the value that the platform has brought to the industry over the past six years and we are grateful to have made it onto these lists.
Top 5 articles over the past 12 months
Per usual, I like to look back at the articles our readers viewed the most to help plan content for the future. What worked? What didn’t? Which topics garnered the most attention? Here are the top 5 most read articles from the past 12 months:
- The Amazing Supply Chain of Your Morning Coffee
- Reverse Logistics 101
- The Amazing Supply Chain of a Cup of Tea
- How Important is the Internal Supply Chain?
- 11 Characteristics of Supply Chain Excellence
The “Amazing Supply Chain of…” series has always been very popular. From ball point pens to World Cup soccer balls and the Olympic torch, this series provides readers with a behind-the-scenes look at the complexity of supply chain processes. That reverse logistics is a topic of interest is no surprise to me as the growth of E-commerce continues to shape the retail market. And perhaps, from the two remaining titles ranked at 4 and 5, it can be concluded that supply chain excellence starts within the four walls of your own operations. In any event, readers are certainly interested in becoming better at their trade and are striving for excellent operations.
New Editor
My time as editor of the All Things Supply Chain blog has come to an end as I have decided to move on to a new challenge. I will be passing on the baton to my colleague Kai Keppner who will continue to ensure the platform produces top quality content for the supply chain industry. I hope to be able to continue to contribute to the platform and be included on the “guest list” in next year’s anniversary blog! There is no escaping the supply chain industry these days, so you can be sure I will continue contributing in some way. Supply Chain is everywhere. Back in 2014, one of our guest authors, Gary Marion even suggested (half-jokingly) that life is a metaphor for supply chain. There is certainly some truth to that statement. As I pass the reins of the blog over to Kai, I wish him the best of luck as the new editor.
Thank you to everyone who helped build this platform to what it is today. See you in soon.
Header photo: Alejo Miranda/shutterstock.com
