Benjamin Gordon

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced the COVID-19 (also known as novel coronavirus) was a global pandemic and health emergency. Subsequently, the United States of America and other countries around the world fell into an economic recession. As more businesses closed (some temporarily, some permanently), it became more and more difficult to predict how, when and if the global economy would bounce back. America has been one of the slower countries in terms of reopening, but this is due to the difficulties America has faced in controlling the spread of COVID-19 compared to other countries with similar economies. Right now is the best time to look to consultants for answers. Consultants, like CEO of Cambridge Capital Benjamin Gordon, are experts in their field. In the case of Benjamin Gordon, he is an expert on supply chain management and logistics. His company, Cambridge Capital, is a West Palm Beach-based private equity investor in transportation, logistics, and supply chain technology businesses. The Cambridge team includes CEOs and leaders who have built companies like GENCO, FedEx Supply Chain, Kuehne & Nagel LeadLogistics, UPS, and others. Benjamin is also Editor-in-Chief of SUPPLY CHAINS, Cambridge’s publication that focuses on trends and opportunities resulting from both old-economy transportation and new-economy technology. In addition to his current work at Cambridge Capital, Gordon also founded BG Strategic Advisors (BGSA), a West Palm Beach-based investment banking firm for the supply chain sector. BGSA helps supply chain CEOs to maximize their value via mergers, acquisitions, investments, and other strategic initiatives. Benjamin has worked with firms such as UPS, DHL, Kuehne & Nagel, Agility Logistics, NFI Logistics, GENCO, Nations Express, Raytrans, Echo Global, Dixie, Wilpak, and others. At BGSA, Benjamin Gordon leads the annual BGSA Supply Chain conference, the largest annual conference for CEOs from all segments of the global supply chain. As a recognized expert in the supply chain and technology sector, Ben Gordon is trusted for his insights on the market. Benjamin Gordon has been published in Fortune, CNBC, SupplyChainBrain, Data Driven Investor, Supply Chain 247, Freightwaves, and Supply Chain Management Review. He has been interviewed or featured by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, BusinessWeek, Logistics Management, ABC, Lehrer News Hour, Journal of Commerce, Transport Topics, Supply Chain Management Quarterly, and Traffic World. Although the current state of the economy may seem grim, it is important to look at historical averages and trends to predict what may happen in the coming months. As people from all over the world come together to rebuild the country, it is important to trust people like Benjamin Gordon. Consultants like him have answers to questions about economics and aspects of business that many lay people may not be too familiar with. Supply chain businesses are still working through problems as they arise. Currently, all aspects of business are affected by the pandemic. There are not isolated incidents, since everything is connected. Production bleeds into logistics which bleeds into consumer markets. As businesses reopen, we may see more problems, but hopefully, we will also have more answers. Also US based needy students can apply for Benjamin Gordon Palm Beach Scholarship. Original Source: https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/42175725/benjamin-gordon-parts-of-america-are-starting-to-reopen-what-does-this-mean-for-supply-chains

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced the COVID-19 (also known as novel coronavirus) was a global pandemic and health emergency. Subsequently, the United States of America and other countries around the world fell into an economic recession. As more businesses closed (some temporarily, some permanently), it became more and more difficult to predict how, when and if the global economy would bounce back. America has been one of the slower countries in terms of reopening, but this is due to the difficulties America has faced in controlling the spread of COVID-19 compared to other countries with similar economies.

Right now is the best time to look to consultants for answers. Consultants, like CEO of Cambridge Capital Benjamin Gordon, are experts in their field. In the case of Benjamin Gordon, he is an expert on supply chain management and logistics. His company, Cambridge Capital, is a West Palm Beach-based private equity investor in transportation, logistics, and supply chain technology businesses. The Cambridge team includes CEOs and leaders who have built companies like GENCO, FedEx Supply Chain, Kuehne & Nagel LeadLogistics, UPS, and others. Benjamin is also Editor-in-Chief of SUPPLY CHAINS, Cambridge’s publication that focuses on trends and opportunities resulting from both old-economy transportation and new-economy technology. In addition to his current work at Cambridge Capital, Gordon also founded BG Strategic Advisors (BGSA), a West Palm Beach-based investment banking firm for the supply chain sector. BGSA helps supply chain CEOs to maximize their value via mergers, acquisitions, investments, and other strategic initiatives. Benjamin has worked with firms such as UPS, DHL, Kuehne & Nagel, Agility Logistics, NFI Logistics, GENCO, Nations Express, Raytrans, Echo Global, Dixie, Wilpak, and others. At BGSA, Benjamin Gordon leads the annual BGSA Supply Chain conference, the largest annual conference for CEOs from all segments of the global supply chain.

A tablet on a semi-truck dashboard that drivers use to manage Platform Science's connected vheicle technology

Putting a computer in the cab of a big rig was a radical step back in 1988. Trucking companies since then have added as many as 10 separate devices into vehicles, tracking everything from location to the time drivers spend behind the wheel and how often they pump the brakes.

Taking a page from the consumer electronics playbook, Daimler Trucks North America LLC plans to take the technology clutter out of truck cabs by installing a single platform right on the factory floor. The software operates with the truck-maker’s touch screen, streaming data back to fleet managers and enabling drivers to manage the tech in their 18-wheelers the way they might handle a smartphone, even as they are hauling 80,000-pounds down the road. The idea is to help harness the torrent of data and reduce the clutter and duplication that has come as layers of technology have been bolted onto trucks. That should streamline work for drivers and fleet managers who now cope with a mounting pile of transportation apps and telematics equipment. The technology from transport startup Platform Science works something like Apple Inc.’s App Store. The open platform lets trucking operators to add a customized mix of third-party software and connectivity services without having to install an array of aftermarket hardware. It also enables the apps to talk to one another, pulling data from the back end so drivers don’t have to keep entering the same information, such as their name or vehicle identification number. “We are taking the model applied in the consumer industry and putting it on the truck,” said Anil Khanna, director of connectivity for the digital vehicle solutions division at Daimler Trucks North America. The company will begin rolling out the technology next year. The truck-maker’s parent company, Daimler AG , is the largest new investor in Platform Science’s recent $42 million Series B funding round, which was led by the venture-capital arm of industrial real-estate giant Prologis Inc., an existing investor. Venture firm 8VC, NewRoad Capital Partners, Schematic Ventures and Cambridge Capital also participated in the round. La Jolla, Calif.-based Platform Science was founded in 2015. The company, which has about 160 employees, plans to use the funding to hire more staff in the field as it looks to expand its market share. Founder and Chief Executive Jack Kennedy said the startup expects to turn a profit by 2022 but declined to disclose annual revenue. The widespread consumer adoption of smartphones and tablets is pushing more logistics operators to incorporate similar technology into their businesses. Managers say user-friendly systems that resemble mobile apps can simplify operations and help cut training time for workers who have grown up using such devices.

Even highly manual operations like driving trucks are ripe for such advances. Trucking companies increasingly rely on software, sensors and other tools to manage routing, vehicle maintenance and regulatory compliance for fleets that haul goods thousands of miles across the country.

“They employ technology so they can continue to get bigger. There’s no way you can move the economy on a legal pad and a clipboard anymore,” said Mr. Kennedy, who previously served as president of Qualcomm Enterprise Services, which later became fleet-management software provider Omnitracs LLC, and was an executive at News Corp., parent company of The Wall Street Journal. Having trucks arrive with the technology already installed will save time and money, said Shaleen Devgun, chief information officer at Green Bay, Wis.-based trucking company Schneider National Inc., which uses Platform Science’s technology. “The idea here is not to surround the driver with apps a mile high and a mile deep,” he said.

Original Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/trucking-looks-to-bundle-up-technology-11590325201

The technology from transport startup Platform Science works something like Apple Inc.’s App Store. The open platform lets trucking operators to add a customized mix of third-party software and connectivity services without having to install an array of aftermarket hardware. It also enables the apps to talk to one another, pulling data from the back end so drivers don’t have to keep entering the same information, such as their name or vehicle identification number.

“We are taking the model applied in the consumer industry and putting it on the truck,” said Anil Khanna, director of connectivity for the digital vehicle solutions division at Daimler Trucks North America. The company will begin rolling out the technology next year.

We welcome Ben Gordon, Founder of Cambridge Capital and logistics investment expert, for a special FreightWaves LIVE @HOME episode to discuss the immediate future of freight tech investment. We cover how the investment landscape is changing in 2020 and what technology looks most promising.

The BGSA Supply Chain Conference is an invitation-only event in Palm Beach. It features over 250 of the world's top CEOs and leaders in transportation, logistics, and supply chain technology. Benjamin Gordon, CEO of BGSA and Cambridge Capital, provides a behind-the-scenes look at this special event and the unique insights that emerge from it. Leaders of companies like XPO, Echo Global Logistics, CH Robinson, APL, Werner, Sealand, NFI, and others come to this annual event to discuss strategy, technology, and deals. Topics include * New technologies: how are they disrupting traditional logistics? * The outlook: are we headed for a recession? Will the coronavirus crush global trade? Or will innovative companies find new ways to pursue growth? * The deal environment: who is buying? Who is investing? Why? * And much more See www.BGSAconference.com for more about this event.

The new buzzword in coronavirus containment is “social distancing.” What is it, and what does it mean for logistics? China has popularized application of “social distancing” in a bid to control the runaway Covid-19 coronavirus. After a slow start, China has moved aggressively in Wuhan and elsewhere. Key measures have included closing schools, quarantining entire neighborhoods, and shutting down workplaces. Social distancing is not a new concept. As the Wall Street Journal and others have reported, experts cite this strategy as a proven approach. “Social distancing and quarantine is an ancient practice that has been tried and tested through the ages and has survived because it works,” said Osman Dar, a global health-systems expert at Chatham House, a U.K. think tank. “In the face of an unknown virus or illness it is the most effective means of interrupting and slowing transmission.” What does it mean for logistics? Ever since 1980, logistics has been squeezing cost out of the global supply chain. In 1980, logistics spend represented close to 16% of GDP. Today it is closer to 9%. That savings – which is reflected in lower costs for your shirt, office chair, and coffee cup – comes from a lean, just-in-time supply chain network. The global logistics ecosystem squeezed out cost by sourcing from manufacturers in Asia, reducing the number of steps in the process, and shortening order-to-cash cycles. But all that efficiency came at a cost. Today, we are more dependent than ever on a global network. Any supply chain is only as resilient as its weakest link. And in a world where companies may source products or rely on manufacturing in dozens of locations, we are more vulnerable than ever to supply shocks. Coronavirus represents exactly that kind of shock to the system. It is disrupting manufacturing, distribution, and logistics, not just in China but worldwide. As people, and companies, seek to engage in “social distancing” between one another, how will logistics adapt? For starters, I believe companies will build up safety stock. We will shift from “just-in-time” to “just-in-case.” Companies will hold more inventory. This will cost us all more as consumers, but it will also provide more insulation. In addition, firms are likely to shift from long-distance outsourcing to short-distance nearsourcing. Manufacturing plants for US companies are likely to relocate from China to North America. Ironically, what the Trump Administration sought to do with political tools may instead be achieved thanks to the pandemic. Lastly, the complex web of supply chain networks may become simplified. In a world of uncertainty, companies may choose to simplify their business models, narrow their networks, and reduce their dependencies. It may be that 2020 is a “back to basics” year. So in sum, “social distancing” may cause “supply chain narrowing.”

Original Source: https://benjamingordon.me/social-distancing-and-logistics/