BiblioVault - Books about Logistics & Supply Chain

The Making of the Supply Chain

How Five CSCMP Supply Chain Hall of Famers Shaped the Industry

Remko van Hoek

Epic Books, 2024

In The Making of the Supply Chain, Remko van Hoek explores the stories of five very different supply chain pioneers—George Stephenson, Henry Ford, George Lauer, Elizabeth Dole, and J. B. Hunt—to demonstrate how innovations in supply chain management have changed the world by reshaping how we obtain our products and services.

Van Hoek reflects on these leaders’ seminal achievements in supply chain management, relates their breakthroughs to current best practices and opportunities for the future, and chronicles how other leaders have converted lessons from these Hall of Famers into new breakthroughs.

Informed by his work with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Supply Chain Hall of Fame,Van Hoek presents these inspiring stories in an engaging and highly accessible style.

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Port Newark and the Origins of Container Shipping

Angus Kress Gillespie

Rutgers University Press, 2023

Container shipping is a vital part of the global economy. Goods from all around the world, from vegetables to automobiles, are placed in large metal containers which are transported across the ocean in ships, then loaded onto tractor-trailers and railroad flatbeds. But when and where did this world-changing invention get started?

This fascinating study traces the birth of containerization to Port Newark, New Jersey, in 1956 when trucker Malcom McLean thought of a brilliant new way to transport cargo. It tells the story of how Port Newark grew rapidly as McLean’s idea was backed by both New York banks and the US military, who used containerization to ship supplies to troops in Vietnam. Angus Gillespie takes us behind the scenes of today’s active container shipping operations in Port Newark, talking to the pilots who guide the ships into port, the Coast Guard personnel who help manage the massive shipping traffic, the crews who unload the containers, and even the chaplains who counsel and support the mariners. Port Newark shines a spotlight on the unsung men and women who help this complex global shipping operation run smoothly.

Since McLean's innovation, Port Newark has expanded with the addition of the nearby Elizabeth Marine Terminal. This New Jersey complex now makes up the busiest seaport on the East Coast of the United States. Some have even called it “America’s Front Door.” The book tells the story of the rapid growth of worldwide containerization, and how Port Newark has adapted to bigger ships with deeper channels and a raised bridge. In the end, there is speculation of the future of this port with ever-increasing automation, artificial intelligence, and automation.

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Risks in Agricultural Supply Chains

Edited by Pol Antràs and David Zilberman

University of Chicago Press, 2023

An essential guide to the role of microeconomic incentives, macro policies, and technological change in enhancing agriculture resilience.

Climate change and the recent COVID-19 pandemic have exposed the vulnerability of global agricultural supply and value chains. There is a growing awareness of the importance of interactions within and between these supply chains for understanding the performance of agricultural markets. This book presents a collection of research studies that develop conceptual models and empirical analyses of risk resilience and vulnerability in supply chains. The chapters emphasize the roles played by microeconomic incentives, macroeconomic policies, and technological change in contributing to supply chain performance. The studies range widely, considering for example how agent-based modeling and remote sensing data can be used to assess the impact of shocks, and how recent shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the African Swine fever in China affected agricultural labor markets, the supply chain for meat products, and the food retailing sector. A recurring theme is the transformation of agricultural supply chains and the volatility of food systems in response to microeconomic shocks. The chapters not only present new findings but also point to important directions for future research.

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