Tom Goldsby

This post is written by our friends at e2open. E2open is the connected supply chain software platform that enables the world’s largest companies to transform the way they make, move, and sell goods and services. Moving as one.™ Learn More: www.e2open.com.   Parcel used to be the lightweight cousin of freight: important, but not something that kept supply chain leaders up at night. Those days are long gone. Today, parcel volumes rival truckload execution in complexity, visibility requirements, and cost impact. For many enterprises, parcel management software now determines whether omnichannel promises are kept—or quietly broken—one late delivery at a time. The problem isn’t parcel itself, but where it lives. When parcel operates in a separate system from your transportation management system (TMS), costs creep up, execution gets messy, and performance suffers. Integrating parcel directly into TMS workflows turns shipping from a necessary evil into a strategic advantage.   Parcel management: from warehouse detail to board-level problem Parcel complexity exploded as e-commerce, ship-from-store, and direct-to-consumer models took center stage. More carriers, more service levels, more delivery promises—and far more returns—turned parcel shipping into a daily operational chess match. That complexity has consequences. Parcel spend now shows up on executive radar.…

Special Guest Blog Post written by Demostenes (Demo) Perez, Photo by Rikin Katyal   After more than 25 years in logistics and supply chain management and having led over 200 regional distribution projects, I’ve come to realize that the questions people don’t ask are often the most important. Throughout my career, I’ve worked with global multinationals, emerging brands, and family-run businesses. I’ve helped move everything from underground mining equipment to high-fashion goods, from pharmaceuticals and food to toys and chemicals. Some supply chain models I helped design are still thriving today; others were shut down after a few years. Many didn’t even make it past the drawing board. In that time, I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with logistics professionals from nearly every corner of the world and making lifelong friends in the process. Yet no matter the company size or product type, I still wish more people would ask these five questions before launching or scaling their operations in Latin America: 1. How well do I understand the diversity within Latin America? “Latin America” is often treated as a single market. It’s not. Logistics conditions in Mexico are completely different from those in Brazil. Colombia, Argentina, Peru, and Chile…