Sonepar unit to purchase Billows Electric Supply | Ingram Micro earns sustainability specialization from Cisco | Reshoring becomes a hot topic among US corporations
Sonepar subsidiary Cooper Electric is acquiring Billows Electric Supply, which has 285 employees spread across 19 Northeastern locations, in a deal scheduled to close this month pending approvals. "This combination is especially exciting as Billows will be able to leverage Sonepar's investment in Cooper Electric's state-of-the-art automated distribution center," said Sonepar North America President Rob Taylor.
Ingram Micro achieved the Environmental Sustainability Specialization designation from Cisco Systems after completing coursework on sustainability and committing to help partners and customers with their own sustainability initiatives. "Apart from benefiting the planet, attaining greater levels of sustainability can yield concrete outcomes for our partners such as heightened sales, enhanced brand reputation and reduced energy expenses," said Hope McGarry, director of Ingram Micro's Advanced Solutions Group.
Mentions of reshoring within S&P 500 earnings transcripts jumped 128% year over year for the first quarter, per Bank of America, indicating an emerging trend in manufacturing and the sourcing of goods that's being driven by factors such as the Ukraine war, the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic and even TikTok videos that can spike product demand, say experts. A FourKites survey finds shipment volumes from Mexico to the US are up 20% compared to 2021, which it attributed to nearshoring amid trade and political tensions between the US and China.
A stubborn reliance on old-fashioned processes for supply chain data collection and analysis has resulted in most companies working with subpar data and a growing planning-to-execution gap, according to Lalitha Sundaramurthy, of Aera Technology. However, enterprise artificial intelligence can now be adopted more seamlessly, combining AI, machine learning and data science into software that can tackle business needs and push companies forward, Sundaramurthy explains.
A National Safety Council report examines the prevalence, benefits and impediments to using five types of robotics in the workplace. The report details how each of the five types is best used and potential safety benefits provided, with NSC senior director of workplace programs Katherine Mendoza noting robotics have advanced to the point that they can often "eliminate employees' exposure to dangerous machinery and workplace hazards altogether."
Business-to-business marketers can boost social marketing effectiveness by diversifying content across platforms, partnering with influencers, using social analytics and creating short-form video, advises HypeFactory's Michael Kuzminov. His tips specifically for TikTok include showcasing creativity, creating content featuring employees, participating in trends and hashtag challenges and creating educational videos.
Generative artificial intelligence tools can optimize business-to-business relationships by providing customers with an enriched support experience using natural conversations and assisting rather than replacing human agents, writes Maeve Condell of customer service automation firm Ultimate. "It's a time-efficient, affordable and scalable solution to mitigating long wait times, depersonalized CX and clunky self-service offerings," Condell writes.
President Joe Biden signed legislation that lifts the US debt ceiling for two years and creates a two-year budget agreement. The deal averts a potentially disastrous US default and includes measures that cap spending, claw back unspent pandemic relief funds, restart federal student-loan payments and impose work requirements for certain benefits.
Working toward achieving a goal is a worthwhile endeavor, but it is equally important to know when it is time to reconsider that goal and move in a new direction. Redoing the cost-benefit analysis for the goal and developing a list of "kill criteria" that indicate when it is time to move on can help.
