Producer prices rise as inflation exceeds expectations | Warehouse, distribution yards set to go high-tech | Amazon designs new services for third-party sellers
Producer prices jumped a higher-than-expected 1.6% from a year earlier and 0.7% from a month earlier, according to the Labor Department. Largely driven by rising energy costs, the price increases were the highest in over a year and exceeded Wall Street expectations. Core PPI, which excludes food and energy prices, increased 2.2% from a year earlier.
The number of AI-enabled cameras in yards surrounding warehouses, distribution centers and manufacturing plants globally will increase 14.8% by 2030 and the use of autonomous vehicles will jump 52.7% between 2022 and 2030, according to ABI research. "AI has helped unlock new use cases and will continue to drive solution adoption within yards," says Ryan Wiggin, ABI Research analyst.
Supply Chain by Amazon is launching as a comprehensive logistics service for third-party sellers for all sales channels that includes everything from inventory pickup, cross-border shipping and customs clearance to ground transportation and automatic inventory replenishment with an a la cart pricing option. Amazon also is trialing Multi-Channel Distribution that will enable marketplace merchants to ship their goods to other logistics providers' warehouses and brick-and-mortar retailers.
Fastenal has partnered with ZEVX to conduct a six-phase trial to electrify as many as 16 pickup trucks this year using the latter's battery electric powertrain and power system products. Fastenal, whose fleet includes more than 700 commercial vehicles and over 8,200 last-mile delivery vehicles, and ZEVX have already completed a proof-of-concept trial with one electrified vehicle.
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UPS seeks to offset higher labor costs after reaching a new deal with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters last month that increased wages and benefit costs by 3.3% over the next five years. The added expenses hit UPS' margins, but the shipping giant plans to realize 10% operating margins in the first year of the deal and eventually hit 12% through price hikes, automation and a potential expansion into health care logistics and international premium services.
In a move to automate its distribution centers nationwide, Dollar General will start by fully automating its South Carolina distribution center, adding technology that will allow the retailer to lower supply chain costs by replenishing thousands of products to more than 1,000 of its stores across the Southeast, according to CEO Jeffery Owen. "When you have stability in the supply chain, that leads to stability inside the store," Owen said.
The California Senate has approved a bill that would effectively ban driverless autonomous trucks, and the legislation now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk. Advocates say the bill would protect road users and truck drivers' jobs, while opponents say it would hinder technological advancements.
Anteriad's Nikki Candito outlines three steps business-to-business marketers can take to switch from a lead-based approach to targeting coordinated messaging to an entire buying group in just three months. Candito explains how to find buying groups and use both target and intent data, work with internal stakeholders to make technical adjustments and how to approach campaigns from a buying group perspective.
Gaining consensus -- getting all of a customer's stakeholders on the same page -- should be a precursor to offering a high-value solution and can speed up deal-closing, writes sales consultant Colleen Francis, who offers a real-life anecdote and details several steps in the process. For example, know your top advocates in the customer's company, start evaluating and planning before selling and look at broader challenges before narrowing to solutions.
Nearly 10% of US workers use generative AI daily for work-related tasks, and 56% report using the technology at work at least occasionally, despite only about one-quarter of organizations having policies related to AI use, according to a survey by The Conference Board. Nearly two-thirds of survey respondents said AI tools have increased productivity, with about one-third saying the technology can positively replace elements of their job.
The decline in IT employment has started to ease, and organizations must rebuild their IT workforce to ensure the department can handle upcoming challenges and transformation, writes Maruf Ahmed, CEO of Dexian. "It can be easy to remain shortsighted with immediate financial concerns," Ahmed writes, but "leaders must resist over-focusing on the near-term labor market" and look at talent as a long-term investment.
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