US producer prices declined further than initial estimates in December, with updated Labor Department data released Wednesday indicating the produce price index fell 0.2%, compared to the initially reported 0.1%. Data for the previous two months was unchanged from the recalculation that considered seasonal adjustment factors, with PPI falling 0.4% in December and 0.1% in November.

Businesses are consolidating and subleasing warehouse space as inventory levels shift back to pre-COVID figures and they revert to just-in-time models, while others are upgrading to newer facilities that feature more automation and require less labor. While US warehouse leasing was up 14.8% in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the third quarter, that's still down 9% from the fourth quarter of 2022, according to JLL.

Generative AI has the potential to streamline supply chains and bring some certainty to organizational operations, but true integration will take time as the industry identifies use cases, develops and tests models and validates decisions, writes Ravi Ravishankar of Leeds School of Business division for strategy, entrepreneurship and operations. For supply chains, some areas where AI is expected to be most applicable include analyzing massive amounts of data and content, identifying emerging patterns or what-if scenarios and creating end-to-end visibility, Ravishankar writes.

Optimal machine learning -- an approach that integrates a decision-support engine, digital twin and end-to-end data architecture -- is more effective than conventional planning systems at increasing revenue, growing product availability and refining inventory levels, write four authors from the Harvard Business Review. Tests of the method improved fill rates and lowered costs at one firm, and increased buy-in among divergent internal parties at another, providing an "easy-to-interpret visualization of the model's decision recommendations that showed exactly which drivers were responsible for them."

Luxury brands are looking at blockchain technology to deal with challenges including theft, counterfeiting, traceability, transparency and sustainability. Vaultik has created Digital Product Passports that offer ownership certificates, on-chain insurance and triple factor authentication, and the luxury financial technology company is working with Burberry, NIX Time and jeweler Amedeo Scognamiglio.

A customer's "last impression" -- or the concluding part of doing business -- is crucial to shaping perceptions about your brand, says Andrea Beach, entrepreneur and consumer behavior specialist. "If you have employees, it's your responsibility to ensure that they consistently create positive last impressions," Beach says.

Improve the chances of your top talent sticking around by creating a sense of belonging, encouraging them to think outside the box and leveraging AI in training to help them improve communication skills, writes Juan Betancourt, the CEO of Humantelligence. "Meeting each employee where they are will go a long way toward fostering the trust and belonging you need to execute your vision for the team," Betancourt notes.

Although more than 80% of Americans say race, ethnic and religious diversity will make the US stronger, 28% say they "strongly support" and 38% say they "support" mandatory diversity, equity and inclusion training in the workplace, according to a Marist poll. Additionally, 37% of respondents say race relations have gotten worse over the past few years, down from the 42% who said they felt that way in 2021.

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