Wholesale inventories declined 0.3% in January after increasing 0.4% a month earlier, according to the Commerce Department. A 1% drop in non-durable goods inventories drove the overall decline, which was curtailed by a 0.2% increase in durable goods inventories. Wholesale sales dropped 1.7% from the prior month and 1.5% from a year earlier, while the inventory to sales ratio increased from 1.34 in December to 1.36 in January.

Gypsum Management & Supply finalized its acquisition of Kamco Supply, a New York Cit-based building materials distributor. GMS acquired Kamco for $321.5 million in a move expected to its wallboard distribution and geographic reach while bringing in Kamco's roughly $235 million in annual revenue.

Private sector payrolls added 140,000 positions in February, falling short of the Dow Jones estimate but surpassing the tally of 111,000 from the prior month, according to ADP. The leisure and hospitality and construction sectors helped drive the gains.

AI and other digital procurement systems are speeding up transactions by 40%, according to a report by McKinsey and Company. By integrating AI solutions, repetitive tasks can be automated while procurement professionals use that time to make strategic decisions that could be based on AI-generated data, writes Arjun Sharma, a startup mentor with the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore.

General Motors is investing $23 million to upgrade its Charlotte auto parts distribution center to improve workplace safety and technology. The GM facility ships 420,000 parts per month and the investment includes plans for an automated storage and retrieval system and autonomous robots to enhance storage space, deploy robotics to reduce physical labor and improve order times for customer care and vehicle components.

Pandemic-related supply chain challenges have been replaced with a new set of risks for executives that are primarily tied to a worsening outlook for revenue and growth, increased natural hazard events and environmental, social and governance factors such as environmental violations and labor practice issues, per Sphera research. "Risk exposure is dynamic, and constantly evolving supply chain risks cause ever-increasing market volatility" and can be mitigated by proactive monitoring and optimizing supply chains and diversifying suppliers, said Sphera CEO Paul Marushka in a statement.

Distributors measuring their ecommerce and digital marketing investments need to ensure their metrics are accurate and account for the different journeys of the business-to-business and business-to-consumer buyer, say Lucal Zanella of electrical manufacturer Abb and Ignacio Bruyel of Signify, a manufacturer of connected LED lighting systems. The pair discuss how distributors can benefit from supplier resources, increase market share and enhance their relationship with manufacturers.

Creating a transparent supply chain begins with understanding the legislation and reputational risks involved with each of the suppliers, say experts. Anouschka Jansen, the director for sustainability solutions at QIMA suggests leveraging staff to share ethical concerns and assessing risk for each supplier on a regular basis to maintain ethical sourcing.

Good middle managers can make or break your company, and it's important to cultivate, nurture and recognize them, writes Tammy Perkins, a chief people officer who has worked with Fortune 100 companies. Leaders can start by whittling away organizational bureaucracy, which middle managers say is the biggest impediment to getting more important tasks done well.

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