Rebate programs are a valuable tool for distributors, and customized rebates are more effective than one-size-fits-all, writes Mitch Lee of price management firm Vendavo. Lee details ways in which data can be used to structure rebate programs with customer-specific objectives and offers tips for distributors creating strategies with real-time, dynamic pricing and rebates.

Short, weekly sessions where sales teams learn best practices and try them out with their peers are an effective means of upskilling sales teams, writes Doug Wyatt, vice president of sales and marketing at SPARXiQ. Wyatt details ways training programs can overcome challenges and achieve measurable impacts to beat their competition. Sellers at distributors that used the method averaged 12.6% top-line sales growth.

The hostilities in the Red Sea have prompted a double-digit rise in use of airfreight, with an accompanying rise in prices. While average spot rates for shipping cargo through the region have seen a 71% year-on-year increase, airfreight prices have also climbed but are offset by the assurance of speedy, safe delivery.

MIT researchers took a page from traffic congestion solutions and developed a deep-learning model to manage warehouse robotic traffic. Hundreds of warehouse robots are reprogrammed every few seconds to change their tasks and avoid collisions, so the researchers developed a system to divide robots into smaller groups that can be managed more quickly.

Multiple geopolitical factors, including ongoing effects of tariffs on imports from China and China's tension with Taiwan, are forcing suppliers to prioritize supplier diversity, said experts at an American Apparel & Footwear Association summit earlier this month. "[V]olatility is normal -- you should just accept that, be happy with that, take it in," said Luis Velazquez, a senior vice president at Fabletics.

Four in 10 senior procurement executives in North America say they ignore sustainability in supply chains, according to a survey by software-maker Sedex. "These findings are a wake-up call for any business that is serious about its social and environmental performance," says Sedex's Maurizio Capuzzo. Another finding: 37% say they have no knowledge of sustainability-oriented legislation that might affect their business.

A Forrester survey finds that Millennials and Generation Zs, now 71% of B2B buyers, have different expectations and approaches. They bring other values to the process, use a network to make decisions and want to be involved in developing products and services.

Skills-based hiring is gaining favor with many companies, especially in the tech sector, with college degrees sometimes being removed from job requirements altogether. LaunchCode CEO Julian Nicks says, "The reality is the demand for tech workers is growing faster than the traditional college pipeline, so it has been imperative that employers look for talent elsewhere."

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The NAW Company Roundtables are an exclusive community of thought leaders from Billion Dollar and Large Company distribution enterprises who congregate to network with non-competing peers in multiple lines of trade on key issues. Learn more about the many Roundtable event opportunities we offer, and how your leaders can get involved. Learn more.

Join us on May 22 at 1 pm ET for the next webinar in our "How-to with NAW" series. Each episode is a micro-revolution for your distribution business, delivering practical takeaways and actionable steps you can implement immediately.