Amazon has grown its robotic army to 750,000 units, doubling the number of robots working in its warehouses and fulfillment centers. The company also says it is the world's largest manufacturer of industrial robots, built for specific tasks like lifting and sorting, which reduces injuries to humans and improves the speed at which orders are filled.

Electrical supplies distributor Border States is using GAINS' AI-powered platform GAINS Halo360° Decision Engineering and Orchestration Platform to use Border States data to forecast more accurate lead times and improve supply chain performance. The tool will allow Border States to "become more confident in their replenishment decisions, avoid value leakage and better meet service, cost and capacity goals -- a difficult task given the volatility of today's markets," says Amber Salley, vice president of industry solutions for GAINS.

Mexico remains the US's biggest trading partner, with $68.5 billion in two-way trade, followed by Canada and China, Census Bureau data shows. Mexico's biggest exports to the US are vehicles, vehicle parts and computers; the US's exports to Mexico are gasoline, auto parts and computer parts.

Sellers just entering the distribution industry face six key challenges, including getting up to speed on both products and applications, making meaningful initial sale appointments and engaging with customers to move relationships forward, writes Frank Hurtte, founding partner of River Heights Consulting. "Customers want value-driven results from a salesperson within the first several visits. If the value doesn't flow, setting additional appointments becomes increasingly difficult," Hurtte writes.

Physical stores are an essential part of retailers' ecommerce strategies, with Walmart fulfilling more than half of its online orders in stores and Target fulfilling nearly all of its online sales in stores. Almost 42% of ecommerce orders last year involved physical stores, and "in many ways, the store is still the heart or hub of retail," said GlobalData's managing director Neil Saunders.

A Board International global survey finds that nearly three-quarters of supply chain professionals are serious about creating plans to deal with disruptions brought on by scenarios like the Ukraine war, labor shortages and cyberattacks. However, 77% are relying on assumptions instead of data and new technology to craft effective responses, a sign of "planning fatigue" that leaves them open to risk, says Board's CEO Jeff Casale.

Ninety percent of business-to-business decision-makers are persuaded by high-quality thought leadership content and the strategy also "inoculates" B2B brands against rivals, per LinkedIn and Edelman. Jason Ball, founder of Considered Content, explains how B2B marketers can reap the benefits of these findings by creating thought leadership content that includes real-world examples, original research and has a strong point of view.

Siegel+Gale's Lauren Thebault explains four ways marketers should be using AI, including creatively for brand-building, exemplified by Coca-Cola's "Create Real Magic" platform. The technology also can speed up the creative development process with creators while adhering to brand guidelines, help to uncover meaningful brand identity insights and develop customizable brand-learning opportunities, Thebault writes.

Mergers and acquisitions are picking up worldwide as confidence in global markets returns and interest rates' trajectory becomes clearer, said Shemara Wikramanayake, chief executive officer of Macquarie. "While we don't know the pace at which central banks are going to start cutting rates, the fact is that we are getting more confidence and certainty on where rates are going," Wikramanayake said. "That's giving the market more confidence. All the US banks have reported their pipelines picking up. We're certainly seeing that as well."

Conflict happens, but it's how you handle the five stages that it passes through before it escalates into a blowup that will help you be a better leader, writes consultant, speaker and author Marlene Chism. Feeling an inner disturbance is the first stage, followed by justifying someone's behavior, seeing them as an adversary, finding proof of that assumption and finally aggression toward them. If you can recognize where you are in those stages, you're more likely to defuse the situation, Chism notes.

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.

Interested in membership with NAW? Reach out and let us know how we can help you.