Cargo prices are up due to several shipping disturbances such as Houthi rebels attacking ships going to the Suez Canal, drought in Central America causing low water levels in the Panama Canal, a series of impending strike threats from dock and rail workers and good old-fashioned inflation. "I'm lovingly calling the market now 'Covid junior,' because in a lot of ways we're right back to where we were during the pandemic. It's all happening again," said Stephanie Loomis, head of ocean freight for the Americas at Rhenus Logistics.

Non-traditional competitors and the removal of intermediaries are causing significant disruption in the distribution industry, with private investment and retailers increasingly entering the B2B distribution market and manufacturers bypassing distributors. MDM Editor Mike Hockett examines how distributors can respond to remain competitive, exploring the industry dynamics and highlighting two recent events that illustrate the trends -- Home Depot's $18 billion acquisition of SRS Distribution and Amazon Business' introduction of new tech features to boost its B2B services.

Metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations supplies distributor MSC Industrial Supply has acquired ApTex in Wisconsin and Premier Tool Grinding in Arizona, which combined to generate more than $20 million in revenue last year. The acquisition will enhance MSC's technical expertise and service offerings in metalworking and specialty tooling in Wisconsin and Arizona.

Logistics company GXO has partnered with Apptronik to test the robotics developer's AI-powered Apollo humanoid robots' ability to carry items and navigate around co-workers, part of a plan to automate more functions at GXO distribution centers. "Our mission is to build versatile robots that can do work in real-world applications -- from large, powerful movements like transporting boxes and totes to small, precise ones like picking individual items or scanning barcodes," says Apptronik CEO Jeff Cardenas.

Mitigating supply chain risks starts with building a risk portfolio and identifying potential challenges, writes Jonathan Colehower, who is in charge of the global operations and supply chain management practice at UST. Colehower also recommends deploying redundancies for areas with single points of failure, as well as adding backup suppliers for sole source suppliers.

This infographic from Vizion Online offers business-to-business marketing tips for LinkedIn, spanning content creation, profile optimization and advanced strategies such as targeted ads and sponsored content. Advice includes using rich media to spotlight products, engaging in LinkedIn Groups and promoting top-performing content.

More than half of top corporate CFOs cited consumer demand as the primary risk to their business, a three-fold jump from a year earlier, according to the latest CNBC CFO Council survey. Predictions on inflation have been pushed out, with 42% expecting it to remain elevated until 2026. More than half of CFOs expect a recession before the second end of 2025.

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