Judge John Chun issued a ruling that allowed the Federal Trade Commission to pursue antitrust claims against Amazon but limited state claims regarding consumer protection laws from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and Maryland. The lawsuit, which alleges Amazon is using its market power to suppress competition and inflate prices, is scheduled for trial in Oct. 2026, with the FTC and 18 states arguing that the company’s practices harm both consumers and sellers.

The weather advisory group at the Port of Tampa has been activated to monitor Hurricane Milton's effects on the port and surrounding waterways as the storm approaches Florida with a predicted landfall on Wednesday. Restrictions have been placed on vessel navigation and at least one oil platform has been shut down so far, with other potential ramifications being closure of the Port of Tampa and the interruption of fuel supply to central and western Florida.

Distribution Solutions Group's TestEquity has announced its acquisition of ConRes Test Equipment, a Bedford, Mass.-based division of Continental Resources that specializes in test and measurement equipment. The deal -- which is expected to be finalized in the fourth quarter -- aims to enhance TestEquity's offerings and customer relationships, using ConRes's Northeast calibration lab and sales resources.

The trade deficit shrank in August, falling to $70.4 billion, down 10.8% from the prior month, according to the Commerce Department. The deficit was slightly lower than the $70.6 billion projection of economists polled by Reuters.

The ways in which AI can improve supply chain functions continue to expand, especially in the categories of machine learning, optimization, reinforcement learning and natural language processing, along with simultaneous localization and mapping, writes Steve Banker. Machine learning's more advanced applications include being able to forecast SKUs at the store level rather than regionally and also more sophisticated demand planning options that incorporate store traffic, weather data and information about competitor pricing.

The first step toward effective warehouse automation is to integrate it seamlessly with existing infrastructure rather than treating it as a standalone component, writes Zachary Dydek of Vecna Robotics. Using warehouse robots to collect data that leads to useful insights is also important, in addition to taking advantage of the "network effect" drawn from connected systems and seeing robotics solutions from a systems perspective that permits expanded scale, Dydek writes.

Sales prospecting is a foundational skill that can be daunting for many professionals, but targeted training programs are designed to address this challenge by providing tailored strategies to improve lead generation and qualification. By investing in these programs, organizations can enhance their sales teams' abilities, leading to increased revenue and market expansion.

Despite economic uncertainties and the upcoming US elections, CFOs are optimistic about their companies' growth, projecting a 7.1% revenue increase and 4% pricing growth in 2025, according to the latest CFO Survey from Duke University and the Federal Reserve Banks of Richmond and Atlanta. However, concerns about monetary policy and financing constraints persist, especially for smaller companies. While investment in infrastructure and equipment is planned, growth in full-time employment is expected to slow from 5.6% in 2024 to 3.2% in 2025.

City Electric Supply Co-CEOs John Gray and Andrew Dawes emphasize the importance of leadership that values direct engagement with staff and decentralized decision-making. MDM's Mike Hockett examines the leadership style and speaks with Gray and Dawes, who recently attended the CES Connect 2024 event. The CES leaders prioritizes face-to-face interactions and feedback from front-line staff, and say the approach fosters autonomy and innovation across the company's more than 700 branches in North America.

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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.