United Natural Foods has deployed automation at one distribution center each in Washington state and California and plans to bring it to more regions. The automation installation will double picking throughput, reduce costs and improve accuracy, UNFI President Chris Testa said.

Adoption of automated driving systems by the trucking industry likely won't cause many layoffs of long-haul drivers, and it should improve productivity, wages and profit, according to a study sponsored by the Department of Transportation. If layoffs do occur, "long-haul truck drivers should be able to find employment as short-haul truck drivers," researchers said.

Forrester's Alisa Groocock and Robert Munoz offer business-to-business companies six ways to improve lead generation for marketing and sales through the development of proprietary insights. They advise brands to focus on the "serviceable obtainable market" for segmentation and offer guidance on market and account fit, coverage strategy and how to manage territories dynamically.

Helping customers and trying to sell products shouldn't be seen as mutually exclusive objectives, writes David Brock. If salespeople are focusing on prospects that meet the company's ideal customer profile, they will have meaningful discussions that help all parties meet their goals, Brock writes.

Amazon continues to build on its success by having employees follow 14 leadership principles, work backward to create new products and services, and be "customer-obsessed," say former executives Colin Bryar and Bill Carr. The principles can be used by other companies no matter their size, they say.

Workplace email etiquette means using the BCC function as a transparent cue, scheduling emails for proper hours and only sending absolutely necessary emails to the right people, write professors Adaira Landry and Resa Lewiss. "And if something is so urgent and absolutely cannot wait, email is probably the wrong way to communicate, anyway: pick up the phone and make a call," they write.

In this free NAW webinar on April 6, at 2 p.m. Eastern, Ian Heller and Jonathan Bein will evaluate the marketplace strategic options available to distributors, such as becoming a third-party seller on a merchant-owned marketplace, becoming a third-party seller on a marketplace not owned by a merchant, building your own marketplace, the imperative for an industry-owned marketplace, and opting out of marketplaces. Register now! Check out the full Adding Value in a Post-Pandemic World series! Sponsored by Oracle Netsuite.

Through the NAW Certificate in Distribution Professional Management, which is completely virtual in 2021, NAW and our partner Texas A&M University offer these three comprehensive sessions to help you help your managers to strengthen their skills with the educational foundation they need to enhance their value to your company: Optimizing Distributor Profitability, May 24-27; Generating and Managing Growth, July 19-23; Distributor Capability Development, October 18-22. Register your team today!

The NAW Virtual Distribution Leadership Program is June 7 - 18. Designed to build the knowledge and skills that every employee needs to be a smarter business leader, this two-week virtual course will allow your leaders to conduct their day job and expand their skills at the same time. Learning how others operate, solve problems and drive solutions is one of the top reasons this NAW program is so highly rated. This course builds competence and confidence for everyone from emerging leaders to seasoned veterans. Register your team today!