SpartanNash is set to open its first microfulfillment center at a 55,000-square-foot site that will serve the grocer's western Michigan banners and support more than 1,000 daily orders for pickup and delivery. The facility is located in Caledonia, Mich., not far from SpartanNash's headquarters in Grand Rapids.
After a successful test phase at a Walmart distribution center in Brooksville, Fla., the retailer plans to roll out robotics technology from Symbotic at 25 of its 42 distribution centers around the country. The process employs high-speed robots to automate the tasks of retrieval, sorting and storing, as well as to build customized pallets that will make unloading and stocking easier and more efficient.
The Labor Department's producer price index rose by 1.0% in June, contributing to a 12-month increase of 7.3%, a record. Separately, the latest reading on consumer prices showed month-over-month and year-over-year gains of 0.9% and 5.4%, respectively.
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Cold chain logistics providers need to adopt digital traceability capabilities so that food and other temperature-sensitive products can travel and be stored safely, writes Matthew Deep, vice president of professional services at Korber Business Area Supply Chain. Doing so will help reduce waste and increase customers' confidence in the supply chain, Deep writes.
How to transform specialty retail using AI Retailers who choose to leverage AI and machine learning to solve critical business problems sooner rather than later will reap the benefits, as investments in AI yield more value as they mature. Read Google Cloud's survey report to learn about the most common and highest value use cases for AI in retail. Download Now
Now that many salespeople have switched to a hybrid of remote and in-person work, distributors need to provide them with artificial intelligence-based tools to help them succeed, writes Benj Cohen, founder of Proton.ai.
An agile content management system that facilitates cross-departmental collaboration and content creation is essential for business-to-business marketers to give prospects the seamless digital experiences they expect, writes Amplience's Adam Sturrock. An agile CMS should feature a single content hub designed for marketers, collaborative planning tools, API and a development platform, Sturrock writes.
Identify your top three values, how you've demonstrated them and how you'd explain their importance to create a personal leadership brand you can practice and preach, writes Adam Bryant. "If you're lucky enough to work for an authentic leader, you won't have to spend energy wondering which version of the boss is going to show up on a given day, depending on either their mood or the stresses they are facing," he writes.
According to Pradip Krishnadevarajan, Co-author of Seven NAW Institute Best Sellers "Many distributors struggle to manage their sales teams effectively. They oversimplify the sales management function, failing to recognize that every salesperson is unique and requires a customized approach." Read his post here.
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