C&S Wholesale Grocers has called on RingCentral to support its distributed and remote workforce and boost shopper engagement. The platform offers better mobility for employees to aid in collaboration and provides administrative oversight functions.

FedEx is incorporating virtual reality into employee training, starting with package handlers. "It allows us to bring an immersive learning technology into the classroom so people can practice before they step foot on a dock," said FedEx Ground University Human Resource Director Jefferson Welch.

MIT engineers have developed a robot based on how plants grow that has the flexibility needed to work in tight spaces and access areas that are hard to reach. Unlike soft robots designed to address the same problem, the MIT robot is rigid enough to support cameras, sensors and gripping devices.

Taking full advantage of traceability technology in the food and beverage supply chain requires solid data mining and management, John McPherson writes. "Being able to gather rich, actionable data is the key to the future," he writes, adding, "Industry leaders that recognize this and act decisively will gain a competitive advantage."

Canned sales pitches aren't as effective as a personalized buying vision that speaks to a prospect's particular needs, writes Colleen Francis. "In this diversified market, the more expertise you give away for free that relates directly to buyer needs, the more likely prospects will find you," Francis writes.

Ethos3 offers 33 tips to boost email marketing in this infographic, such as using your best-performing social content to inform email messaging and optimizing for mobile. Ensure email content addresses issues faced by prospects, make it easy to read, include compelling calls to action and direct email subscribers to dedicated landing pages.

Responding to messages and other communication from employees in a timely way builds trust and respect, writes John Keyser. "Our people need to be as high a priority as our external clients if we are to have a healthy company with energetic, enthusiastic and engaged team members, and to consistently earn the results we desire," he writes.

Leaders can take their companies from vulnerable to vigilant by focusing on emerging trends, or "weak signals," and having the foresight to move before a competitor, say George Day, Wharton emeritus professor of marketing, and Paul Schoemaker, founder of Q2 Technologies. "A leadership team that is vigilant is characterized by candor, high curiosity, and exploration because they receive a lot of weak signals, and they are open to them," Day says.

Join us Thursday, Nov. 14, 2:00 p.m. ET, for our "Welcome to the Age of B2B Innovation" webinar featuring NAW Institute Fellow Mark Dancer and Mike DeCata, President and CEO of Lawson Products. Mark and Mike will talk about ways that distributors can lead in this age of B2B innovation to defeat disruption and reinvigorate our business economy through digital transformation. This webinar promises big ideas and major takeaways for your business, so don't miss it!

There's no denying the growth/demise ratio of Amazon versus brick-and-mortar operations. The "Amazon Effect" is causing businesses to literally shut down, leaving their creditors at a loss. NAW's strategic partner Cortera wants wholesaler-distributors to be ready. For a limited time, Cortera is offering wholesaler-distributors a complimentary Portfolio Analysis, CFO Report and unlimited Boost. Take advantage of this offer.

Are you well-informed about the latest knowledge in our industry? If not, NAW's just-updated Top 10 Best Sellers list provides the best wholesale distribution knowledge all in one place. These top 10 books are what distributors across the industry are reading right now. Which of these top picks should be on your fall reading list? Quantity discounts start with two copies ordered.