Avient will acquire the Protective Materials business of Dutch chemical manufacturer DSM for $1.48 billion. Avient also will seek offers for its distribution arm, although it did not give specifics.
Walmart began testing drone delivery in its hometown late last year and Google parent Alphabet's Wing division teamed with Walgreens to launch a similar test in two Dallas suburbs this month. Amazon, whose founder Jeff Bezos touted the prospects for drone delivery in a 2013 TV news report, has yet to begin offering such service in the US.
Shipping containers at the Port of Long Beach in Calif. (Hector Mata/AFP/Getty Images)
Empty cargo containers are getting less expensive as they accumulate at ports on the East and West coasts amid supply chain disruptions related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's COVID-19 lockdowns, according to Container XChange. Container prices have dropped by up to 30% along the coasts during the past two months and are down by half at certain ports compared to last year's prices.
Mesh networks can support continuous wireless connectivity, autonomous operations and communication in warehouses by eliminating obstructions caused by fixed physical infrastructure, writes Geoff Smith, executive vice president of Rajant. "The right mesh network also allows warehouses to run other applications, such as video streaming, CCTV, and telemetry for equipment," Smith writes.
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Sales teams that focus on the buyer, the seller or the order are leaving money on the table and should combine these approaches to build rapport and help customers solve their problems, writes David Brock. "We create much greater value by not being buyer centric, but expanding our view to be more helpful in their problems/opportunities," Brock writes.
Social media, email and live or virtual events were the most effective ways to attract high-quality business-to-business leads at the top of the funnel last year, according to B2B marketers surveyed by Demand Spring. The best ways to generate quality leads midfunnel were webinars, live or virtual events and white papers or e-books.
Business travel is bouncing back, but a full recovery likely won't happen until at least 2023, according to reports from Deloitte and the American Hotel & Lodging Association. However, airline prices have already exceeded pre-pandemic levels, with Deloitte noting that price "is one of the few travel-deterring factors that saw an increase in significance from 2021 to 2022."
CVS Health HR chief Laurie Havanec is a two-time cancer survivor who says it's important for people to "bring their best selves to work," build relationships based on trust and do the right thing for employees and stakeholders, even if it's difficult. "Making decisions that are hard takes leadership, courage and conviction," Havanec says.
