Clayton, Dubilier & Rice has increased its all-cash offer for Anixter to about $4.3 billion. The amended agreement allows Anixter to respond to qualified unsolicited proposals and have further discussions with Wesco.

Companies such as Amazon have expanded the use of robots in warehouses and fulfillment centers, but the trend has led to increased worker burnout, argues researcher Beth Gutelius, while other data suggests higher injury rates. Amazon has doubled the number of robots it uses in fulfillment centers during the past year.

Distributor Turtle & Hughes overcame numerous challenges to launch its e-commerce platform, but it now expects online sales to account for up to 20% of all sales in the upcoming year, according to Chief Information Officer Ajay Kamble. Distributors can secure internal buy-in for e-commerce initiatives in part by assuring sales teams that it can actually increase their income, Kamble said.

Colleen Perone explains how to nurture business-to-business leads by developing relationships with prospects and offering valuable, expert advice tailored to their individual needs. Research prospects to deliver a personalized experience and follow up with useful content, handwritten notes and promotional gifts to nudge them along the decision-making process, she recommends.

Jillian Ryan, principal analyst at eMarketer, chats in this podcast about how business-to-business marketing has evolved from a predominant focus on lead generation to a more holistic view of the customer journey. "B2Bs are starting to wake up to the fact that it's cheaper to keep an existing customer than to bring in a new one," she says, before going on to explain how B2B marketers are working closer with sales and accounts teams to become more involved in customer retention and growth.

Create success as a leader by delegating tasks that drain you, seeking positive opportunities and asking what's most important about today's projects, writes Dan Rockwell. "Perhaps the busiest people among us are escaping life, not inventing the future," he writes.

Growing in popularity within our industry, the NAW Certificate in Distribution Professional Management Program is ideal for high-potential managers who seek to complement their professional development with a strong emphasis on practical application within the distribution field. Three, one-week sessions at Texas A&M University focus on Generating and Managing Growth (Feb. 10-14), Distributor Capability Development (April 13-17), and Optimizing Distributor Profitability (Oct. 19-23). Get all the details and enroll your high achievers today before the seats are gone.

"Unlock the Power of Inventory Analytics: Aligning Working Capital to Customer Experience to Maximize Your Bottom Line" is based on 15 years of distribution research. It reveals the fundamentals and contemporary practices for designing the role of inventory in this era of ever-evolving new business models. You'll receive an inventory management framework, customer service metrics, a step-by-step implementation approach, real-world distributor case studies and a plan-of-action road map. Take a look by reading the introduction.

Distributors are stepping up to the challenges of our time, and our first-ever "Facing the Forces of Change" challenge paper, "Creating Innovations and Shaping the Future of Business: A Look at Commerce, Technology and Human Forces in Distribution," shares essential insights you can act on now. This electronic challenge paper includes preliminary findings and actionable ideas. Find out how your business can become an innovator of business services. Order your copies.