The first draft of the U.S. Roadmap for Material Handling & Logistics has been released and is available for review. Its purpose is to help the industry determine how material handling and logistics challenges can be turned into action plans to develop needed capabilities in the U.S. between now and 2025.

 

Material handling equipment vendors usually get together en masse in one place at least three times a year. One of those times is for the big ProMat or Modex trade show put on by MHI in alternating years. At those events they try to convince customers to invest in their equipment, software and systems. The other times, usually during their industry spring and fall meetings, these vendors talk to each other, figuring out how to be more convincing.

 

Crowdsourcing meets corporate social responsibility in U.K.-based retailer Marks & Spencer’s plan to survey 22,500 workers in 30 factories in its clothing supply chain.

M&S, which has stores around the globe, announced last month a one-year deal with non-profit social enterprise technology venture Good World Solutions to communicate with factory workers in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh via mobile phones four times a year.

 

Environmental and workers’ rights groups aren’t the only parties interested in "sustainable" supply chains. Many investors, too, see value in companies whose goods are sourced with an eye toward fair treatment of workers and gentle handling of the environment, as evidenced by the work of numerous funds focused on socially conscious investing.

 

Whether you call it "multi-channel" or the currently trendy "omni-channel" fulfillment, few topics have generated more interest and analysis in the supply chain industry this year, and with good reason. Retailers are experiencing dramatic revenue growth by adding a direct-to-consumer (DTC) channel, certainly aided by the ubiquity of smartphones. In fact, some analysts are predicting that retail e-commerce sales will grow to $279 billion by 2015.