MHI Blog -- According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon is working on a mobile app internally that would pay consumers to pick up their packages at various retail locations and deliver them to their final destination.

The project, tentatively titled "On My Way," would join several firms utilizing crowdsourcing to deliver packages and follow a model similar to what Uber and Instacart are currently testing.

The Wall Street Journal -- Business keeps getting better for third-party-logistics companies. 

Revenues for U.S. 3PLs, which provide services ranging from booking truck drivers to managing warehouses, rose 7.4% to $157.2 billion last year, faster than the 2.8% growth in logistics spending overall, according to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, which released its annual State of Logistics report on Tuesday. 

Driving the growth was an improving U.S. economy and a shortage of capacity in a few key areas, notably trucking, said Dick Armstrong, president of Armstrong and Associates, which provided data on 3PLs for the State of Logistics report.

Venture Beat -- Amazon may be making a Google Glass clone that could actually be practical.

Screen Shot 2015-06-18 at 2.22.37 PMThe wearable device described in a newly published patent could be used to turn Jeff Bezos’s army of warehouse employees into pseudo-cyborgs that can quickly identify items for shipping.

The glasses sport a wearable computer that recognizes where objects are located in a given area. The glasses also have an imaging sensor that could recognize objects associated with a given task. The sensor might also recognize package markings like mailing addresses, bar codes, or QR codes.

EBN -- There's been a great myth sweeping across the world of procurement.  It's come about as procurement technology has grown widespread and companies are vying for customers to sign onto their solutions. The myth takes the form of an eraser, scrubbing away the lines between direct and indirect procurement.

Usually, eliminating boundaries is a good thing. In supply chain we often talk about silos and why barriers are a problem.  However, in the case of direct vs. indirect procurement, muddling the distinction can actually be dangerous.  That's because direct and indirect procurement are wholly different beasts.  They require different approaches and different technologies. 

Material Handling & Logistics -- The EPA has joined the Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in proposing standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles that would improve fuel efficiency while cutting carbon pollution.  

The proposed standards, released on June 19,  are expected to lower CO2 emissions by approximately 1 billion metric tons, cut fuel costs by about $170 billion, and reduce oil consumption by up to 1.8 billion barrels over the lifetime of the vehicles, according to the government.

CNBC -- Amazon's quest for commercial drone delivery will likely face state and federal hurdles—which makes the e-commerce giant's efforts to implement autonomous delivery all the more difficult, a venture capitalist and early Amazon investor said Wednesday. 

The Federal Aviation Administration could finalize drone regulations over the next 12 months, Deputy 

Administrator Michael Whitaker said in congressional testimony Wednesday. The government previously anticipated commercial drone regulations would not be ready until the end of 2016 or later.

Fox News -- Drone deliveries in the U.S. will soon be an official, government-sanctioned activity. On July 17, the Federal Aviation Administration will allow a collaboration between NASA, Flirtey and Virginia Tech to fly unmanned aircraft to deliver pharmaceuticals to a free medical clinic in West Virginia. The fixed wing aircraft from NASA Langley and multi-rotor delivery drones from Flirtey will become the world's first autonomous aerial delivery services. 

The event organizers hope to prove that drone usage need not be nefarious or purely for enthusiasts. In fact, the goal of these drones is to bring life-saving meds to an under-served community.

Reuters -- China will increase support for cross-border e-commerce as the world's second-largest economy shifts from manufacturing to higher-value services, the government said.

China's e-commerce industry has been booming in recent years, with companies like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and JD.com Inc benefiting from a rising middle class with more disposable income.

The Hill -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has introduced legislation to require commercial drones to be equipped with collision avoidance software in an effort to prevent mid-air crashes between the devices and airplanes carrying passengers.

Feinstein said the measure, which has been dubbed the Consumer Drone Safety Act, is necessary because of the high number of near collisions that are reported by pilots to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

EBN -- Supply chain segmentation has become a common way for companies to organize their product portfolios, sales channels, and revenue streams.

And, for the last 20 to 25 years or so, the strategy–and philosophy behind it–worked for many companies in the high-tech supply chain. Dell, for instance, was the poster child of supply chain segmentation. It created the direct-to-consumer approach that changed how computers are sold to the masses and how supply chain partners reacted to sales triggers from different channels for different, and more customized, products.

Retail Week -- A recent survey from CIPS shows that only 11% of supply chain managers maintain a close relationship with their suppliers. The majority of those surveyed either have relationships with tier one suppliers only, or don’t have any relationships at all.

Close relationships between suppliers can help prevent unpleasant surprises and disruption when something unexpected occurs but, perhaps more importantly, companies that don’t have good supply chain relationships have no real visibility, can’t know their full product providence and won’t always be aware of any potential breaches down the chain.

Supply Chain Brain -- With their operating budget expected to grow by just 2.7 percent this year, procurement leaders are focusing their transformation efforts on cultivating procurement's role as a trusted advisor, investing in next-generation training and development, and harnessing big data.

Industry Today -- It is considered to be a central element of the third industrial revolution by changing long lasting principles of industrial manufacturing. Aside from the manufacturing perspective, 3D printing is expected to shift market environments and revolutionize present business models. This article highlights commercial implications for industrial goods manufacturers and uncovers fields of action for senior management.

Industry experts agree on the fact that 3D printing will revolutionize industrial manufacturing within the next five to ten years. At the same time, it is undisputed that the integration of 3D printing technology into traditional production lines will disrupt market environments and existing business models. This applies to low volume and complex product lines in particular.

Material Handling & Logistics -- Agriculture, energy, and food and beverage industries lead with positive reputations for sustainability while manufacturing, leisure services and transportation lag, according to the 2015 G&S Business Communications Sense & Sustainability Study released earlier this month.

The study, fielded by Harris Poll, is the firm’s sixth annual survey of U.S. adults about their perceptions of the corporate commitment to environmental and social responsibility. 

F.Business -- With CEOs increasingly concerned about operational excellence, the chief supply chain officer's (CSCO's) primary role continues to be bimodal in nature, encompassing the roles of growth partner and operational caretaker, according to Gartner, Inc. Gartner's 2015 CEO and Senior Executive Survey explored the top initiatives and challenges of leaders across six global regions and a range of industries, including the supply-chain-intensive industries — manufacturing, retail, healthcare and natural resources.

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