MHI Blog — On March 31st, 2016 Tesla Motors introduced the company's first "affordable" electric-car model. The new Tesla Model S provides self-driving capabilities allowing the car to turn on autopilot and essentially drives itself through 12 ultra sonic sensors and radar. 



This technology automatically steers the car, switches lanes at the touch of the turn signal and adjusts speed according to traffic. The car will return under the driver's control by touching the steering wheel or brakes. The Tesla Model S is just the beginning for what Tesla and companies like Google, Apple, Toyota, General Motors and Hyundai (to name a few) foresee for the future of driverless vehicles. Insider edition captures an older woman's first experience with the new technology.

The Wall Street Journal — The rapid growth of online sales in the U.S. is pushing up demand, and prices, for the warehouses needed to get goods delivered to consumers faster.



Rental rates for prime warehouse space in the U.S. jumped 9.9% in 2015 over the previous year, real-estate brokerage firm CBRE Inc. said in a new report, as retailers and distribution companies snapped up scarce facilities near import gateways and population centers.

Modern Materials Handling — To better understand how companies are approaching decisions regarding the evaluation, purchase and installation of automated material handling systems for distribution centers (DCs), viastore systems, Inc., along with Modern Materials Handling magazine conducted a second annual study among top material handling managers.

Industryweek — At Ford, automotive body construction is increasingly robotic-95% of the process is automated, says Chief Technology Officer Raj Nair, and the people who work on the line are highly trained and specialized technicians. At the aluminum manufacturer Alcoa, materials engineers now make up more new hires than mechanical engineers, a first in the company's 127-year history.

MHI Blog — MHI Young Professionals Network and the Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association (MHEDA) have partnered for this year's Emerging Leaders Conference, July 28 at the Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel in Chicago, IL.



This year's conference is a one-day interactive event focusing on leadership development, career advancement and networking. The theme is Unlocking Secrets for Professional and Personal Success. Here are five awesome takeaways you will learn in improving relationships with customers and managing your personal and professional brand.

Modern Materials Handling — To better understand how companies are approaching decisions regarding the evaluation, purchase and installation of automated material handling systems for distribution centers (DCs), viastore systems, Inc., along with Modern Materials Handling magazine conducted a second annual study among top material handling managers.

Supply Chain Management Review — What prompted them to move from merely paying it lip service as something "nice to do" to formulating new accounting line items to track its return on investment? At the Institute for Supply Management, we believe companies made the change because they realized sustainability goals are: 

• Necessary because consumers are demanding attention be paid to sustainability and the government is regulating efforts to uphold it.

• Prudent because they can help save millions of dollars.

• Crucial to protect the environment for future generations.

Supply Chain Management Review — A study affirms what SCMR has been forecasting for some time now. Supply chain managers can't begin too early on technological upgrade to accommodate the "new economy." The 2016 Industrial Manufacturing Trends Report, published by PwC, asserts that investments in technology are "essential" for the growth of the U.S.manufacturing sector.

Logistics Viewpoints — There are numerous ways to integrate tax and duties in supply chain design. Here are a few ways to consider both logistics and tax considerations in a holistic view for the best overall design decisions.

MHL News — While logisticians might not be high up on the list of possible job choices for kids whose parents aren't in the field, it is an essential and ultimately satisfying career path. The icing on the cake? Careers in logistics pay well too. Jennifer Long of Business 2 Community offers these eight reasons for pursuing a career in logistics.

Industryweek — The U.S. presidential campaign has focused a great deal on the need to expand economic opportunity, but candidates in both parties have not said enough about how they would achieve it. While helping more students go to college has been a topic of discussion and is a vitally important goal, what about those who do not go-or who drop out of high school?

The Maritime Executive — German container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd has announced a new international shipping alliance which is due to start up in April 2017 for initially five years, spanning 18 percent of global container fleet capacity.



The group, called THE Alliance, includes big Asian and European companies in the latest push for economies of scale in the troubled industry.

MHI’s new Career Forum  enables manufacturing and supply chain professionals to view current job postings of MHI member companies. Go to http://www.mhi.org/careers to find the perfect opportunity for you.

Industryweek — New lending companies such as On Deck and LendingClub, new media companies such as BuzzFeed and Mashable and new transportation companies such as Uber and Lyft all have something in common: In many ways, they are essentially traditional businesses wrapped in fashionable narratives to seem like visionary tech firms.

Industrial Distribution — When it comes to business operations, distributors serving a variety of industries are typically most focused on improving speed and efficiencies. Their job is to get products from the manufacturer to the end customer in the quickest, most efficient manner possible.



However, in just about every industry today, distributors are also increasingly focused on becoming more sustainable. In fact, in some cases distributors are being required to take such steps by large end customers that are now focusing their attention on "greening" their entire supply chain.

Knowledge@Wharton — When retailers talk about the omni-channel shopping experience these days, it's mostly about how the word "omni-channel" is so 2010.



But the reality underlying those proclamations is very different, says Beth Ann Kaminkow, former executive vice president of the Westfield shopping center company and currently COO of Wearable Experiments, a wearable technology firm.

Industrial Distribution — While not as prevalent today as in the past, there has been tension between group purchasing organizations (GPOs) and distributors over the years. A good deal of the tension was the result of a misunderstanding as to the roles each plays in the supply chain. For instance, many distributors believed - and may still believe - that they are in competition with GPOs.