MHI Blog—In virtually every major manufacturing and distribution sector, automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) are employed. Equipment and controls that handle, store and retrieve materials under a defined degree of automation continue to grow in demand. To better understand what companies are looking for when it comes to selecting an AS/RS solution from the relatively simple manually controlled order-picked machines to extremely large, computer-controlled storage and retrieval systems, MHI Solutions spoke with leaders of MHI’s AS/RS Industry Group.

Modern Materials Handling—MHI has announced the exhibit space draw for MODEX 2018 will be held on December 8, 2016 at 9:00 AM EST at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

Scheduled for April 9-12 at the Georgia World Congress Center, MODEX 2018 will welcome nearly 30,000 industry professionals from more than 100 countries. According to MHI, more than 80% of attendees plan to buy at MODEX, with more than 32% planning to spend over $1 million.

The Wall Street Journal—U.S. regulators on Friday approved a new alliance between four of the world’s largest container operators.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission voted to allow the Ocean Alliance, an agreement among France’s CMA CGM, China’s Cosco Group, Hong Kong’s Orient Overseas Container Line and Taipei-based Evergreen Marine, to become effective as of Monday.

Forbes—Digitization isn’t merely a buzzword. The digital transformation of your business can have a serious impact on your organization – particularly as it applies to your supply chain operations.

For instance, a digital supply chain can lower procurement costs by 20%, reduce supply chain process costs by 50%, and increase revenue by 10%, according to recent Center for Global Enterprise (CGE) research.

MHI Blog—Recently, some of the MHI crew went and visited the Rock Hill Applied Technology Center, which "offers a variety of career and technical high school courses designed specifically to prepare students for success in college, technical/specialty school, or the workforce." Fed from the three high schools in the Rock Hill, SC school district, Rock Hill, South Pointe, and Northwestern, the ATC is a place where students can practice academic skills in a hands-on environment.

RE Journals—Midwest Real Estate News asked Brian Quigley, executive vice president of Rosemont, Illinois-based Conor Commercial Real Estate, the big question: How is the growth of Amazon – which seems to open a new distribution center in the Midwest on a weekly basis these days — changing the transportation and logistics decisions that industrial users are making today?

Quigley had plenty to say about this. 

Supply Chain Management Review—Management consultants at McKinsey & Company, maintain that the parcel market in the U.S. is set to double by 2025, with Same-day delivery and instant delivery to accounting for one-fifth of the demand. Furthermore, a new study reveals that one in two customers is willing to pay extra for faster delivery.

These are the research findings contained in "Parcel delivery. The Future of Last Mile." The analyses surveyed over 4,700 consumers in the U.S., Germany, and China.

Driverless vehicles are coming, but they’re already having a major impact inside distribution centers and warehouses as the front line of the supply chain changes forever.

IoT Daily—Many IoT-in-the-sky advancements are underway by retailers and cellular networks and now a new study shows the attitudes U.S. consumers have toward drone delivery.

The primary benefit consumers see from drone delivery is one-hour delivery, but they also are concerned about the stability of autonomous deliveries, according to the study by the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General. 

EBN—Hurricane Matthew was battering the southeastern United States coastline as I wrote this, causing shoreline wind damage, inland flooding, and evacuations. This happened after the storm crossed the Atlantic and caused death and destruction in Haiti and other Caribbean islands. Even the Orlando theme parks were closed, signifying the intensity and danger of the storm. 

MHI Blog—Hold on to your hats, because 2017 is likely to be a bumpy ride because of slowing global growth, Brexit fallout, oil and gas credit risks and election cyclicality!

Supply Chain Dive—When talking about jobs, trade and the economy, Presidential candidates often say what voters want to hear: The economy will thrive and jobs will stay at home.

As with many other areas of the economy, the digital revolution is having a profound effect on delivery logistics.

The combination of mobile computing, analytics, and cloud services, all of which are fueled by the Internet of Things (IoT), is changing how delivery and fulfillment companies are conducting their operations.

Business Insider—As with many other areas of the economy, the digital revolution is having a profound effect on delivery logistics.

Multichannel Merchant—In the heart of Amazon country, Nordstrom, Costco and UPS have joined with a team from the University of Washington in Seattle to study solutions to last-mile delivery issues in urban areas.

UW’s Urban Freight Lab will explore high-impact, low-cost solutions in urban areas where delivery vehicles, bicycles, cars and pedestrians all have to coexist, according to a report in the university’s publication.

MHI Blog—I was recently asked to provide some guidance to secure a small warehouse; they only had a handful of employees but wanted to provide security for both the facility and their employees. Some of the key points I started with were explaining some large facilities exterior protection needs, as well as what a smaller privately owned businesses may need to look at.

In order to reduce crime, having a good understanding of all vulnerabilities is needed, then it’s time to proceed with implementing security measures.

The Wall Street Journal—Commercial driver background checks have become a lightning rod in the trucking industry, drawing ire from those who say they have been wrongly barred from jobs due to inaccuracies in these employment-history reports.

Supply Chain Brain—It's the best of times to take your business global. It's the worst of times to take your business global. With apologies to Charles Dickens, we are living in roilingly uncertain times when it comes to global trade, driving both risks and opportunities as high as they've ever been.

Logistics Viewpoints—My colleagues and I have written a number of articles about the widespread growth of e-commerce and its effect on distribution operations. Many companies are opening new facilities for e-commerce fulfillment and others are using traditional replenishment facilities to fulfill e-commerce orders as well. It’s well-known that e-commerce growth is affecting the requirements placed on many organizations. But to what degree is the movement of goods through the supply chain shifting? And to what degree are handling units changing? Clearly direct-to-consumer shipments are smaller in size and greater in volume than traditional fulfillment. But to what degree is this shift occurring? ARC’s survey research, conducted in partnership with DC Velocity, provides some cross-sectional insights into the magnitude of these shifts.