MHISolutionsmag.com—If seeing is believing, then manufacturing,
warehousing and distribution facilities throughout the supply chain can expect to be taking a closer look at the latest wearable technology emerging as a viable competitive advantage in operations: smart glasses leveraging augmented reality.

Modern Materials Handling—New research from the National Center for the Middle Market explores how focus and depth can help middle market companies succeed. The largest and fastest-growing middle market firms with successful supply chains develop deep, collaborative relationships with their most important customers, according to new research from The National Center for the Middle Market (NCMM).

CNN Money—Ford will shift production of its Focus compact car from the United States to China. And in a first for the automaker, it will ship many of these cars back to the U.S. to sell. But the move is more bad news for Mexico than it is for the United States. While the Focus has been built at the Michigan Assembly
plant in Wayne, Michigan, for years, Ford had previously announced plans to shift its production to Mexico. Ford wants to make room for larger, more profitable vehicles at the Michigan plant, which employs 3,600. 

Bloomberg—United Parcel Service Inc. will place its first
holiday-season surcharges on U.S. packages, as the world’s largest package-delivery company seeks to defray a surge in year-end costs. The new charges are needed to help pay for additional holiday capacity in airplanes and trucks purchased at short-term premium rates, as well as to offset the cost of temporary facilities and seasonal help. UPS hired about 95,000 temporary workers during last year’s holiday season.

EBN—Manufacturing has been on the edge of an ominous skills gap for some time. Despite a lot of conversation, we still haven’t solved it. At the same time, we are taking steps in the right direction. The Manufacturing Institute launched its STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Production) Ahead initiative. As part of the program, the group has recognized women each year for excellence in manufacturing for the past five years. This year, 18 of these 130 leaders were leading the charge on the high-technology manufacturing front. 

Supply Chain Dive—HP's latest sustainability goal is the 10 percent reduction of first-tier supplier GHG emissions by 2025 as compared with 2015 emissions levels. It also seeks to double factory participation in supply chain sustainability programs by 2025 to increase not only the number of suppliers involved in its programs but also the scope of their engagement. The company's main focus will be on engaging its supply chain to help minimize GHG intensity through careful management and transparency requirements, along with predetermined operations goals and improved collaboration. 

As part of MHI view's ongoing video program, this new episode focuses on Aero-Robotics and Cycle Counts.

Drones have a wide variety of applications in supply chains—find out how you can use drones to improve your inventory management procedures.

SupplyChainBrain—Supplier diversity is evolving from a check-the-box, corporate
social-responsibility requirement to a strategic enabler for the procurement function, providing access to new and innovative products and increased market share.

Business Insider—Amazon, in adding to its ever-expanding benefits for Prime customers, will now let customers try on clothing before purchasing it. The program is part of the new Prime Wardrobe, similar to many "box" services, like StitchFix and TrunkClub, where a few clothing items are sent to the customer, who then gets to try on the clothing before deciding what to keep and purchase and what to send back. Amazon gives seven days to make a decision, and shipping is free both ways.

MHI Blog—In our 2017 MHI Annual Industry Report, one of the key problems in material handling and supply chain identified by respondents was the talent/skills gap. In response to this growing trend, APICS, an association for supply chain management,  are launching an expanded Supply Chain STEM Educational Outreach Program.

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.

Forbes—The retail world is still reeling over Amazon’s proposed $13.7 billion deal to acquire Whole Foods. The ripple effects from this seismic deal are just beginning. This could be the deal that forever changes retail.

MHI Blog—The global supply chain analytics market is expected to reach $9.87 billion by 2025, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. Consumers are driving this growth by demanding supply chains that perform faster and more efficiently. This, coupled with other factors such as shortened product life cycles, low supply chain visibility, ineffective supplier networks, elevated warehousing costs, redundant forecasts, and fluctuating customer demands, are stressing supply chains and requiring them to be optimized.

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Supply Chain Digest—Despite an
always just-around-the-corner major driver shortage, low diesel prices that make trucking relatively more attractive than rail, and what appears to be decent though certainly not robust freight volumes, U.S. truckload rates have been basically flat for now about two and a half years. But that good news for shippers, and bad news for
carriers, may finally be changing.

EBN—Global shipping demand is picking up worldwide as the U.S. economy continues to expand at a modest clip. Europe is showing signs of life and China is probably about to come roaring back. The problem: a huge capacity backlog sitting and waiting for container ships.