Wal-Mart remains at the top of the STORES’ 2013 Top 100 Retailers list, raking in $328.7 billion in 2012. Kroger, reporting more than $92 billion in sales in 2012, maintained the No. 2 spot for the fourth year in a row.

Costco (4), The Home Depot (5) and Safeway (9) each moved up a single spot, and McDonald’s (10) joined the top 10 list for the first time in the survey’s history, reporting more than $35.5 billion in sales in 2012.

Driven by increased demand for their products and services, almost a third of manufacturing and distribution firms in the small and midsized business (SMB) sector expect to increase the size of their workforce in 2013, and 45% plan to keep it the same, according to the results of a survey by Sage North America. Sage, a leading provider of business management software and services to more than 6 million small and midsized businesses worldwide, conducted the survey among 242 executives of SMB manufacturers and distributors.

Even after considerable NAFTA-related growth, the capacity of transportation and ports of entry into Mexico has lagged behind demand. Other factors, including counter-terrorism measures at the border and extended waiting times at customs, have contributed to congestion at ports of entry, resulting in unpredictable delays and higher costs in shipping materials from the U.S. to south of the border.

This situation impacts the businesses of many American and international OEMs who need reliable access to receive ancillary items that support their manufacturing processes, such as components and integral assemblies as well as packaging and material handling containers that are necessary to producing finished goods. But when logistical nightmares occur, added lead times and resulting shortages cause OEMs to temporarily disrupt manufacturing operations or shipping while they await the arrival of the needed materials.

Like any business, a supply chain company needs to form its business story and build intelligent campaigns. A few key preparations link directly to a successful outcome.

Management needs to invest a chunk of time initially to get the company's story nailed and incorporated into the communications effort. The thread needs to be integrated across the entire organization and in all media. The first step is to consider some key questions and create a positioning statement and key messages. This results in a communications strategy on which all tactics are based. (Think strategy first, then tactics.)

Leading consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies and retailers are responding to the speed of the digital consumer and balancing operational quality with innovation to connect to them. These are among the findings in a new report from the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and PwC US, titled Growth Strategies: Unlocking the Power of the Consumer.

Top-performing companies are finding success by identifying their consumers, engaging with them and focusing on innovation that directly reaches their customers. The report explores how digital and social media, accelerated mobile adoption and a direct-to-consumer approach are rewriting the rules of retailing and CPG manufacturing.

David B. (Dave) Scott, recognized pioneer and authority on the application of technology and computer systems for real-time warehousing, distribution & supply chain management, recently passed away.

Mr. Scott was a respected systems analyst, inventor, modeler and designer with over thirty years of experience in the development and implementation of real-time systems for manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers.

New high volume vessels, improved logistics systems, better use of containers and more effective integration of ocean cargo with other modes of shipping have contributed to making ocean cargo a transportation alternative for shippers with transit time windows allowing for longer ship times.

"For this reason, securing rates for routes which utilize multiple modal combinations is essential to a cost effective intermodal strategy that provides shortest transit times and the agility to alternate modes and carriers when there are capacity issues," says Ty Bordner, VP of product management and solutions consulting at Amber Road, a provider of global trade management software.

Finished goods inventory practices have been on the upswing since 2010, according to a new report, "Finished Goods Inventory Management: How Today's Outcomes Measure Up to Past Results," published by the Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium.

"While business conditions are not back to where they were before the Great Recession hit in 2008, companies have been strengthening their finished goods inventory processes," says Bruce Tompkins, executive director of the Consortium and author of the report.

Across industries, manufacturers pride themselves on quality but put top emphasis on reducing overall costs. And while these may seem like conflicting priorities, they can be explained by the concurrent demands of the internal economic drivers of an organization and the external customer requirements for quality and efficiency. As such, these priorities are here to stay, especially as the consumer becomes increasingly empowered and publicly vocal. 

In recent years, product quality and safety have become tightly integrated with traceability and supplier scorecards. But for manufacturers with foresight to proactively implement a comprehensive traceability system before a contamination problem occurs, there is an opportunity to provide their organizations with the ability to dramatically improve response time, implement corrective measures, and minimize repercussions to the bottom line and the brand, should a problem arise.

The United States Postal Service expects to see real time tracking in all 67 of its districts by the end of 2013.

The USPS introduced the intelligent mail device, also known as IMD Wireless, in January 2013, and is currently being used in 55,000 post offices nationwide. The IMD’s work as a "companion device" to the USPS’s current intelligent mail data acquisition system scanner, which provides wireless transmission of data, according to a USPS press release.

Many of us call what we do or participate in "distribution." However, given the word's meaning, describing this business as distribution has become too simplistic.

Sure, moving components from maker A to buyer B is how many of the best in this business started out. But that was decades ago. As electronics advanced, so have these businesses, growing with their suppliers, addressing needs and opportunities that could not be envisioned when they printed their first catalogs.

Globalization opens up a number of degrees of freedom in the supply chain—there are more places that products can be made; customers are spread across the globe; and demand is shifting to Asia, with rapidly growing consumption especially in China. And for the chemicals sector—one of the largest and most diversified industries in the world—the trend toward more global supply chains creates complexity and competition that did not exist five years ago.

Made up of several smaller industries including bulk, specialty and polymers, the chemicals sector covers hundreds of segments—to which supply chain and logistics are vital to chemicals companies’ success because they represent a high share of cost and are critical for service level and top-line results.

Momentum for produce traceability in the food chain is growing in the wake of the announcement by Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club mandating that produce suppliers adopt standardized labels enabling track-and-trace throughout the supply chain.

On May 29, Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club wrote their produce suppliers, mandating the use of standardized case labeling that meets the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) standard for human and machine-readable Global Trade Item (GTI) numbers, lot/batch number, voice pick code, and pack or "sell by" date. "By January 1, produce out of compliance will be rejected as out of spec unless an active exemption has been issued by the buyer prior to delivery," the letter says.

Organizations that embrace a multi-disciplinary approach to packaging sustainability will be better equipped to meet the increasing requirements of public reporting, responding to supplier requests, and remaining competitive.

Successfully designing and supplying packaged products that incorporate the four principles of packaging sustainability—efficient, effective, cyclic, and safe—requires a co-orientated company-wide approach addressing several considerations.

Russia’s insular transportation industry is belatedly opening up to the outside world as the nation’s thirst for imported goods slots it into global supply chains.  

State-owned Russian Railways plans to bid for ports and rail assets being sold by cash-strapped Greece. The new CEO of Fesco, operator of the country’s largest ocean carrier, is a former McKinsey & Co. partner with degrees from universities in Texas and Missouri. Nefte Trans Service, a private rail freight operator, is expected to launch a $500 million initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange where several Russian rail and port operators are listed.