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DHL raises parcel prices for customers across the board

The carrier plans to bake surcharges into underlying price for parcel, as it restructures pricing for the new year. 

Beyond Meat acquires co-packer to tackle unit costs

The $14.5 million deal will provide the company opportunities to test new processes and more quickly scale up products, CEO Ethan Brown said.

Vendor negotiations cut IT spend without slashing company initiatives

"There's always negotiation leverage available to you, even with a very deeply-embedded vendor where maybe there's even no competitive swap out option," a Forrester analyst said.

What we know about Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine distribution plan

The pharmaceutical company plans to ship vials directly from manufacturing plant to point of vaccination in a supply chain model it described as flexible and just in time.

Ahold Delhaize tackles a $480M supply chain overhaul during a pandemic — and Thanksgiving

The grocery group is forging ahead with an insourcing transformation amid a busy time in a tumultuous year. What could go wrong?

Schneider Electric invests $40M in supply chain upgrades to prepare for post-pandemic demand

Schneider is introducing new capabilities and production lines that will allow it to work with fewer suppliers by finishing some of its own inputs — with added capacity to construct some components entirely in-house when necessary.

Walmart taps self-driving vehicle startup Cruise for autonomous deliveries

In addition to adding Cruise to its self-driving vehicle roster, Walmart has tested autonomous delivery vehicles from Nuro and autonomous middle-mile logistics with Gatik. 

PepsiCo pilots micro-fulfillment tech for e-commerce orders

The pilot facility outside Chicago will expedite the picking process while requiring less floor space than traditional picking, according to PepsiCo.

Column

Patent Pending: Target's plan to simulate supply chain flow

Supply chain innovators apply to patent what they see as important tools for the future. Sometimes they're brilliant. Sometimes they're funny.

EU levies tariffs on $4B in US goods following Boeing tax dispute

U.S. aircraft face a 15% tariff, and some industrial and agricultural products face a 25% tariff, including cheese, chocolate, spirits, cotton and tractors.

Inventory roller coaster expected to trend upward after August lows

Retail inventories have been on a wild ride through the course of the pandemic. They bulged when retailers shut their doors, fell when sales were higher than expected, and early signs show they're successfully rebuilding.

Opinion

Take a dynamic approach to supply chain, US government.

Federal lawmakers proposed a task force to fund a more "resilient" supply chain. But resiliency is not the answer for the future, the author writes.

Airfreight rates climb as peak nears

Rates between China/Hong Kong and the United States increased by nearly 46% between Oct. 12 and Nov. 9 to reach $7.40 per kilogram, which is more than double the rate during the same time last year.

Delays, surcharges and returns: Holiday shipping headaches have just begun

In a season expected to produce more than $190 billion from online sales alone, retailers are pulling out all the stops to keep up with demand.

Deep Dive

So you want to reduce your supply chain emissions

Walmart’s journey to a robust scope 3 emissions program reveals a shift in the way sustainability advocates see the supply chain and the urgency with which companies need to address it.

XPO: Early peak boosts last mile, supply chain outsourcing

Revenue for the 3PL's logistics business grew 5% YoY, which it credited to e-commerce growth and omnichannel fulfillment.

Supply chain agility entered the spotlight when the pandemic made forecasting futile

Supply and demand swings shifted flexibility and visibility from nice-to-have capabilities to must-haves.

Uber scales up grocery delivery operations to compete with Instacart, Shipt

Uber's foray into the competitive grocery delivery space earlier this year is emerging as a pillar of the company's ongoing effort to evolve from its ride-hailing roots into a multifaceted logistics organization.

Ball fragments aluminum can supply to meet North American demand

While new manufacturing capacity is in the works, Ball Corporation will focus on using data to fine-tune existing operations and squeeze every can possible out of its supply chain. 

Sealed Air, packaging suppliers shift to serve e-commerce 'mega trend'

Businesses said they've seen increased e-commerce traffic as a result of the pandemic, and they expect some of that volume to stick.

Column

Virtual procurement is here to stay. And that's not a bad thing.

Most of our vendor relationships have always been remote, and the use of virtual tools creates deeper relationships that improve the negotiation process.

Coupa buys Llamasoft in $1.5B deal

The deal puts procurement and supply chain technology under one umbrella at a time when businesses are prioritizing a close alignment of supply with demand.

Inside Chewy's first automated fulfillment center

Priorities around worker safety, cost structure and warehouse efficiency guided how the pet e-tailer built its tech stack in Archbald, Pennsylvania.

Deep Dive

Biden and Trump envision similar supply chains — but different paths to get there

Both presidential candidates promote investment in domestic manufacturing and supply chains, but they diverge on how to handle global trade relations.

Deep Dive

Meat processors expedite robotics plans as pandemic ups pressure

The future of meat manufacturing could include 3D scanners and automated cutting. Tyson, Smithfield, Cargill and JBS are looking to increase automation.