Operations Summit 2017 Call for Speakers Open

| Mike O'Brien

Are you an industry professional with a great merchant story to tell that will educate and inform your peers? Come share your insights at Operations Summit 2017, March 27-29 in in Pittsburgh – the only conference exclusively about direct-to-customer and omnichannel operations. Send us your proposed session topic and speakers by Sept. 30 for consideration.

The 3 Key Principles of a Seamless Supply Chain

| Salim Shaikh

Forward-thinking retailers are tasked with delivering a unified omnichannel experience that accommodates customers’ rapidly changing preferences while also meeting investors’ constant expectations. To do this they need to embrace the 3 tenets of a seamless retail supply chain. Learn what they are and how you can apply them.

UPS, UPS ground, UPS air

Drones, Robotics, 3D Printing Part of Major Technology Focus at UPS

| Mike O'Brien

UPS executives said they will continue to place a $1 billion bet on new technology each year, including major investments in facility automation, robotics and even drones to conduct tasks such as aircraft inspections and inventory counts. See what else the company disclosed about its strategy and operations during media day at its Atlanta headquarters.

3 Ways to Innovate in Operations and Fulfillment and Deliver ROI

| Curt Barry

As fast as ecommerce and omnichannel is changing, is your company using its resources – time, money and talent – to continue to move ahead? Ecommerce, marketing and merchandising have research projects. Are you innovating in operations and fulfillment fast enough to lower costs and improve customer service? Here are three examples of innovation projects you can implement in your organization.

Walmart, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Wal-Mart Stores, ecommerce, retail, retail supply chain, supply chain costs

Walmart Testing Drones for DC Inventory Management

| Mike O'Brien

Walmart has begun testing drones in its distribution centers for scanning inventory, completing in an hour what it would take two associates a month to do. This seems a more practical and easier to achieve use of the technology than home delivery, and will aid the company in its ecommerce fulfillment battle with Amazon.

Amazon Doesn’t Need to Own Ecommerce Delivery

| Mike O'Brien

Amazon doesn’t need to take over the last mile of ecommerce delivery, but it does need to reduce its massive shipping cost burden in order to maintain its recent run of profitability, which is the logic behind its recent logistics moves.