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Ryder System Inc. Target of Takeover Bid by Private Equity Firm

| Mike O'Brien

Ryder System Inc. has become the target of a takeover bid by Miami-based private equity firm HG Vora Capital Management, at a proposed price of $86 per share, a 28.4% premium to its 30-day average, according to an SEC filing. Ryder, whose stock surged in response, has itself has been acquiring 3PL assets and investing in technology.

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The Real Supply Chain New Normal

| JP Wiggins

There’s just no going back to the “before” supply chain. Future generations will likely forget the lessons of the early 2020’s and make the same mistakes, but for now we’ll contend with the “new normal.” This dynamic state of affairs is going be with us for the foreseeable future. Here are 5 trends to look out for as we move forward.

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Shopify Acquires Deliverr for $2.1 Billion

| Mike O'Brien

Shopify is acquiring asset-light last-mile startup Deliverr for $2.1B, further building out its fulfillment infrastructure and giving it a counter-move to Amazon’s new Buy With Prime that extends the Prime experience to other retailers. But the question is, will it be enough to enable Shopify to gain ground on its much larger competitor?

Automation-as-a-Service: Flexing to Meet Ecommerce Fulfillment Demands

| MCM Staff

It’s increasingly difficult to keep your workforce staffed up. Automation is often the answer, but what if you could swap in solutions as needed? In this webinar, experts at Kenco Logistics talk about the power of the “as-a-service model,” and how an automation innovation lab environment is a triple win for tech provider, 3PL and retailer.

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Smith Out, Subramaniam In As Head of FedEx

| Mike O'Brien

Fred Smith, who started what became FedEx in the early 1970s and built it into a global shipping and logistics powerhouse, is stepping down as CEO, to be replaced by president and COO Raj Subramaniam, with Smith staying on as executive chairman. Industry observers expect a status quo transition, but wonder if that’s good enough.

MCM CommerceChat podcast

Supply Chain Crisis: Applying Long-Term Thinking

| Mike O'Brien

Abe Eshkenazi, CEO of the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM), said organizations need to take more of a long-term, systemic view vs. short-term fixes in response to a crisis. In this MCM podcast, Eshkenazi stresses the need for better visibility to read demand signals, and consideration of upstream/downstream effects. of efforts in any one node.

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Microsoft, FedEx Expand Partnership

| Mike O'Brien

FedEx and Microsoft are expanding their partnership to offer “logistics as a service” to retailers and brands, including using the latter’s Dynamics 365 order management system to glean data insights from the 17 million packages passing through the FedEx network each day.

truck driver open road

The Supply Chain Crisis from the Driver’s Seat

| Mike Glodziak

Frontline workers have been the focus for the past two years. This term conjures up a variety of images, and until now truck drivers were probably not one of the first that came to mind. Drivers have been overlooked and overworked and in high demand throughout this pandemic – among the unsung heroes now getting their due.  

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Ryder Acquires Whiplash, Expands Network

| Mike O'Brien

Ryder System Inc. has significantly expanded its fulfillment network and added automation capabilities through the acquisition of 3PL Whiplash for $480 million, giving it warehouse assets in key markets and ports including Long Beach, CA, Seattle/Tacoma, New York/New Jersey and Savannah, GA.

inventory management man

Inventory Management Gets Trickier As Forces Collide

| Mike O'Brien

Given massive, lingering supply chain roadblocks, carrier capacity limits and labor shortages, inventory management has gotten trickier for retailers, especially as the critical Q4 approaches. This special report from Multichannel Merchant looks at ways retailers are rethinking their inventory approach to buffer against shocks.