Savvy shippers are introducing automated intralogistics to deliver an enhanced customer experience to gain competitive advantage. They’re also streamlining their business and making warehouse operations as profitable as possible. A multi-agent orchestration platform that is device and technology agnostic switches things up, bringing more uniformity to your fulfillment operations.
Amazon posted a blowout Q2, with net sales up 11%, profit doubled from 2022, analysts cheering and an upgraded fulfillment plan refocused on same-day delivery. But Amazon still needs to find ways to improve a grocery business that is getting failing marks from industry observers. AWS growth continues to slow, and management said GenAI won’t contribute meaningfully in the near term.
Ecommerce fulfillment software firm Flowspace is using generative AI and machine learning technology to streamline transportation and freight management processes, automate workflows and increase the visibility into the status of inbound and outbound shipments. FlowspaceAI for Freight uses GenAI and machine learning to read and interpret emails and determine the status of each shipment.
There are fewer mega warehouses of 1 million square-feet-plus going up, tracking with reduced demand in retail and ecommerce and the challenged economy, according to CBRE, while smaller facilities in strategic locations near population centers are in short supply. Ecommerce companies accounted for seven of the top 100 deals from January through June, down 50% from 14 in 2022.
UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters reached a five-year contract settlement today, averting a costly strike of 340,000 members that would have begun a week from today and giving part-time workers the pay increases their leadership had pushed for over the past few weeks, while handing newly energized organized labor a major victory. Starting part-time pay will be $21 per hour.
Major 3PL Geodis has integrated Happy Returns into its Geodis eLogistics fulfillment division, enabling retail and ecommerce clients to extend the service to their end customers, providing another option for returning unwanted items and helping retailers track and manage the flow of returned goods. Retailers can initiate immediate refunds and the service offers box-free, label-free returns.
UPS has begun training nonunion workers among the manager ranks to step in as drivers and package handlers, should a contract settlement with the Teamsters fail to materialize before the July 31 deadline, a move that has angered the union as talks remain stalled with about two weeks remaining. The union president also said they don’t want or need the White House to mediate in the talks.
The U.S. Postal Service this week launched a new service called Ground Advantage that seeks to win back some of the parcel volume lost to FedEx and UPS when the major carriers insourced much of what they once handed to USPS Parcel Select Ground, which is being folded into the new offering.
MyFBAPrep, one of several companies brokering warehouse space and fulfillment services between shippers and 3PLs, has expanded its network from 15 million to 85 million square feet in the past four years to meet demand, increasing coverage in the UK, Germany, Canada and Mexico as well as the U.S. Expansion to Australia is on the company’s roadmap as well.
A Department of Transportation program that aggregates forward-looking supply chain data from various stakeholders to help identify volume and capacity issues, including shippers, carriers, chassis and drayage and port operators, will begin providing insights to participants this summer. The FLOW program uses booking information 60-90 days out, helping improve planning and forecasting.