Jacqueline Emigh

As competition grows hotter in package delivery, Federal Express Ground, a division of FedEx Corp., is cooking up some new technologies. The delivery people who drop by your door are swapping out their old handheld scanners for new Bluetooth-capable PocketPC models. Meanwhile, the Ground division is adding more CCD scanning, while mulling a possible expansion […]

These days, its a rare company that isnt worried about how to get its products delivered on time. According to a new study, business are finding it harder and harder to meet on-time delivery promises to customers because of obstacles ranging from truck-driver shortages to soaring fuel prices. But businesses stand a much better chance […]

European-based retailer the Metro Group has beaten U.S. giant Wal-Mart out of the RFID starting gates. Collaborating with IBM and other IT vendors, the Metro Group this month became the first retailer in the world to bring RFID out of trial mode and into commercial deployment. Metro also runs an RFID-enabled “Future Store,” but its […]

Toothpaste. Up until recently, it took a hodgepodge of faxes, phone calls, e-mails and EDI to figure out the simple substances product pricing, specifications, availability and shipping addresses. The same has been true throughout the worlds of retail and consumer package goods. Some observers believe that untangling this communications bedlam was a major trigger behind […]

With fears of terrorism still in the air, vendors at this weeks International Security Conference touted new surveillance technologies being used in transportation and logistics to pinpoint suspicious packages, peer inside transport vehicles and positively identify people even through darkness and fog. SerVisions new IVG-400 PDA-enabled wireless surveillance product is already being piloted in Mexico […]

When IBM launched its $250 million Sensor and Actuation Solutions division in September, RFID was only one thought in mind, said Robert Mayberry, who heads up the new division as vice president. Actually, the S&A division started out at IBM as an incubated emerging business opportunity, in the same tradition as other technologies—such as Linux […]

High-tech vendors and retailers are at the top of the list when it comes to the progressiveness of their supply-chain initiatives, while the forestry and mining industries are near the bottom. Across all industries, big needs remain for aligning supply-chain technology with business strategy, as well as for collaborating with supply-chain partners, according to the […]

Some high tech firms and other exporters voiced concerns this week over a proposed set of changes to U.S. export rules, fretting that some of the new regulations might backfire on U.S. businesses by prohibiting trade with European supply chain partners, or by spawning delays in international product shipments. The Commerce Departments Bureau of Industry […]

Just like suppliers of other products, todays big IT vendors are figuring out how to cope with metallic environments, wireless interference and other challenges that can crop up in meeting customers RFID (radio frequency identification) mandates. Sun Microsystems Inc., for example, is contemplating a new RFID pilot—possibly with one of its own suppliers—around its work […]

As part of an anticipated string of RFID pacts, Sun Microsystems has begun working with SeeBeyond on an RFID middleware solution targeted at the retail market—an industry long a strong suit for Sun archrival IBM. The upcoming retail solution is one of several RFID (radio frequency identification) reference architectures that Sun is eyeing for vertical […]

Hot on the heels of a deal with RailAmerica Inc. rolled out this week, TMS (transportation management system) specialist Railinc expects next week to unveil about 20 more railway customers for its Web-based RailSync Command system. Under this weeks deal, RailAmerica will implement RailSync Command at all of the 46 regional and short-line railroads it […]

Hewlett-Packard, Dell and IBM are well-known for working on technical standards, but on Thursday the three vendors issued a collaboratively developed document meant to set standards in the nontechnical area of social responsibility. Their new Electronics Industry Code of Conduct applies to all suppliers in the global supply chain, whether these suppliers sell electronics components […]