Jacqueline Emigh

Beyond its more publicized impacts on shareholders and consumers, the astonishing merger of Kmart and Sears cant help but spawn bewilderment among product suppliers and IT vendors. That initial period of confusion is bound to last for a while—up to a couple of years, some say. After that? A lot will hinge on whether the […]

Snapping back from a string of financial and legal woes, supply chain player i2 Technologies is now working on product enhancements with longtime users such as Daimler-Chrysler, while adding new customer wins such as Bed Bath & Beyond, often through integrator partners. i2 plans to add 100 to 200 new features in the next edition […]

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 […]