Innovation is critical to the success of retailers at a time when consumers may well be buying less, according to the top executive of Levi Strauss & Co., addressing the Retail Industry Leaders Association’s supply chain forum Tuesday [Feb. 25] in Grapevine, Texas.

Delivering productivity gains averaging 70 percent, robots are increasingly being deployed to pick items for shipment from warehouses, according to a DHL Supply Chain design team executive exhibiting at this week’s Retail Industry Leaders Association conference.

Logistics decision-makers must be open to radical new solutions, according to a futurist opening the Retail Industry Leaders Association’s big annual supply chain gathering today [Monday, Feb. 24] in Grapevine, Texas.

Canada will support a ban on the use of heavy fuel oil by ships plying Arctic waters at the upcoming meeting of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London, Transport Canada officials announced during a teleconference call Wednesday, according to people who participated in the call.

All markets and industries are exposed to corruption risk, but some sectors are at greater risk than others. Due to the nature of the business, companies that require licenses or concessions from government institutions are more exposed to bribery and corruption risk.

Disruption in logistics has continued at a rapid pace in the last five years. Supply chain leaders still have trouble understanding which technologies are worthwhile to implement. They may find that blockchain is a solution that serves as the cornerstone in making future disruption work for their supply chain.

In an unusual display of unity, Willie Adams, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Jim McKenna, president of the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) pledged to work together to help U.S. West Coast ports regain lost market share from rival ports on the East and Gulf Coasts.

There is a growing threat of disruptions to U.S. imports and exports as the spread of the Coronavirus moves from the Wuhan epicenter to other parts of China, a University of Minnesota supply chain expert warned.

Wan says the Port of Oakland is making long-term plans for the future.

Leaders of Port Tampa Bay and the hemispherewide American Association of Port Authorities gushed with enthusiasm today [Jan. 29] in opening the AAPA’s 13th annual Shifting Trade Conference in Tampa, Florida.