Software & Technology: Page 309

New Inroads in Sustainable Transportation

Alternative fuels make headway despite stable diesel prices, bringing more options.

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Keep the Lid on Warehouse Energy Costs

Enhancements bring more choices in managing one of the hardest-to-manage expenses

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Risk/Compliance

Technology’s Downside: Cyber Crime

All businesses are at risk, but hackers sometimes target supply chains.

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Survey: Manufacturers Boost Investment in Automation

The survey reveals that the two most common criteria used by U.S. manufacturers for evaluating the performance of new automation technologies are whether they lower total production costs and whether they improve product quality.

Among the top drivers of automation investment by U.S. manufacturing companies are the use by competitors, use by customers, and use by suppliers.

E-Commerce Solutions

FAA Releases Drone Regulation; Amazon and Google to Deploy Drones Next Year

The use of drones for deliveries from companies like Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc., however, will require separate regulation.

Under the new rules, drone flights will be approved for agriculture, research and development, educational and academic use, and powerline, pipeline and antenna inspections. They will also be approved for aiding rescue operations, bridge inspections, aerial photography and wildlife nesting area evaluations.

Software & Technology

Walmart Sells Chinese E-Grocery Business to Rival JD.Com for 5% Stake

Wal-Mart's tie-up gives it access to JD.com's nationwide logistics and warehousing networks, as well as its over 150 million users, helping expand the U.S. firm's reach with China's increasingly tech-savvy middle class.

The sell-off, announced on Monday, is a significant shift for Wal-Mart in China, where it operates more than 400 brick-and-mortar stores.

KION Group to Acquire Dematic for $2.1 Billion

Dematic Corporation

KION GROUP will become one of the leading global providers of intelligent intralogistics solutions by acquiring Dematic

After deductions for certain liabilities, the KION Group expects the purchase price for the shares to amount to approximately $2.1 billion USD, based on an enterprise value of Dematic of $3.25 billion.

Cold Chain RFID Market To Expand 29.1% Annually Through 2022

The growing demand for real-time temperature monitoring in cold chain logistics is expected to boost the growth of the global cold chain RFID market during the forecast period.

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Software Solutions

Food Delivery Apps Battle For Survival In Growing But Saturated Market

The takeout business is about $70 billion annually in the United States, according to analysts at Citi. But only about four percent of that spending went through an app or website in 2014, the most recent year for which data is available.

Investors put about $5.4 billion into food and grocery delivery startups around the world in 2015, according to research firm CB Insights. That’s more money than poured into digital health care companies by about a billion dollars, and more than double what software-as-a-service companies collected.

DHL Plans To Expand Robots In Warehouse Following Successful Test

Seeing as the pickers are only human, DHL and the French robotics company Effidence are looking for a better way — for both efficiency and the employees.

EFFiBot sits on four heavy-duty all-terrain wheels, its body is mainly an open wagon-like bay that holds upwards of 650 pounds. Sensors on the front help EFFiBot follow the picker throughout the warehouse as he or she finds packages on the shelves and places them on the robot to carry.

Walmart Tests Drones In Distribution And Fulfillment Centers

The drone is fully automated, but was manually controlled during the demonstration as it flew up and down warehouse shelves, captured images and determined whether products were in the right place in the distribution center.

Checking inventory is done by workers who have to use lifts and are harnessed in for safety as they scan products throughout the warehouse. The switch to drones could cut the time it takes to check the inventory throughout a facility that spans roughly 1.2 million square feet, or the equivalent of 26 football fields, from one month to one day.

Grocery Delivery Startups Lead Food Industry in Raising Capital

Grocery delivery companies globally raised $429 million so far this year, according to data from CB Insights. Meal delivery companies raised $352 million during the same period.

The growing fleet of motorbike couriers on Chinese roads is the latest challenge to long-established but struggling Western companies such as McDonald’s Corp. and Yum Brands Inc., which owns KFC and Pizza Hut outlets.

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