Artificial Intelligence

By Adam Stern, [email protected]
 

WALTHAM, Mass. — Profitect, a provider of retail software, has appointed Mike Mitchell as its new director of global professional services.

Mitchell will lead the company’s project management and business consulting efforts. Prior to joining Profitect, Mitchell served as VP of customer service for Agilence, Inc., overseeing all product implementation, support and professional auditing services.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Staples plans to triple the size of its e-commerce and IT staff by 2014, and has unveiled a new Velocity Lab at Kendall Square in Cambridge, Mass., to kick off its accelerated online growth initiative.

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Retail and distribution optimization company Aldata said Tuesday it has merged with customer engagement specialist EYC.

Both companies are part of the Symphony Technology Group, and the merger will create a new company, Symphony EYC.

The merger is intended to combine EYC’s customer engagement analytics with Aldata’s retail and distribution optimization execution capabilities, linking customer insights and engagement strategies into retail assortment, merchandising and supply chain execution.

Fort Mill, S.C. — Honeywell has introduced a next generation scanner said to offer retailers improved label reading properties and increase checkstand throughput.

Anxiety over Amazon.com is at an all time high this holiday season and a top executive at Nordstrom shared insights recently on competing successfully.

Jeremy Cage was named CEO of the global LED lighting firm Lighting Science Group.

Cage, 48, was selected to lead the company based on his experience in building major brands, his success in developing commercially-appealing technologies and bringing them to market, as well as his distinguished track record of strengthening business models and improving operational efficiencies, according to a statement by Lighting Science Group.

Cage replaces Brad Knight, who served as interim CEO while the board worked with an executive search firm. Knight will continue to serve as COO.

NEW YORK — Norman Woodland, co-inventor of the bar code which transformed global commerce in the 1970s, passed away Saturday at the age of 91 from complications related to Alzheimer’s, according to a Reuters report.

The advent of the bar code reshaped retail decision-making and supply chains and its impact continues to be felt today. Five billion products are scanned optically using the bar code every day, according to GS1 US, the American arm of the global UPC standards body.