Warehouse

Washington, D.C. – More than 160 national, state and local trade associations and organizations, representing the interests of the global supply chain and local communities, wrote to President Barack Obama Dec. 23 to urge the administration’s immediate involvement in the ongoing contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Pacific Maritime Association. The ILWU and PMA have been negotiating a new labor contract, which covers dockworkers at the 29 West Coast U.S. ports.  

Las Vegas – Marshall Retail Group (MRG), an independent specialty retailer in the casino resort marketplace, is betting that D.L. Neu will help bolster its order fulfillment processes. MRG has  awarded a contract to D.L. Neu to provide an order fulfillment system featuring a newly engineered “Shuffle Sorter” which automatically routes inbound put-to-light totes to the appropriate lanes.   

Atlanta - The Home Depot has reached an agreement to purchase HD Supply Hardware Solutions, formerly known as Crown Bolt, a wholesale hardware supplier. The transaction is expected to close by the end of fiscal year 2014 subject to obtaining customary regulatory approvals.

The Home Depot is HD Supply’s largest customer and accounts for about 98% of its annual sales. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Seattle  - Santa may have his elves, but Amazon.com has something better to help send holiday gifts on their way: a robot army. The online giant has deployed more than 15,000  robots in 10 next-generation fulfillment centers it has opened across the United States.  

Seattle – The robots are coming to Amazon.com. According to the Associated Press, the online giant has deployed more than 15,000 wheeled robots in its distribution centers. The robots help bring items off shelves and out of bins to human employees for faster picking and packing.

Lost in the crush of holiday related news this week was a supply chain visibility related announcement involving Walmart and an obscure company called I.D. Systems, Inc.

Walmart uses I.D. System’s trailer and tracking management services branded as VeriWise to manage a range of logistics assets. The new development this week involved a three year contract extension whereby Walmart will continue using I.D. System’s services.

True Value’s boss went undercover, and the cameras were rolling. True Value Company president and CEO John Hartmann will appear in the season six premiere of "Undercover Boss" airing on Dec. 14 on CBS.