The benefits of effective Sales & Operations Planning are compelling — lower operating costs, reduced inventory requirements, and top-line growth. The top-performing S&OP companies are realizing these benefits and in the process gaining competitive advantage. This article details the traits of the top performers and gives a practical approach to help others enhance their own S&OP performance level.

The North American logistics and distribution property market is improving following the recent economic downturn, said analysts for the London-based think tank, Transport Intelligence

Dematic introduced extended picking functionality of its goods-to-person order fulfillment solution for piece picking, or RapidPick.

Slight signs of economic stability appeared to take hold on the global trade front from October to November, according to data from Panjiva

Slight signs of economic stability appeared to take hold on the global trade front from October to November, according to data from Panjiva.

Following an early October prediction of 2011 holiday sales rising 2.8 percent to $465.6 billion, the NRF is now calling for 2011 to be up 3.8 percent to $469.1 billion. Holiday sales—as defined by the NRF—are sales in the months of November and December.

Shifts in inventory management by retailers appear to have made an impact on import cargo volumes at major United States-based container ports, according to the monthly Port Tracker report by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

With the economy showing some slight signs of growth, the Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index (PCI) was up for the second straight month in November, with a 0.1 percent gain on the heels of October’s 1.1 percent rise.

Manufacturing is indeed making a significant contribution to overall GDP growth and perhaps leading the way.

While the economy is still not in a full-fledged recovery, the situation may not be as dire as it was a month ago, according to the most recent edition of the Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index.