Meghan Hall

1 week ago | sourcingjournal.com | Meghan Hall

Some of the biggest players in logistics are bullish on robots—especially those that are integrated with artificial intelligence systems. Earlier this month, Amazon cut the ribbon on an AI-enabled, first-mile logistics facility in Charlton, Mass., that employs hundreds of robots alongside more than 1,000 humans. Amazon broke ground on the facility, which opened in November but was formally recognized this month, in March 2022.

1 week ago | sourcingjournal.com | Meghan Hall

Supply chain management company Blue Yonder announced Wednesday that, via its subsidiary Doddle, it has acquired Inmar Post-Purchase Solutions (IPPS). Doddle, which Blue Yonder acquired in October 2023, already owned 49 percent of IPPS, which was previously a reverse logistics-focused joint venture between Blue Yonder and Inmar. This transaction sees the company purchasing the remaining 51 percent of IPPS. Blue Yonder did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

1 week ago | sourcingjournal.com | Meghan Hall

Digital doubles of real-life models have come onto the scene—and though they’re a newer example of the myriad ways generative AI systems can be leveraged for e-commerce and retail, they’re already making a splash. H&M conjured mixed feelings from the industry when it announced earlier this year that it had created digital twins of real-life models to be used for product imagery.

1 week ago | sourcingjournal.com | Meghan Hall

Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, told employees in a Tuesday memo that he expects the company “will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.” “As we roll out more generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done. We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,” Jassy wrote in the memo.

1 week ago | sourcingjournal.com | Meghan Hall

New York State wants companies to disclose technology’s impact on job loss. During her State of the State Address in January, Governor Kathy Hochul proposed that employers should be required to indicate whether artificial intelligence and emerging technologies were part of the reason for mass layoffs or facility closures when filing paperwork in line with the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.