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1 week ago | 
thescxchange.com | Ben Ames |Victoria Fraza Kickham |Diane Rand
Retail sales grew in March after two straight months of declines, as consumers stocked up on goods before Trump Administration tariffs hit, according to the "March 2025 Retail Monitor Report," a monthly measure of retail sales created by CNBC and the National Retail Federation (NRF).
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1 week ago | 
thescxchange.com | Ben Ames |Victoria Fraza Kickham |Diane Rand
Prolonged tariffs on all auto imports into the U.S. along with tariffs on steel and aluminum will have a multi-billion-dollar negative impact on the earnings of North American automakers and suppliers, according to a report from S&P Global Ratings.
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1 week ago | 
thescxchange.com | Ben Ames |Victoria Fraza Kickham |Diane Rand
Triggered by tariff volatility, global smartphone shipments surged beyond consumer demand in the first quarter of 2025, increasing 1.5% year-over-year (YoY) to 304.9 million units, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report. That jump occurred as manufacturers ramped up production in anticipation of the expected announcement by the U.S. Administration on tariffs on China imports.
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1 week ago | 
dcvelocity.com | Victoria Fraza Kickham
Demand for autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) remains strong but has slowed a bit this year amid economic uncertainty and volatility in global trade policies. But despite the headwinds, the long-term outlook remains solid, driven in part by demand for robotic sortation solutions that are being used to speed operations and streamline workflows in warehouses and distribution centers (DCs) around the world. Recent market research highlights the trend.
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2 weeks ago | 
thescxchange.com | Victoria Fraza Kickham |Ben Ames
North American manufacturers reported a sharp pullback in activity in March due to tariffs, according to a monthly analysis from supply chain software firm GEP.
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2 weeks ago | 
thescxchange.com | Victoria Fraza Kickham |Diane Rand
The U.S. economy could be headed for a downturn as the supply chain starts to contract amid tariff policies and rising uncertainty, according to researchers at Florida Atlantic University and four other schools.
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3 weeks ago | 
dcvelocity.com | Victoria Fraza Kickham
Economic activity in the logistics industry expanded in March, but at a slower rate compared to the first two months of the year, according to the latest Logistics Mangers’ Index report (LMI), released this week. The LMI registered 57.1 in March, down nearly 6 points from February’s reading and down 5 points from January—both of which represented the fastest rates of growth in the overall index since June 2022.
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1 month ago | 
dcvelocity.com | Victoria Fraza Kickham |Ben Ames |Gary Frantz
Business leaders are prioritizing supply chain resilience amid volatility and rising customer demands, according to a report from supply chain software company Cleo, released today.
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1 month ago | 
dcvelocity.com | Victoria Fraza Kickham |Ben Ames |Gary Frantz
When it comes to warehouse projects, traditional storage racking can take a backseat to the more complex material handling equipment required to run a facility—especially at a time when robotics and automation seem to get all the headlines. But experts caution that managers should be careful not to overlook this warehouse staple, even in an increasingly automated environment.
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1 month ago | 
dcvelocity.com | Victoria Fraza Kickham
Leaders at Swiss athletic apparel company On say they take innovation to heart—whether designing their latest running shoes or executing a logistics strategy. A recent pilot project with autonomous inventory drone firm Verity and container shipping and logistics services giant A.P. Møller-Maersk is helping to bolster that claim. The project combines the best of two technologies: AI (artificial intelligence)-powered autonomous drones and RFID (radio-frequency identification) capabilities.
