E-commerce sales are growing 20 percent annually and are expected to reach $750 billion globally this year. This global shift toward e-commerce is changing how the retail and logistics industries operate.

Material handling equipment new orders grew 8.8 percent in 2013 and are forecasted to grow 8 to 9 percent for 2014 and 2015, according to the latest Material Handling Equipment Manufacturing Forecast (MHEM) released by MHI.

The U.S. Third Party Logistics market gross revenue grew 3.2 percent from 2012 to 2013, according to Armstrong & Associates, Inc. The research and consulting firm also estimates that growth will be 5.2 percent for 2014 bringing the U.S. market size to $154 billion.

MHI recently announced the speaker lineup for the 2014 MHI Executive Summit & Annual Conference. The content of this year’s event was developed to address innovations that are driving supply chains that were examined in the recently published MHI Annual Industry Report and U.S. Roadmap for Material Handling & Logistics. The event will be held from October 5-8, 2014 at the Rancho Bernardo Inn, San Diego, Calif.

Companies putting cash to work as competitive pressure grows M&A plans increase as companies look to cement leadership, add talent and strengthen technologies.

MHI Board of Governor Dave Lippert recently published a new book on reshoring titled Bringing Jobs Back to the USA: Rebuilding America’s Manufacturing Through Reshoring. The book, co-written with Tim Hutzel, exposes the true cost of offshoring to help American businesses make the right offshoring decisions.

MHI recently conducted a study to analyze investments in supply chain equipment and systems and detailed the findings in the recently released 2014 MHI Annual Industry Member Report. 

The report is available exclusively for MHI members and can be downloaded in the For Members section of MHI.org. Non-members can download an infographic on selected findings of the report.

For the first time in the history of Interbrand’s Best Global Green Brands report, there is a new No. 1 brand: Ford. Toyota, which had held the top spot since the report debuted in 2011, falls to No. 2 with Honda (No. 3), Nissan (No. 4) and Panasonic (No. 5) rounding out the top five.

The Rack Manufacturers Institute (RMI) celebrated its 50th anniversary back in 2008, but the organization has not been content to rest upon five decades of achievement.

RMI’s 22 members—the companies that produce most of industrial storage racks installed in the U.S.—continue to work hard to improve their industry through research, consensus building and education.

Educators and program directors from high schools, community/technical colleges, universities and other organizations from all over the country recently converged on Lake City, Fla., to attend the annual Train-the-Trainer Summer Camp sponsored by MHI’s Technical Career & Education Program (TCEP). 

Autonomous driving with long-distance trucks will be a reality in 10 years time, says Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz. They recently debuted a demonstration video of it’s Mercedes-Benz Future Truck 2025 showing the vehicle driving on it’s own on Germany’s autobahn.

Most investors consider sustainability issues, according to research from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC); 80 percent of investors have considered sustainability issues in the past year, usually for the purpose of mitigating risk. The study also showed that investors are dissatisfied with current sustainability reporting, with the primary concern being that the lack of common reporting standards.

Supply chain executives need to think about more than reducing costs and moving merchandise. In addition, they should focus on how the supply chain can help to enhance their brand.

Mexico boasts the fastest growing economy in North America and as an emerging market, has even outpaced the economic powerhouse that is Brazil. The country’s strong manufacturing growth has led to a growing middle class and opportunities for investors. 

Consumer demand for technology goods in emerging markets has increased dramatically in the last decade and will continue to ramp up, according to a new white paper titled "Path to Growth: Shaping Tech Sector Supply Chains in Emerging Markets."