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will Smiley hit the gas?

According to a Sept. 17 e-mail communiqué from the T. Boone Pickens organization, Wal-Mart Stores CEO H. Lee Scott has commissioned a study to determine the feasibility of converting the retailer's 8,500 trucks from diesel to natural gas.

T. Boone Pickens may have gotten the biggest boost yet for his plan to meet 20 percent of the nation's electricity needs with wind power and use the natural gas saved in the process for transportation fuel. According to a Sept. 17 e-mail communiqué from the Pickens organization, Wal-Mart Stores CEO H. Lee Scott has commissioned a study to determine the feasibility of converting the retailer's 8,500 trucks from diesel to natural gas.

In the e-mail, the Pickens group confirmed that the oilman and alternative-energy entrepreneur had met with Scott and other Wal-Mart executives earlier in the month to outline details of his plan. Following the presentation, Scott ordered a study to explore the requirements and potential costs of converting Wal-Mart's dieselpowered fleet to compressed natural gas.


Wal-Mart executives did not return phone calls seeking comment.

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Prologis names company president Letter to become new CEO

Logistics real estate developer Prologis today named a new chief executive, saying the company’s current president, Dan Letter, will succeed CEO and co-founder Hamid Moghadam when he steps down in about a year.

After retiring on January 1, 2026, Moghadam will continue as San Francisco-based Prologis’ executive chairman, providing strategic guidance. According to the company, Moghadam co-founded Prologis’ predecessor, AMB Property Corporation, in 1983. Under his leadership, the company grew from a startup to a global leader, with a successful IPO in 1997 and its merger with ProLogis in 2011.

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AI sensors on manufacturing machine

AI firm Augury banks $75 million in fresh VC

The New York-based industrial artificial intelligence (AI) provider Augury has raised $75 million for its process optimization tools for manufacturers, in a deal that values the company at more than $1 billion, the firm said today.

According to Augury, its goal is deliver a new generation of AI solutions that provide the accuracy and reliability manufacturers need to make AI a trusted partner in every phase of the manufacturing process.

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AMR robots in a warehouse

Indian AMR firm Anscer expands to U.S. with new VC funding

The Indian warehouse robotics provider Anscer has landed new funding and is expanding into the U.S. with a new regional headquarters in Austin, Texas.

Bangalore-based Anscer had recently announced new financial backing from early-stage focused venture capital firm InfoEdge Ventures.

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Report: 65% of consumers made holiday returns this year

Report: 65% of consumers made holiday returns this year

Supply chains continue to deal with a growing volume of returns following the holiday peak season, and 2024 was no exception. Recent survey data from product information management technology company Akeneo showed that 65% of shoppers made holiday returns this year, with most reporting that their experience played a large role in their reason for doing so.

The survey—which included information from more than 1,000 U.S. consumers gathered in January—provides insight into the main reasons consumers return products, generational differences in return and online shopping behaviors, and the steadily growing influence that sustainability has on consumers.

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Automation delivers results for high-end designer

When you get the chance to automate your distribution center, take it.

That's exactly what leaders at interior design house Thibaut Design did when they relocated operations from two New Jersey distribution centers (DCs) into a single facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2019. Moving to an "empty shell of a building," as Thibaut's Michael Fechter describes it, was the perfect time to switch from a manual picking system to an automated one—in this case, one that would be driven by voice-directed technology.

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