Etched into the base of Google's new wireless home media player is its most intriguing feature. On the underside of the Nexus Q is a simple inscription: "Designed and Manufactured in the U.S.A."

New car prices have fallen from a year ago, primarily because the inventory shortage created by the Japanese earthquake has been entirely erased.

Mergers and acquisitions are common in the business world, but each move brings its own set of challenges. As a company buys key competitors or suppliers, it is often left with the task of consolidating very different warehouse management systems.

Pushing the limits of an aging infrastructure, U.S. manufacturers face a future of increasing costs and instability unless new technologies and new investments can rejuvenate the system.

Kuehne + Nagel, the global provider of logistics services, has entered into an academic partnership with the Department of Supply Chain Management and Marketing Science at Rutgers University.