Small-item fulfillment continues to grow, especially with e-commerce orders, but a lot of traditional sortation technology was never designed to handle smaller and lighter pieces, says John Park, product manager, Accu-Sort Systems.

South American carriers LAN Airlines and TAM have banded together, forming the LATAM Airlines Group, reportedly the largest airline group in South America. The combined LAN Cargo, which has three smaller affiliate carriers, and TAM Cargo will now be able to offer routings to 169 cities around the world.

The International Air Cargo Association has applauded the recent agreements forged by authorities around the world to mutually recognize other countries' airfreight screening regimes. But more nations should follow the lead of these trailblazing countries, TIACA says.

The board of directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States has approved two final commitments aggregating $171m in export financing for Aerovias de Mexico S.A. de C.V., or Aeroméxico, the country's largest airline. This transaction effectively triples Ex-Im support for Mexican aviation companies purchasing goods and services from U.S. companies.

The Consumer Goods Forum has created what it calls the first professional online network of the retail and consumer goods industry. The purpose is enable the group's mission to facilitate industry-wide collaboration and to enable members to work together by serving shoppers, consumers and communities better, faster, with greater value and more responsibly.

Temperature-controlled technology for airfreight logistics can be a valuable means of achieving sustainability. Douglas Wettergren, regional sales manager with Envirotainer, explains how.

Top-performing companies in the food, beverage and household products sectors that leverage the demand chain will be in the best position to continue to grow, according to the 2012 Financial Performance Report by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and PwC US, entitled Profitable Growth: Driving the Demand Chain.

Plans for a new distribution center near Philadelphia will allow Dollar General to more effectively replenish its rapidly expanding store base.

Top-level executives from more than a dozen major U.S. companies joined with government officials to launch a nationwide public-private sector initiative to advance employment of people with disabilities. The companies and officials plan to work together to achieve common goals, including to identify and resolve employment barriers facing people with disabilities, share experience and best practices, raise visibility around the effort and awareness of the significant benefits, and expand participation.

As supply management organizations strive to extend their influence throughout the company and impact the bottom line with ever fewer resources, some are turning to managed service providers (MSPs) to make the best use of their organizations' time and talents. MSPs, sometimes called consolidators, can be used for certain spend categories, such as energy or telecommunications, that traditionally have been difficult for mid-sized procurement organizations to manage effectively.