Mercedes-Benz has been saying for some time now the fuel cell vehicles are coming, and while eyes are on that potential a few years hence, the company is actually investing heavily now in fuel cells for more ordinary purposes in its own logistics operations.

Export manufacturing has recently become the unsung hero of the U.S. economy. Despite all the public focus on the U.S. trade deficit, little attention has been paid to the fact that the country's exports have been growing more than seven times faster than GDP since 2005. As a share of the U.S. economy, in fact, exports are at their highest point in 50 years.

The global market for warehouse management systems grew by 8 percent in 2012. Growth was broad-based, occurring in both well-established and emerging market segments. The WMS replacement cycle is responsible for much of the recent growth in the mature segments. As this dynamic diminishes, more enduring factors will propel future market growth. These factors include expanded adoption of WMS add-on modules, additional upgrades due to the benefits delivered by supply chain execution platforms, and increased demand driven by the omni-channel retail paradigm.

Walmart's second quarter sales climbed 2.1 percent to $68.7bn, driven by omnichannel investments in ecommerce logistics, updated mobile applications, expanded online inventory, products available for pick-up in store and rolling out fulfillment capabilities to an increasing number of supercenters.