The postal system in Czech Republic is seeing significant route optimization in its daily parcel delivery operations, according to supply chain planning and optimization solution provider Quintiq.

Brick-and-mortar retailers are sweating online competition this holiday season, perhaps more than ever. But it's all upside to UPS. The shipping giant is cashing in both on internet shopping and old-school retailers trying to mimic Amazon.com - shipping inventory around the country in an incessant supply-chain shuffling.

It seems that all major U.S. retailers - whether they are traditional, brick-and-mortar operations or Web-based - are stepping up their same-day delivery services and fulfillment systems before this holiday season. The move not only helps them extend the holiday shopping season by a few days, but also caters to busy holiday shoppers who don't have time to grab groceries for holiday parties or family meals.

time:matters, a specialist in expedited logistics, has expanded its ic:kurier network for same-day shipments destined for points outside Germany, with the opening of a new international station in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

UPS has launched a monitoring and risk-management service for high-value and temperature-sensitive shipments.

Purolator International has introduced a new business-to-consumer (B2C) shipping service between the U.S. and Canada.

TNT Express has created a mobile depot in Brussels, Belgium.

UPS has created a UPS App for iPad. The tool allows users to track packages, find UPS shipping locations and access UPS My Choice, with enhanced mapping features.