It's enough to scare the daylights out of retailers: $1.75tr in lost revenue due to overstocks, out-of-stocks and preventable returns. Welcome to "The Ghost Economy."

Epicor Software Corp., a vendor of software for manufacturing, distribution, retail and services organizations, has developed a new version of its Epicor Eagle application for the automotive aftermarket.

Toyota Industrial Equipment has joined with Sprint to launch T-Matics Mobile, a vehicle-management system for controlling forklifts within and between distribution facilities.

Describing radio frequency identification labels as a "learning tool," Peltz Shoes has stopped using the technology, primarily because of high costs related to the passive tags, and changed to a barcode system.

What is this thing called supply-chain alignment?

BJC HealthCare joins with Cardinal Health and Cook Medical in a three-way pilot to apply RFID tags to items at the supplier stage. Will their success goad a technologically backward industry to follow suit, and eliminate billions of dollars of waste from the supply chain?

The science of robotics is impacting logistics and supply-chain management in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago. Zala Pogorelcnik, vice president of business development with Infinium Robotics, discusses the present and future of the technology.