On February 1, 2013, the United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), announced new guidelines governing the importation of meat and meat products. According to the bulletin, "the guide articulates which products and FSIS sampling and testing programs are subject to this policy." The program known as "test and hold" has a major impact upon product being exported to the United States and upon the importers of record for these transactions.

The Association for Advancing Automation, the umbrella trade group for the Robotic Industries Association, AIA - Advancing Vision + Imaging, and the Motion Control Association, has launched a new web site, www.A3automate.org.

In marketing, emphasis is often placed on the initial efforts to get a customer interested in a product or service. This is a natural part of the sales cycle, of course, but it tends to overshadow the very important aspect of repeat business and the contribution it makes to overall success.