Aldata, a provider of business software for retailers, manufacturers and distributors, has created the 2012 version of Aldata Category Optimization.

Family Dollar Stores Inc. has entered into a strategic partnership with McLane, a major provider of grocery and food service supply chain solutions. Beginning in September, this partnership will enable Family Dollar to offer customers a broader selection of merchandise, including refrigerated and frozen food, across the retailer's more than 7,200 locations in 45 states.

Challenge: A leading luxury global retailer to the traveling public needed up-to-the-minute Global Trade Content for their Classification (HTS/HS) codes to ensure compliance for duty, taxes and fees. They preferred an on-line solution supported and integrated with daily updated content rather than installed software, and did not want to have to buy hardware or hire trained personnel to complete the task of maintaining content and working through manual databases/processes.

The total cost of ownership of lasers is cheaper than camera technology, says Jon Stiles, product marketing manager, Accu-Sort systems. But there are decided advantages and drawbacks to each method. He walks the viewer through them.

Challenge: A leading designer, distributor, and licensor of high quality apparel, needed to precisely calculate bottom-line shipment costs and compare multiple routing and service options; establish sophisticated audit controls for carrier billing; deliver a quick user friendly system implementation; and seamlessly add new functionality as the company's needs grew.

Challenge: As part of an initiative to centralize its global procurement operations, a Fortune 500 diversified manufacturer of engineered components and products needed a way to effectively manage its importing process and reduce procurement costs while enabling real-time collaboration with its global suppliers.

Challenge: One of the largest distributors of wine and spirits in the USoperates in a tightly regulated industry with outdated business processes and systems, and was challenged by a lack of visibility to inbound orders from its global vendors and suppliers. In addition, the company's manual order and shipment tracking processes frequently led to significant delays and difficulty in determining accurate inventory levels and expected arrival dates, leading to reactive expediting and additional intra-company transportation moves.

CRM challenges are still a reality in today's market. The question is: How do you overcome them? The bottom line is getting buy-in throughout the organization, from the cubicle worker to the executive suite. How you do that, though, requires an intentional strategy.

Intelleflex Inc. has entered into a partnership with DeltaTRAK Inc. to enhance cold-chain technology for the food, pharmaceutical and processing industries.

I'm a big fan of online shopping, with my personal favorites being Piperlime and ASOS. Let's face it - in an increasingly busy and hectic world, if you had the choice between buying something from the comfort of your own home, or pushing through throngs of crazed shoppers on a Saturday afternoon, for a lot of people the decision is an easy one. For me, it's a no-brainer.