It sounds like pie in the sky, yet one of my clients is considering implementing extensive automation to avoid the ever-escalating costs of labor. His vision would still involve some people, not a totally peopleless warehouse - one in which, day and night, all physical movement of items is handled by automated equipment controlled by software.

Regardless of the industry, there comes a point where a changing of the guard occurs from one generation to the next.

Numbers can be quite revealing - and educational. For instance, since 2006 nearly a quarter-billion people in the United States have been affected by a federally declared weather-related disaster. Think about that - four of every five people.

Bay Plumbing Supply walks the walk and talks the talk in energy-efficient wholesaling.

Hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the trade-show floor at the recent 2012 AHR Expo in Chicago was a large ceiling fan.

Leading PHCP wholesalers talk about customer relationships, social media and health care reform in the second of a two-part series.

Leadership and resourcefulness help Ferguson’s Raleigh, N.C., location rebound from tornado damage.

Supply House Times is once again conducting its annual Premier Distributors survey which ranks the Top 150 PHCP wholesalers by their sales from the past year. The 2011 Premier Distributor list will be based on sales for fiscal 2010. We do not disclose individual company sales but we need a figure in order to rank each company.