JDA has announced that the purchase of i2 is back on after they signed a definitive merger agreement for a value of approximately $396 million. The benefit for JDA is that it will acquire a company with a long history of successful supply chain planning which is required by companies in today's economy. Integrating i2's solutions and expertise will give JDA access to a new customer base for their other business solutions.

Back in December 2008, JDA and i2 halted the merger announced August 2008, when i2 was valued by JDA at approximately $346 million. It was the i2 board that scuppered the deal when the terms were amended by JDA. With JDA already absorbing Manugistics, i2's discrete manufacturing focus completes JDA's appeal across a broad spectrum of industries. The deal is expected to be completed in December.

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Herman Miller and Rea Magnet Wire were America's award winners in the 2009 Supply Chain Excellence Awards given by Boston Strategies International. The company conducted an in-depth global supply chain benchmark study and awards were given in three categories; Oil, Gas & Petrochemicals, Process Industries, and General Industry. The winners were those who scored highly in their demonstrated supply chain processes and performance on four dimensions: cost leadership, reliability, customer satisfaction and innovation.

Herman Miller won the Supply Chain Synchronization Award in the General Industry category based on its superior order cycle time consistency, supply management and return on capital employed. Rea Magnet Wire Company won the Supply Chain Management Award in the process industries category for its superior performance in product customization, capacity flexibility, customer responsiveness and cost management.

Other winners included Bharat Petroleum Corporation of India, FMC Kongsberg Subsea of Norway, Dangote Sugar Refineries of Nigeria and Henkel's Laundry and Home Care of Germany.

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For more than 70 years, generations of British families have purchased a round tin of Cadburys' Roses chocolates for the holiday season. But Cadburys has decided to make Roses a nice shade of green. They are about to try a square box made from cardboard that can be easily recycled. Replacing the tins, which were introduced in 1938, will cut packaging by 45 per cent per pack and save more than 200 tons of steel each year.

This holiday season there are many examples of the use of green packaging. But the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) recently tightened its code around "green marketing" after it was found that many businesses were exaggerating claims about the environmental credentials of their products. Because of the trend towards green products, many companies have been guilty of the trend now known as greenwash. CAP has reminded companies that claim specific environmental credentials should not be used without credible evidence.

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Founded more than 60 years ago in Chicago, Turtle Wax, world leader in car care, has chosen LeSaint Logistics, a Chicago-based third-party logistics firm, as the provider of Turtle Wax's warehousing, fulfillment and transportation needs. Turtle Wax expects to obtain significant cost savings by using LeSaint's end-to-end supply chain solutions, backed by real-time inventory tracking and control.

LeSaint's support begins at the start of Turtle Wax's production cycle, in the logistics of moving raw materials into manufacturing, which continues through end-product warehousing and distribution to retail customers. Both companies follow product and inventory progress via LeSaint's automated technologies. Additionally, a inbound planning system is provided to Turtle Wax customers through LeSaint's website.

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