CHEP has expanded its range of Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs), adding a lighter, non-corrosive 1000-litre all plastic container specifically designed for the food manufacturing sector. The Intercon is International Organization for Standardization (ISO) compatible, returnable, reusable and recyclable and brings additional flexibility to CHEP's range of plastic bin solutions. The Intercon can be used for both dry and liquid goods. Made from food-grade polypropylene, the Intercon is easy to handle, clean and more environmentally sustainable than non-reusable alternatives.

The Intercon is 40 per cent lighter than 1000-litre composite alternatives, significantly increasing payload capacity and reducing reverse logistics costs. The food-grade polypropylene does not rot or become corroded and the unit's unique design makes it suitable for both dry and liquid food products.

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said that it will make a formal decision in 2010 on whether to allow a 15 percent blend of ethanol in domestic gasoline, after initial tests showed that cars can run on the fuel. The plan to raise the limit from the 10 percent blend put forward in 1978 has been wanted by ethanol producers. The ethanol industry says that allowing 15 percent blends of ethanol in gasoline, called E15, would create 136,000 permanent jobs and 500,000 construction jobs, as well as cutting the need to import as much as 7 billion gallons of oil a year.

The EPA had faced a December 1st deadline to issue a decision on the proposal but it said that it will await further field testing by the Energy Department. Currently testing has shown that no problems have been found on any vehicle from any model year on the E15 fuel. The EPA have stated that "while not all tests have been completed, the results of two tests indicate that engines in newer cars likely can handle an ethanol blend higher than the current 10 percent limit."

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Customer Relationship Management (CRM) leader, Salesforce.com, won four customer relations management awards this week from CRM Magazine. The enterprise cloud computing provider swept the CRM suite categories, including the midmarket CRM suite, small business suite, and enterprise suite awards, becoming the first company to win in all three categories.

The fourth award was given to Salesforce.com's, chief executive Marc Benioff won the "Influential Leader" honor for the fifth time. CRM magazine chose the winners after a three-month review period based on a rating formula that includes corporate and financial data, customer satisfaction scores, functionality and product assessments, and input by industry analysts.

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E2open, a leading provider of on-demand demand-supply network solutions, today announced that it has been positioned in the Leaders Quadrant in Gartner's 2009 Magic Quadrant for Integration Service Providers.

Gartner estimated that companies worldwide spent more than $1.5 billion on integration-as-a-service (IaaS) and B2B integration outsourcing and expects to see continued growth. With the introduction of E2open 7.0 in June 2009, the company has been delivering large-scale, international B2B projects. E2open offers pre-built integrations to its network of more than 75,000 trading partners, which is the largest global trading partner network in the world. Some of E2open's clients include Boeing, Cisco, Dell, Hitachi, Philips and Seagate.

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