It knits the acquisitions into the Ahold information network and introduces purchasing and logistics scale economies to the stores its buys.

FORBES: The Anti-Wal-Mart

And that requires excellence in design and IP first and foremost, and then remarkable prowess is purchasing, logistics, manufacturing, and operations.

FORBES: Apple Hysteria: Focus Instead on Astonishing Numbers and Core Strategy

The PMI fell to 38.8, from 44.6 the month before, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said Monday.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Growth in China's manufacturing picked up in March, according to a survey by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.

NPR: Survey: US Manufacturing Grew More Slowly In March

Many are using profits from farming to diversify into such businesses as logistics, purchasing fleets of lorries with help from new car-finance firms.

ECONOMIST: Which way to capitalism?

The adoption of clever information-technology systems to improve logistics and streamline purchasing has been particularly sluggish, despite corporate Japan's reputation for technological prowess.

ECONOMIST: Consolidation beckons for Japan's retail icons