Supply chains are constantly changing as new rules, technologies, resources and market trends transform operations. Here's a skim of the week's indexes, technology announcements, expansions and M&As from around the web.

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Market Snapshot

The White House's National Economic Council released a 36-page report on "Revitalizing American Manufacturing" last week in honor of Manufacturing Day 2016. 

While the industry has faced headwinds in the last two years, the report claims the sector's recovery from the Great Recession has been strong, growing at twice the pace of the general economy. The report also highlights the importance of the sector to the nation as the sector houses 60% of all R&D employees despite accounting for only 12% of the U.S. economy.

Key policies to ensure future progress, according to The White House, include: a focus on innovation, increased investment in workforce skills, strengthened competitiveness and greater trade enforcement.

Similar to other indices, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics' Freight Transportation Services Index fell 1.8% from July to August, the first slump after four consecutive months of growth. The fall follows a general decrease in manufacturing and mining production, accompanied by slower growth in personal income and employment. 

That said, the index grew by 0.8% compared to the same period last year, a slower but still positive growth compared to July's 1.7%  year-over-year increase reported last month. 

September does not appear to be much better: The transportation and warehousing sector added roughly 13,700 jobs, a slight drop from the August gain; the American Association of Railroads posted a carload and intermodal decline; and overall imports fell in September, although Hanjin Shipping played a hand there. 

Yet October is here which means peak season is nearing and the National Retail Federation is celebrating. The NRF announced it expects this month to be the second-busiest of the year in terms of imports as retailers stock up for the holidays.

In other news, a recent survey of over 2,000 adults by Kronos extrapolates that only 25% of Americans are aware that manufacturing jobs are complex and well-paid.

Technically Speaking

As e-commerce drives a higher demand for industrial real estate, nearby cities are having to rethink how to manage the growing traffic congestion.

The University of Washington and the City of Seattle created a new "Urban Freight Lab" to determine the most efficient methods for product delivery, and what urban designers can do to facilitate this, the Associated Press reports.

As ports try to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and meet rising environmental regulation, the Port of Montreal turned to Trucking PORTal, a web-based application that optimizes routes to and from its terminals, American Shipper reports.

Logistics companies and auto-makers are increasing their sustainability initiatives, too.

BMW's luxury brands will soon have electric models as various German companies, including Volkswagen and Daimler, accelerate their production plans to meet tightened emission standards, The Wall Street Journal reports.

On a similar note, UPS recently added 200 hybrid trucks to its delivery fleet and FedEx opened its first clean energy fueling center in Oklahoma City, according to various reports.

FourKites raised $13 million during the startup's Series A funding round, highlighting the sustained market interest in real-time tracking and visibility solutions. 

Speaking of in-demand solutions, Logility's integrated business planning solution launched this week. The solution joins the company's S&OP, supply and inventory optimization, manufacturing scheduling, retail allocation, and transportation management services.

Logisitcs and supply chain aside, The Numina Group released a new cloud-based WMS last week, bundling previous services into a standalone software, DC Velocity reports.

Breaking Ground

The Ports of Indiana is eyeing a recently-purchased coal terminal as the possible site for the state’s fourth port, American Shipper reports. The 700-acre facility sits outside Cincinnati, OH on the Ohio River, providing valuable access to interstate trade.

Zoning documents released by the City of Fremont, CA reveals Tesla seeks to double the size of its local factory to 9.1 million square feet, to aid the company target of producing one million cars a year by 2020, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Amazon is opening a 400,000 square-foot distribution center outside Charlotte Douglas International Airport next week, as part of the e-commerce giant’s plans to increase Amazon Prime Air service, WSOC-TV reports.

UPS expanded its morning package delivery service to 28 new countries bringing the service to a total of 56.

Mergers & Analysis

Confirming reports from last month, Schneider National revealed last week it would pursue an initial public offering in 2017. The IPO could provide the up-to-now largest private trucking company with $700 million, or more, to continue its expansion despite a weak freight market.

Pepsi Co. and Coca Cola are ramping up a proxy war through various packaging and distribution efforts in the U.S. and Africa.

Last week, Coca Cola announced a partnership with Dunkin' Brands Group to make and distribute a line of the brand's cold coffee, challenging Pepsi-partner Starbucks' long dominance in the cold beverage market.

This week Coca Cola announced it would acquire SABMiller's shares of Coca Cola Africa, in an effort to keep Anheiser-Busch InBev – Pepsi Co.'s bottler in Latin America – at bay following the AB InBev-SAB Miller deal, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Descartes Systems Group announced the $5.8 million purchase of Appterra, a supply chain solutions company focused on cloud-based integrations.

Metalworking tools supplier CMT Industrial Solutions expanded its Carolina-based capacity by acquiring a 40-year-old metalworking company Gamco Services last week, Industrial Distribution reports.

A subsidiary of OmniTRAX, a private ground freight transport company, is entering a joint venture with bulk storage and transportation solutions Arrows Up to commercialize the latter’s Jumbo Bin for frac sand and ceramic storage.