Sensormatic Solutions continues trajectory of innovation

Record year of 60 retail patents filed, with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence leading the way

Johnson Controls today announced that Sensormatic Solutions, its leading global retail solutions portfolio, continues to break ground in innovative technology areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), achieving a record number of 60 patent filings designed to fast forward retail. The journey began with the first Sensormatic brand anti-theft pedestals and tags which were disruptive technologies to an industry that relied on physical security to protect retailers’ merchandise. Today, Sensormatic Solutions remains on the forefront of emerging retail technologies with a worldwide patented portfolio of more than 2,500 patents granted and pending applications in a variety of key product categories to help retailers drive better business outcomes.

“As the retail landscape constantly evolves, we remain steadfast in our commitment to solving our retail customers’ biggest challenges,” said Subramanian Kunchithapatham, vice president, Engineering, Sensormatic Solutions. “To meet their diverse needs, we shifted our focus from pure hardware to a portfolio of smart cloud-based SaaS software, sensors, devices and video technologies, with breakthrough innovations in AI, ML, RFID as EAS, Self-Checkout, Mobile-Checkout, Mobile POS, and more. This shift resulted in a record year of patents filed in fiscal year 2019, across our Inventory Intelligence, Loss Prevention and Traffic Insights solutions.” businesswire.com
 

The Man Who Built Amazon’s Delivery Machine

● Amazon's SVP Worldwide Operations has twin challenges:
  ensuring packages arrive on time and keeping workers safe

● Next year he'll add Amazon's brick-and-mortar operations to his plate

Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, may dream of a future when quick delivery is largely delegated to drones flying through the skies and robots rolling down sidewalks. But Dave Clark, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations for Amazon, inhabits a messier present, where meeting Bezos’s expectations falls mostly to hourly workers who endure long shifts fetching and packing products and driving them to homes. Amazon and Clark insist worker safety is a top priority. Yet Amazon has trailed deaths and injuries in its wake. As soon as the company addresses one problem, a new one emerges.

The toll might make some executives more cautious. Not Bezos and Clark. Grappling with stepped-up competition from Walmart Inc. and Target Corp., Amazon earlier this year committed to deliver millions of products in just one day. Clark must honor that pledge during a holiday shopping season that’s almost a week shorter than it was last year, all the while keeping workers safe and customers happy. He’s mostly succeeded for the past two decades, during which holiday season sales have soared 30-fold to $144 billion. Still, some observers think that by growing so much so fast, Amazon is courting disaster.

Clark grew up with Amazon, taking his first job there in 1999 and quickly rising through the ranks. His longevity has made him a trusted caretaker of the company’s oldest and largest business. Now 47, he’s among more than 20 senior executives on Bezos’s coveted S-team and next year will take on the added responsibility of running the brick-and-mortar operations, including Whole Foods and the Amazon Go chain of cashierless convenience stores.

Clark has always been mindful of worker safety, according to people who worked with him. When a Pennsylvania newspaper spotlighted Amazon workers enduring brutal heat in an Allentown warehouse in 2011, Clark backed spending $50 million to install air conditioning at facilities around the country, the people said. Amazon was considering less expensive measures, such as cooling warehouses only in the hottest climates.

Every holiday season, the company hires legions of temporary workers - this year, it’s bringing on 200,000 of them, double the number in 2018. These recruits are expected to adapt quickly to a fast pace of lifting heavy boxes and hitting exacting metrics. Mistakes happen. In 2013, a temporary worker was crushed to death in a package-sorting conveyor system in New Jersey. Two years later, federal regulators inspected an Amazon warehouse in New Jersey and later fined the company for failing to report at least 26 work-related illnesses and injuries.

Clark responded swiftly, mandating more thorough reporting of injuries at all Amazon facilities, according to people familiar with the matter. He believed Amazon could address safety issues in its facilities only if it collected more data, the people said. Amazon attributes this more thorough injury reporting to the findings in a recent report by the Center for Investigative Reporting that injury rates in 23 Amazon facilities are more than double the national average for warehouses. Logistics industry insiders say financial incentives such as safety bonuses discourage accurate injury reporting in the industry, making it difficult to find a benchmark. bloomberg.com

From 'Place Your Order' To Your Doorstep: Inside Amazon's Delivery Process
NPR Report Takes an In-Depth Look at Amazon's Safety Record

With its promise of fast and so-called free shipping, and its giant selection, Amazon can be a godsend for the consumer. But what’s behind those low prices and quick delivery? A record of injuries, traffic and parking violations and in a few cases, death.

In response to recent reporting by Reveal and The Atlantic, Amazon said, in part, “injury rates are high because it’s aggressive about recording worker injuries and cautious about allowing injured workers to return to work before they’re ready.”

With Amazon raising the bar on delivery speeds for companies around the country, we dig into working conditions for drivers and warehouse workers behind the world’s largest online retailer. the1a.org
 

Congress agrees on historic deal to fund $25 million in gun violence research
Congress has reached a spending agreement that includes $25 million for gun violence research, the first funding in more than 20 years to study a problem that kills 40,000 people annually. The money will be split evenly between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

"Given violence and suicide have a number of causes, the agreement recommends the CDC take a comprehensive approach to studying these underlying causes and evidence-based methods of prevention of injury, including crime prevention," the bill states. The same language is repeated in the bill for the NIH. abcnews.com

North Carolina restaurant owner blames closures on employee theft
The owner of a recently closed Morganton hamburger joint is blaming the restaurant’s demise on employee theft. The week after the Dec. 3 closure of the local Hwy 55 Burgers Shakes and Fries, along with the chain’s locations in Marion and Gastonia, franchise owner Jay Thomas told The McDowell News his restaurants closed indefinitely due to financial troubles brought on by workers stealing.

“We’ve struggled with employee theft,” said Thomas, who also owns the Hwy 55 location in Conover. “In Morganton, it’s almost impossible to hire someone who’s not going to steal from you.”

Thomas told The McDowell News that some of the workers were stealing from his restaurants at all four locations at one time or another. morganton.com

U.S. sues CVS for fraudulently billing Medicare, Medicaid for invalid prescriptions
CVS Health Corp and its Omnicare unit were sued on Tuesday by the U.S. government, which accused them of fraudulently billing Medicare and other programs for drugs for older and disabled people without valid prescriptions.

The Department of Justice joined whistleblower litigation accusing Omnicare of violating the federal False Claims Act for illegally dispensing drugs to tens of thousands of patients in assisted living facilities, group homes for people with special needs, and other long-term care facilities.

According to a civil complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, Omnicare would often assign new numbers to prescriptions after the original prescriptions expired or ran out of refills. The government said this enabled Omnicare to bill Medicare Medicaid, and Tricare, which serves military personnel, for hundreds of thousands of drugs, under what the company internally called “rollover” prescriptions, from 2010 to 2018. reuters.com

McDonald's Not Responsible For How Franchisees Treat Workers, NLRB Rules
McDonald's should not be held responsible for the labor practices of its franchisees, the National Labor Relations Board ruled on Thursday.

The federal agency, in charge of enforcing U.S. labor law, delivered the latest ruling in a years-long union case that sought to hold the fast food chain liable for the treatment of all workers at both corporate and franchise locations. The agency, also known as NLRB, directed a federal administrative law judge to approve a settlement that had earlier been reached between McDonald's, its franchisees and the workers who had alleged labor-law violations.

The case was closely watched because it had potential implications for a vast array of companies that rely on franchising and contracting for work, such as janitorial services, trucking, construction and warehousing. The NLRB ruling is expected to face an appeal. npr.org

Hopkins, MN: Workers at United Natural Foods warehouse walked out Tuesday, could disrupt Twin Cities groceries
More than 700 workers at United Natural Foods Inc.’s distribution center in Hopkins walked off the job Tuesday, in sympathy with workers who are striking against the company at a similar facility in Indiana.

The move by members of the Teamsters Local 120, if prolonged, will disrupt supplies to dozens of grocery stores in the Twin Cities, including the region’s largest grocery chain, Cub Foods, which is also owned by United Natural Foods. Other area groceries that rely on UNFI for most of their products include Lunds & Byerlys, Jerry’s, Kowalski’s and Coborn’s. startribune.com

Google fires fifth activist employee
Another Google employee says she has been fired for labor advocacy after creating a notification that reminded colleagues of their rights to organize, Bloomberg reports. Kathryn Spiers marks the fifth Googler to say they have been terminated for such reasons, following the “Thanksgiving Four” who were let go last month. A Google spokeswoman said the most recent termination was a result of misusing a security and privacy tool to create the pop-up. The search giant is under investigation from the National Labor Relations Board for allegedly discouraging unions. linkedin.com

Female workers are untold victims of waves of store closings
According to data from outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas, the retail sector shed around 75,000 jobs in 2019 through November. While much has been reported about the struggles of retail chains as they announce wave after wave of store closings, far less has been written about the outsized impact on women wage earners who often account for the majority of workers laid off when stores close.

Women outnumber men in brick-and-mortar retail jobs at a ratio of 2-1, according to a new report from The Mom Project, a career service for mothers. Although the retail industry is creating jobs, they tend to be focused in traditionally male roles such as warehouse work and delivery services, giving a hiring advantage to men, the report says.

“Women tend to be more representative at the store level and in face-to-face roles, and those are the roles being impacted the most by store closings,” says Pam Cohen, president of The Mom Project’s MP Labs, its research division, and the author of the report. usatoday.com

FMI Urges Congress to Fix 'Retail Glitch'
The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) is joining other retail organizations in denouncing a lack of action by Congress to fix the so-called retail glitch. Andy Harig, vice president, tax, trade, sustainability & policy development for FMI, expressed dissatisfaction that this oversight in the tax code has prevented retailers from implementing operational improvements inside their businesses and facilities, which Congress always intended for grocers to do in the tax reform legislation. progressivegrocer.com

Walmart deploys ‘swat teams’ that specialize in store remodels
Remodeling stores is a tricky assignment because, in most cases, the chain can’t afford to shut down operations or disrupt store traffic too badly. Walmart remodels 500 stores a year, so management is forming “swat teams” of specialized personnel that travel from store to store and work through the process as efficiently as possible. retailwire.com

Super Saturday could be bigger than Black Friday this year
In recent years, the Saturday before Christmas has seen a late surge in shopper traffic. With retailers maintaining deep discounts late into the holiday season, total sales on Super Saturday have edged closer to Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving which traditionally kicks off the season in November. Many retail consultants and analysts estimate the surge will bump Super Saturday into the biggest shopping day this year.

Craig Johnson, president at retail consultancy Customer Growth Partners, expects people to spend $34 billion this year on Super Saturday. These estimates include in-store and online purchases but exclude sales generated at gas stations, restaurants and automobile dealers. In comparison, Black Friday generated $31.5 billion in sales, he said. retaildive.com

Associate Dir./Dir. LP job for Carvana in Phoenix, AZ removed from website

Hibbett Sports names new CEO

Ulta promotes 4 high-level execs

Best Buy reaches out to holiday procrastinators, extending hours

FedEx says it will ‘start lapping’ Amazon in 2021

Retail Cyberattacks Set to Soar 20% in 2019 Holiday Season
A couple of factors this year are making the 2019 holiday shopping season a circus for cybercriminals when it comes to cyberattacks against retail orgs.

As cybercriminals grow more sophisticated and holiday shoppers continue to flock online, researchers warn internet-based retailers could face a 20 percent uptick in cyberattacks this holiday season compared to last year.

In the report titled “Holiday Season Cyber Heists”, released Thursday morning and shared with Threatpost, Carbon Black said that cybercrime activity tracked during 2019 is already setting the holiday shopping season for an upward trajectory in malware and ransomware attacks.

From constantly-evolving malware such as Kryptik to island-hopping attacks, retailers are finding themselves constantly at risk. And they’re paying the price: Up to 40 percent of surveyed retail organizations said they’ve already lost revenue as a result of a cyberattack in 2019. threatpost.com

Lessons Learned from 7 Big Breaches in 2019

#6 - Macy's - October 2019
Attackers Love Targeting Vulnerable Web Apps

Breach Details: The names, addresses, phone numbers, payment card details, and other information belonging to an unknown number of people who shopped online at Macy's website were compromised. Members of the Magecart umbrella group placed card-skimming code on the checkout and order pages on the retailer's website to capture payment card and other data that users entered on these pages. The Macy's attack was one of numerous Magecart attacks this year.

Lessons Learned: Poorly secured Web applications continue to pose a major risk for organizations, especially retailers. Several of the most common Web app vulnerabilities, such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, broken authentication and session management, and cross-site request forgery have been around for years. Research by Positive Technology showed that one in three Web applications tested in 2018 had extremely poor levels of security with the number of critical flaws in them tripling compared to 2017. "Positive Technologies research shows that in 2018, the majority of attacks on retail (63%) targeted Web services," Galloway said. "Online stores were a favorite target of attacks aimed at data theft - in 70% of cases, payment card information was stolen." darkreading.com

How to test employee cyber competence through pen-testing
Social engineering hacking preys on the vulnerabilities inherent in human psychology, so it's vital for organizations to test employee cyber competence.

Employees post a huge threat to your organization if they're not properly trained and educated on their role and responsibilities when it comes to cybersecurity. To weed out the vulnerable workers that may require some extra learning, your organization can utilize social engineering pen-testing.

Employees are the first line of defense

Your employees are truly the first line of defense to keeping your company safe and secure. Employees need to understand how their personal social media habits and oversharing information online can have a direct correlation to the safety of their companies. With the amount of information shared on platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, hackers can gather information to build trust with the victim or even assume the identity of someone in your social circle.

Make employee training a priority - Test employee cyber competence helpnetsecurity.com

7 Essential Security Factors to Consider When Choosing Your Enterprise’s Messaging Platform

WhatsApp Fixes Yet Another Group Chat Security Gap