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Supply Chain by the Numbers

April 24, 2026

Supply Chain by the Numbers for April 24, 2026

Robot Pingpong Player. US Manufacturing Flat in March. Largest 3PLs. Retail Sales Jump in March


h
9
That’s how many cameras were used by an AI robot called Ace that achieved table tennis wins against three elite players this week. Developed by Sony AI, the robot is fully autonomous, and uses a complex array of vision sensors, control systems and high–speed hardware to respond in real–time. However, In what will surely be viewed as good news by many, Ace lost both matches against Minami Ando and Kakeru Sone, who are both active in the Japanese professional league. “This research has shown that an autonomous robot can, in fact, win at a competitive sport, matching or exceeding the reaction time and decision making of humans in a physical space,” said Peter Dürr, Director of Sony AI in Zürich, and project lead for Ace. The supply chain implications should seem obvious.

1.7%

That was the big month-over-month jump in retail sales in March, according to data this week from Commerce Dept. That was the largest increase in the monthly measure in more than three years. Retail sales figures are adjusted for seasonal swings but not inflation, which shot higher in March by 0.9% (triple the February rate), the latest Consumer Price Index showed, driven by soaring gas prices. When excluding gas stations, retail sales rose 0.6% last month, a touch slower than the 0.7% increase seen in February for that comparable category.



97.3
That was the level of US manufacturing output in March, as represented in the monthly index from the Federal Reserve Bank, which was released this week. That was basically flat from March (with a score of 97.4), as the index has been in range that has seen it hover around the 96 -98 level for more than six months, with no real growth, but not recessionary declines either. However, the March output was up just 0.5 percent versus the same period in 2025. But at an index level of 97.3 qq, it means US manufacturing output is now below that of the baseline year of 2017 (index = 100) now nine years later. It is also well below the all-time high of about 108, reached in late 2007.

$171.2 Billion

That was Amazon’s 2005 gross third-party logistics revenue, putting again at the top of the Transport Topics annual ranking of the top 100 North American logistics companies, announced this week. Gross revenues include purchased transportation, whereas net revenue subtracts those costs out. In the number 2 spot after Amazon was CH Robison, well back with in revenue. GXO Logistics (3), JB Hunt (4), and Expeditors International (5) round out the top 5 on the Transport Topics list. We’ll note the Amazon number includes sales commission revenue from its Marketplace service for sellers, but which are not broken out as to the total.

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