A legacy of the turmoil that seized supply chains during the Covid-19 pandemic is taking shape on American college campuses. Students drawn to supply-chain management by the high-profile disruptions that swept the world are bringing their experiences and views of business shortfalls to the classroom. The WSJ reports that some have started graduating supply-chain management programs in recent months, and educators say they’re poised to highlight areas such as resilience in sourcing and procurement as well as the fundamentals of managing the flow of goods. Penn State professor Norman Aggon says the pandemic “was like a learning laboratory” for this new generation. Businesses are taking lessons from the pandemic by sending mid-career professionals in areas like finance back to school to gain a better view of supply chains. Several schools have also launched supply-chain programs over the last year.

U.S. pharmaceutical supply chains are ailing in ways that carry no easy cure. One after another, generic-drug makers have gone bankrupt or moved their operations overseas or cut the number of products they offer. The WSJ’s Liz Essley Whyte reports the result is that drug shortages have become more common, with 300 medicines now in short supply. There is little slack in the system, leaving hospitals and patients scrambling to find doses if there is one hiccup in a pinched supply chain or a quality problem shuts down a manufacturing line. A single plant in Tennessee is the sole source of amoxicillin, for instance, a crucial antibiotic, but has run into the buzz saw of globalization and pricing pressure. Wholesalers that buy the drugs have consolidated, used their scale to win even lower prices and turned to overseas suppliers with still lower costs, hollowing out domestic supply chains.

• Drug maker AstraZeneca says it is developing one supply chain to serve Western countries and another to supply China and emerging markets. (YahooFinance)

The ability to get fresh halibut from the sea to the supermarket is proving remarkably popular with investors. Lineage’s initial public offering last week raised some $4.4 billion and valued the 16-year-old cold storage business at $18 billion, the WSJ’s Corrie Driebusch and Liz Young report, making it the largest IPO in the U.S. so far this year. It came as other, higher-profile companies have faltered on their way to planned public listings. Lineage moved within a corner of the logistics sector through fortuitous timing, as well as a savvy recognition that the businesses storing and transporting perishable items could be rolled up and streamlined. Co-founder Kevin Marchetti notes refrigerated storage is a “pretty old-school, meat and potatoes” business. Lineage has grown partly through acquisitions, but the bigger innovation has been the technology and standardized, efficient systems they brought into their warehouses.

A measure of U.S. consumer inflation rose at a 2.5% annual rate in June. (WSJ)

Maersk Line agreed to settle charges that it fired a seaman on a containership who had reported potential safety concerns. (WSJ)

Norfolk Southern slashed its operating ratio by nearly 18 percentage points last quarter as profit surged despite “softer macro conditions.” (MarketWatch)

Saia’s profit jumped 12.3% as the less-than-truckload carrier added six terminals during the quarter and says it plans to add another 13 this year. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Mercedes-Benz Group cut its target for profit margin on a tougher Chinese market and growing trade tensions. (WSJ)

Apple fell further behind other smartphone makers for shipments in China. (WSJ)

German rail operator Deutsche Bahn plans to cut 30,000 jobs after losing about $543 million in the first half of the year. (Reuters)

Kuehne + Nagel is scaling back its cost-cutting target as inflation eases and freight market demand improves. (Air Cargo News)

Pitney Bowes is selling its e-commerce fulfillment operations to logistics startup Stord. (The Information)

Stockpiling of vehicles at Belgium’s Antwerp-Bruges port is limiting cargo throughput. (Automotive Logistics)

Toyota is building an electric-vehicle battery plant on the island of Kyushu as part of an EV supply chain hub and export base. (Nikkei Asia)

Chinese electric-vehicle maker Nio launched a second-generation smartphone fitted with an AI-powered chatbot tool. (South China Morning Post)

Two executives at a defunct Florida trucking firm were charged in an alleged Ponzi scheme that netted roughly $112 million from 1,500 investors. (Sourcing Journal)

Paul Page is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at paul.page@wsj.com.

Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage, @bylizyoung and @pdberger. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on X at @WSJLogistics.