We've passed the mid-year mark, which means that the budgeting process is upon us. For CPOs and procurement managers, this isn't exactly a high point of the year - few enjoy taking an annual break from the work at hand to focus on the budget. And of course there is added pressure to finalize strategic plans that align with an effective budget.

360pi, a provider of product intelligence for retailers and consumer brands, has launched 360alerts, an email alert service that tracks product price changes.

When President Barack Obama said last September that he would get tough on companies that avoid tax through "inversions" - merging with or buying foreign firms so as to shift their domicile abroad - some wondered if this would end a wave of corporate emigration.

For most of the past three decades, private equity firms and other investors have relied on two simple questions to assess the supply chains of the companies in which they've invested: Are our companies leveraging low-cost country supply sources and are they keeping supply chain costs in check? Deeper inquiries have always seemed unnecessary, so private equity firms and investors have focused on other aspects of the businesses they own to drive value.

While cash remains king at the point-of-sale, a variety of other digital payment methods are preferred by consumers, with 25 percent of all smartphone owners now using mobile wallets.