Swiss corporate giant Nestle has pledged broad new animal welfare standards for its worldwide suppliers, becoming the latest major food company looking to limit some of the harmful effects of its global footprint.

Challenge: Analyzing historical transportation data revealed a high number of small volume, prepaid shipments from nationwide vendors to the company's West Coast DC. Software modeling suggested that a network of pool points (cross-docking facilities) could yield substantial savings.

Challenge: The sourcing team within a global marine engineering firm was challenged with standardizing its temporary personnel procurement process, specifically for crew staff for its fleet of 100 maritime vessels. As the team collected global requirements, it became clear that a number of factors would add complexity throughout the process, as there were 34 different staffing vendors with multiple compensation frameworks fulfilling the 46 crew positions utilized in 9 geographical regions.

Challenge: Simultaneously balancing inventory, meeting customer service needs, and maximizing production efficiencies is a challenge for any company. For a leading national private label juice and drinks producer this combination adds a few unique demand planning complexities.

TE Connectivity is a $13bn world leader in designing and manufacturing electronic connectivity products for a range of industries. Ruud Somers, director of global network design, discusses how the company uses supply chain modeling and optimization solutions to support the high service demands of its global network.

Transcepta LLC has begun offering trade-finance services to its customers.