Challenge: The Demand Planning function fits well into customer's strategy for a comprehensive Production Planning software suite. A key consideration is on the agility within the Demand Planning process as well as its integration to other functions of the Supply Chain.

Netwin Solutions Inc., a provider of applications for supply-chain security and global trade management, has launched a software module to help companies comply with new rules for reporting on the presence of conflict minerals in their products.

Some authors have suggested that strategic sourcing is often done in a win-lose style, without true collaboration between buyer and seller. Nothing could be further from the truth, as a win-lose relationship is the antithesis to strategic sourcing done the right way. Strategic sourcing, done right, can become a real competitive advantage.

Boeing suppliers are developing "a sense of acceptance" that the manufacturer's push for a 15 percent reduction in supply chain costs won't ease up even as the economy improves, an informal survey of several major suppliers by Canaccord Genuity finds. Whether the push will succeed remains to be seen.

Procurement leaders are expanding their priorities for 2014, moving beyond a historic emphasis on reducing purchase costs and adding focus on expanding and deepening the scope of spend influence as well as supporting supplier-led product innovation, according to 2014 Procurement Key Issues research from The Hackett Group Inc.

A report from IDC Manufacturing Insights evaluates the progression of commerce networks for manufacturers from traditional point-to-point communications to collaborative commerce networks that support many-to-many interactions among manufacturers and their trading partners.

While retailers are facing challenges in delivering the reporting functionality that business users need to enable data-driven decision-making, they are optimistic about Big Data's ability to provide breakthroughs in analysis capabilities across a number of retail processes, says a study by 1010data Inc. In fact, almost all surveyed executives (96 percent) agreed that Big Data initiatives are important in helping retailers stay competitive. They said Big Data insights are most beneficial for merchandising (53 percent) and marketing (48 percent), followed by store operations (42 percent), e-commerce (42 percent), supply chain (27 percent), finance (23 percent), and loss prevention (21 percent).