My previous post covered the difficulty of tracing and ensuring the quality of automotive and aerospace parts. The job is just as tough for consumer packaged goods and food producers.

ThomasNet and the Institute for Supply Management are partnering to spotlight millennials whose initiative and leadership are strengthening procurement and supply chain management.

A shift is underway for distributors of industrial supplies and the e-commerce experience they provide to their customers. In 2013, more than 63 percent of industrial supply buyers said they made purchases online, with half of those purchasers spending at least 50 percent of their annual budget with suppliers who have an e-commerce platform.

The challenge of managing corporate reputation in an era of complex global supply chains is rarely out of the spotlight. From poor working conditions to environmentally unfriendly practices, there are a growing number of areas where brands are at risk from the rise of multi-tier supply chains. A succession of scandals has brought the supply chain to the public’s attention - from horse meat being discovered in the ready meals of UK retailers to factory fires in Bangladesh and exploitation of tin for mobile phones in Indonesia. The culmination of these stories means what was once an internal company process is now very visible to the public and runs the risk of inflicting serious damage on a brand's reputation.

TAKE Supply Chain has released version 7.4 of OneSCM Enterprise, the vendor's software for supply-chain collaboration.