Panera Bread Co. said it is progressing on its commitment to remove artificial additives by publishing a list of artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners and preservatives it has eliminated or intends to remove from its Panera Bread and St. Louis Bread Co. food menus by the end of 2016. Panera reportedly is the first national restaurant company in the U.S. to publicly share a comprehensive list of ingredients that will be removed from or never appear in its menu items.

PrimeRevenue Inc., a supporter of financial supply chains, has entered into a partnership with Tower Trade Group, an international trade-finance company, to support small and medium-sized companies.

It is no longer a question of if but when autonomous vehicles (AVs) will hit the road. In the auto industry's most significant inflection in 100 years, vehicles with varying levels of self-driving capability - ranging from single-lane highway driving to autonomous valet parking to traffic jam autopilot - will start to become available to consumers as soon as mid-2015 or early 2016. Development of autonomous-driving technology is gaining momentum across a broad front that encompasses OEMs, suppliers, technology providers, academic institutions, municipal governments, and regulatory bodies.

Richard Adams, principal research analyst with Gartner, describes the term "supply management" and talks about its importance to the organization.

A rationale often used in support of a more centralized corporate purchasing function is the need for a company to project "One Face to the Supplier".