Dr. Abdourahmane Diallo, director of health systems strengthening with John Snow Inc., and Walter Proper, JSI's director of public health task order, relate the story of how a vendor-managed inventory (VMI) system improved Zimbabwean citizens' access to critical healthcare. A finalist in the SupplyChainBrain/CSCMP Supply Chain Innovation Award for 2014.

How should companies approach the challenge of end-to-end transformation? What exactly does the process encompass? And what are the benefits of a successful initiative? Michael Albritton, director of AlixPartners, supplies the answers.

Jade Rodysill, principal in the supply-chain practice of EY, details the challenges that supply-chain managers will face in the coming years. He also talks about the requirements of a great leader, and answers the question "Is there a 'best' supply chain?"

Amber Road, a vendor of global trade management software, has acquired ecVision, a provider of cloud-based global sourcing and collaborative supply-chain applications.

Challenge: Through acquisition and a strong development pipeline, this manufacturer grew into one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. As a result, its supply chain became complicated and unwieldy. Recognizing the opportunity to streamline its operations and capitalize on low margin products, company leadership prioritized a move to global standardization and shared services.

Challenge: With a supply chain spanning the farthest reaches of the globe, it wasn't uncommon for this heavy equipment manufacturer to lose sight of its shipments, resulting in frequent delivery delays and headaches for its dealers. Traditional point-to-point solutions were falling short in the supply chain.

Automotive suppliers are under mounting pressure to satisfy two conflicting customer demands: to cut costs and to open more factories in fast-growing emerging markets so that they can be closer to their customers' production plants. Striking the right balance between cost and proximity in global manufacturing networks will be one of the industry's greatest challenges, according to a report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), conducted in partnership with the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA. The report is titled The Proximity Paradox: Balancing Auto Suppliers' Manufacturing Networks.

Enrique Castillo, president and chief operating officer of Fast Logistics Group, relates how the lead logistics provider adopted a sales and operations planning (S&OP) process to improve the reliability of delivery for major consumer-goods brands. A finalist in the SupplyChainBrain/CSCMP Supply Chain Innovation Award for 2014.