Advanced Technology Services, Inc. has created launched ATS Aviation Services to focus on the needs of the aviation maintenance and parts industry.

OnProcess Technology, a vendor of applications for post-sale supply-chain management and optimization, has created the OPTvision platform.

After years of historically low interest rates, the Federal Reserve has started to execute on its strategy to raise rates. As a result, procurement teams will need to scrub their policies and plans to find interest rate sensitivities in a way they haven't in almost a decade.

Analyst Insight: In 2015, I predicted that the healthcare industry was finally sharpening its focus on profitability and efficiency. While I was writing this Walgreens moved on Rite-Aid and further consolidated the retail pharmacy market, but more importantly strengthened their negotiating leverage on price breaks. If the cost of the supply chain from sourcing to production to distribution was not a priority, it just became critical to profit margins and customer service. - Brian Hudock, Partner, Tompkins International

Analyst Insight: Global, web, mobile, catalogs and trunk shows are only a few of the channels by which we sell and buy today. Retailers are investing billions of dollars to upgrade their tech infrastructure as well as their fulfillment processes to respond to customers as well as threatening and clever competitors’ moves. But omnichannel is not just for retailers. - Ann Grackin, CEO, ChainLink Research

Analyst Insight: The growth of IoT (the Internet of Things) will impact supply chains dramatically in the long run. Increasingly instrumented and connected manufacturing plants, warehouses, vehicles, and the products themselves will provide very precise, real-time 'X-ray vision' into what is happening in the plant, on the road, and in the field. - Bill McBeath, Chief Research Officer, ChainLink Research

As pharmaceutical companies have expanded target markets and outsourced production over the last decade, the supply chain has become increasingly global, virtual and vulnerable. As a result, counterfeit activity is thriving - and patients have suffered and died from counterfeit and contaminated drugs.

Law enforcement is hot on the trail of cargo thieves. But the thieves are hot on the trail of your shipments.

Analyst Insight: The retail apparel market continues to lead the charge when it comes to deploying innovative technologies like RFID that allow for much higher inventory accuracy levels and can pave the way for omnichannel retail strategies. Both Inditex and H&M have made strong commitments to RFID technology, following in the footsteps of Macy's, long considered the leader when it comes to RFID and apparel. According to industry estimates, nearly 4 billion apparel items were tagged with RFID in 2015. - John Johnson, Senior Content Specialist, Gartner Supply Chain