Nearly two-thirds of businesses (61 percent) surveyed in North America and Europe recognize that the post-holiday period represents the most challenging time of the year due to the high numbers of returns, according to an Intermec study. Yet despite this, more than half (52 percent) of distribution center managers admit they don't have the appropriate processes and tools in place to determine if returned goods should be discarded, returned to vendor or moved quickly back into inventory.

While automation of supply chain processes is considered an important factor in improving efficiency, a large proportion of respondents to a Kewill study still struggle with manual operations. Only 11 percent have 100-percent hands-free shipping in their distribution center operations, for example.

Knapp, an Austrian firm specializing in warehouse automation and logistics, has developed an RFID-based conveyor system for sorting and packing goods in a specified sequence. The solution ensures that items can be placed within boxes in the correct order"”for instance, with the heaviest products on the bottom"”and that packages can be loaded onto trucks in a particular sequence, so they can be unloaded easily at various stops along a delivery route. At present, the system is being installed at a warehouse operated by Olymp, a German manufacturer of men's shirts.

Recent Intermec research reveals that in the last six months alone, 79 percent of warehouse managers have been tasked with finding an average 19-percent cost saving from existing operations. Despite this mounting pressure to cut costs and the need to find efficiency gains in every process, managers admit to losing time and money through known inefficient workflows.

The DHL Global Connectedness Index, a comprehensive analysis of the state of globalization around the world, concludes that the world is less globally connected today than it was in 2007. The report, drawing on over one million data points from 2005 to 2011, documents how global connectedness, measured by international flows of trade, capital, information and people, grew robustly from the report's baseline year of 2005 to 2007, and then dropped sharply at the onset of the financial crisis. Despite modest gains since 2009, global connectedness has yet to recapture its pre-crisis peak.

Views of parcel and LTL freight shipping have been elevated in the minds of supply chain executives, according to a survey released by Kewill.

Late or inaccurate deliveries can have a major negative impact on consumers' future decisions to shop with a retailer online, by phone, or in the store, according to a study released by Voxware.

Every business needs to "go digital." Data about customers, competitors, suppliers and employees are exploding. Ninety percent of all data were created in the past two years. By 2016, there will be 3 billion internet users globally, and the internet economy will reach $4.2tr in the G-20 nations. No company or country can afford to ignore this phenomenon.