As the globalization, expansion and growing interconnectivity of supply chains make them more complex, businesses and their suppliers are faced with new challenges, with new opportunities for growth. Many top companies invest a vast amount of resources in innovation. This commitment to innovation drives growth as they compete to remain top manufacturers and service providers. However, many of these top companies are not reaching their full potential. Their businesses are innovating, growing, and developing, but many of their suppliers are not.

Supply chains are becoming more complex in order to support the increasingly diverse levels sizes and needs of new suppliers and customers. There are so many variables that can go into a single sale, like selling across multiple channels, delivering products directly versus delivering through drop shipments, and selling items with one-time charges as well as recurring fees. This transformation is having a tremendous impact on organizations of all shapes and sizes. As supply chain complexity builds, it's important that companies aren't spending more time entering and managing data rather than focusing on growing their business. They should have a well-integrated, audited and secure system that can be precisely reported on at every level.

LLamasoft Inc. the vendor of supply-chain design software, has joined with CLX Logistics LLC, a provider of logistics management, technology and supply-chain consulting services, to provide LLamasoft customers with data on European truckload, global ocean and global parcel shipments.

Despite the vital role that technology plays in helping companies manage the complexity and volatility in global operations, only 48 percent of the more than 1,000 global companies surveyed for an Accenture study use technology extensively in their emerging market supply chains.

Significant effort and dollars are invested in lean initiatives each year in manufacturing plants across the United States. These investments can yield significant production and profitability gains if done properly.