According to BI Intelligence, Internet of Things-connected devices will more than triple by 2020, from 10 billion to 34 billion. For small and medium-sized enterprises, which may not know where to begin or have the required time and expertise to implement IoT into their processes, surviving this age of digital transformation can seem like a tsunami of data and new processes crashing down. -Chuck Cimalore, CTO, Omnify Software

Quality product data can be a real competitive advantage for companies that get it right. However, despite more anticipated disruption across industries in the year ahead, many supply chain professionals who realize the long-term benefits of data accuracy still struggle to gain support for comprehensive and effective data quality programs. -Angela Fernandez, Vice President, Retail Grocery and Foodservice, GS1 US

With the emergence of new digital technologies such as Mobility, Big Data, Cloud, Business Intelligence/AI, the IoT, etc., new and more abundant sources of data are available to improve forecasting and demand management. Companies that embrace digital and transform their demand management processes will gain significant competitive advantage. While the traditional statistical forecast may serve a baseline, demand analyses must extend across functions (silos) and include many different sources of causal data. -Rich Sherman, Senior Fellow, Supply Chain Centre of Excellence, Tata Consultancy Services

As companies digitize and integrate their enterprise and implement advanced analytics, they are learning that collaboration is the key to market leadership. Collaborative channel relationships are transforming the buyer-seller relationship from transactional to strategic. Working together to integrate and share process information, partners experience performance improvement by focusing on the least landed cost at every point in the channel versus leveraging price. Regulatory compliance for track, trace and authentication can only be realized through digitization. -Rich Sherman, Senior Fellow, Supply Chain Centre of Excellence, Tata Consultancy Services

Research into the "industrial" application of the Internet of Things finds unequivocally that IIoT is transforming supply chains. Most of the implementations have been by early adopters trying to get an advantage over their competitors. Projects have a number of different objectives, but typically fall into: more efficient operations; improved customer experience; or new revenue opportunities. -Dan Roberts, Senior Consultant, Cambashi Limited