Core high-tech consists of semiconductors, contract & design manufacturing, original equipment manufacturing, consumer electronics, and telecommunications. Most companies in this segment are highly impacted by the economic downturn, trying to reduce working capital, and segmenting product decisions based on profitability.

There is nearly unanimous recognition of the need for supply chain transformation driven by factors such as the globalization of supply, increasing competitive pressures, and dwindling product life cycles from companies. This transformation's initial state is the linear supply chains of the past and the final state is a dynamic multi-enterprise business network.

2009 is certainly shaping up to be a difficult year for manufacturers. Tight credit markets, poor consumer confidence and retail sales, along with low manufacturing activity, suggests that overall supply chain investment activity will be reduced and cost-savings activities will be prioritized.

Staying afloat during times of economic challenge may require companies to rethink the way they have traditionally conducted their businesses. Finding ways to standardize and streamline processes may be essential to reducing costs within the demand/supply chain planning functions.

The green imperative is expanding into virtually all walks of life and all facets of the economy. Demonstrating green credentials is increasingly a minimal stakeholder expectation and business risk management factor, and is shifting from an order-winning to an order-qualifying attribute. Swallow that carbon pill! A whole swath of additional environmental expectations may well be just around the corner, as well as a whole new way of looking at "green" and the environment.

For the last three years global corporations have added "green" and "sustainability" to the supply chain agenda, in particular with respect to climate change and carbon footprint reductions. This trend coincided with unprecedented economic growth and record-breaking energy prices. With recession looming, supply chains will face their true commitment to the environment as they adjust operations.

For those who maintain that companies have no business getting involved with responsibility-driven endeavors because, after all, "the business of business is business" there is often a lack of awareness of the business benefits-and practical imperatives-associated with responsibility-driven endeavors. Likewise, critics who point out that it is only for shameless cost or reputation-related motives that companies adopt responsibility-driven platforms often fail to acknowledge the many positive social and environmental outcomes even of initiatives with top or bottom line-driven goals. Case study interviews with firms of all sizes indicate that these critiques illuminate an outmoded way of understanding the social, economic, and environmental imperatives of this historic moment.

To be honest, I'm a bit "greened out" at the moment. I feel like I did a few years ago, when RFID was all the rage. The first few months of RFID were exciting, learning about the technology and listening to executives at Walmart, Gillette (now P&G), and other early adopters talk about their ambitious plans. But as the months went by, there were fewer and fewer new developments to discuss or analyze. Every conference had the same set of speakers, and all the case studies (what few there were) started to sound the same. I think we've reached a similar plateau with green supply chain management.

Aberdeen's research shows point-of-sale transaction data from retail locations is still a hurdle for 66 percent of manufacturers. The low levels of transaction data sharing cause increased complexities in tracking promotion effectiveness at the store or field level.

Consumer products companies were early adopters of supply chain planning and supply chain execution. Most implementations are mature; yet in 2009, 24 percent of companies are considering switching supply chain planning vendors.