Analyst Insight: Entering the second decade of the 21st Century, logistics service providers' mindsets are focused on growth. There has been a lot written about shipper and LSP relationships - what's working and what's not. But there is plenty of room for improvement. Over the last few years, LSPs focused on cutting costs and improving customer satisfaction by standardizing operating procedures, streamlining and integrating IT solutions, managing with KPIs and implementing scorecards. So what is next on the minds of LSP executives - sales and marketing?

Analyst Insight: Advisors are often asked what's the best system to develop a product. Time and again our data indicates that simple spreadsheets just don't cut it - commercial packages and internally developed systems provide the real-time visibility into the data that organizations need to succeed.

Analyst Insight: Companies no longer have the luxury of being able to expend significant resources to have a multi-phased demand management process and technology roll-out. They need to be laser-focused on the right mix of processes and tools suitable to their unique environment. The two key determinants are: type of supply chain and the planning window.

Analyst Insight: The automotive industry has one of the most complex supply chains, upstream (hundreds of part and accessory suppliers) and downstream (thousands of car dealers, repair shops, etc). Most, if not all, automotive manufacturers use different software systems in different locations, but even at the same location, for different purposes. Often, these systems are old or incompatible, which makes integration difficult.

Analyst Insight: The recent, highly publicized food incidents and drug recalls have eroded public confidence in the FDA's ability to protect consumers from harm. The goal of the new Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, is to restore public confidence in the process. To do so, she is enacting new procedures designed to enforce existing laws.

Analyst Insight: With broad and expandable carrier networks, outsourced service providers seem well positioned to either make educated decisions as a provider of outsourced carrier selection services or to serve as an educator of shippers, to inform them of available options and potentially provide competitive performance information.