Amazon will open eight new U.S. distribution centers between now and the holiday selling season, bringing the total to 54. The result of the ferocious building spree is that Amazon will then have a DC within five miles of most major U.S. cities. That means Amazon will very likely have a DC closer to your customers than many of your stores.

Rob Nemeth, president of Allied Distribution, shows exactly how rising fuel costs are affecting the movement of goods throughout the distribution chain - and how companies are responding to the trend.

For many companies supply chain innovation (SCI) is a key source of competitive advantage. Yet there is no clear, commonly accepted definition of the concept; one company's SCI is another company's process improvement.

When the MSC Napoli ran aground off the UK's south coast in January 2007, 137 out of the 600 containers it was carrying on deck were at least 10 percent heavier or lighter than was declared on the ship's manifest. In another high-profile accident, the capsizing of the Xpress Container Line vessel Deneb during unloading at Algeciras in June 2011, an even higher percentage of boxes - 64 out of 150 - were not laden as recorded.

O'Reilly Automotive has been on a strong growth path for the past couple of years. Adding to the retailer's success has been its rate of growth and technology evolvement. O'Reilly has been keeping up with the pace of change by replacing its POS transaction engine, integrating promotions and incentives into the new system for a seamless customer experience and enhancing its electronic parts catalog.