The supply chain has helped many companies to weather the recession because it enabled them to react better to either capacity shortage or inventory change, says Simon Ellis, practice director, global supply chain strategies, at IDC Manufacturing Insights. That was largely due to the use of information technology. While cost is always king, investment in the right IT is going to continue.

Getting containers out of China timely and at a fair price is the single-biggest concern of shippers, says Tim Sensenig, executive vice president of Four Soft. But inadequate visibility, government regulations and determining what technology investments to make are very much on the minds of these executives as well.