Aerospace and defense companies face an uncertain world in 2009 with a new presidential administration and a looming financial crisis. Supply chain professionals have a unique opportunity to deliver value to the business by bringing scale through an innovative and reliable partner network. Leaders will put the talent in place that can move beyond the traditional reactionary supply chain organization to one that helps achieve the goals of the business.

In these tough economic times with revenues likely coming up short of expectations, logistics service providers will increasingly be pressured to help lower costs for customers, but not just by squeezing existing rates. Customers need help with lowering network inventories and reducing the total cost to serve by executing demand-driven strategies, enhancing trading partner collaboration, and revisiting the network flows for optimal configuration.

There are a lot of parallels between the logistics software industry and the logistics service provider industry. For example, both have undergone a lot of mergers and acquisitions over the past five years, and companies in both industries are looking to further penetrate the small and mid-sized market. And it's also true that the business models of software vendors and LSPs are converging. But an important distinction still remains between these two industries: one primarily sells "products" and the other primarily sells "services." When times get tough, companies tend to outsource more and spend less, which is why LSPs have historically performed better than software vendors during economic slowdowns. Does this mean that LSPs can breathe easy in 2009? Not exactly.