A potential labor strike by longshoremen along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts at the end of the year could have devastating economic consequences as inventory depletion, rerouting, hoarding, and price speculation ripple through supply chains of global companies, according to a report from the Marsh research firm.

Import cargo volume at the nation's major retail container ports is expected to increase 3.9 percent in December despite a strike that closed the nation's largest port complex for the first few days of the month, but retailers are keeping a close watch on a possible strike on the East Coast and Gulf Coast, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

Two industry groups have joined to fill the need for a globally harmonized approach to measure and communicate product lifecycles. The Consumer Goods Forum, a global network of more than 400 retailers, manufacturers, service providers and other stakeholders, has partnered with The Sustainability Consortium, which is dedicated to developing science and integrated tools to support informed decision making for product sustainability across the consumer goods industry.

Mike Mulqueen, senior director of product management at Manhattan Associates, talks about the advantages of integrating all aspects of transportation management onto a single platform and how the resulting holistic approach drives value at many levels.

Joey Carnes, CEO of MIQ Logistics, says that changing demographics, especially the aging of global populations, will have a profound impact on consumer-driven supply chains in the next five to 15 years and needs to be given greater weight in supply chain models.

IFS has created a new software module to aid in export compliance in the aerospace and defense market.

Based on its modeling and country risk analytics, D+B predicts sluggish global growth will continue in many markets right into 2013.

You thought you did everything right"”gathered market research and consumer insights; brainstormed, prototyped, and tested a promising new idea; developed detailed financial models and a solid marketing plan. Yet your company's new product or service didn't perform as expected. What did you overlook?