Increased linkage between material and financial flows requires supply chain managers to learn more about topics like working capital optimization, margin and asset utilization, valuation and risk, managerial accounting and cash flows, taxes and transfer prices.

Sales and operations planning is the cornerstone of being demand-driven and a foundational process to propel growth strategies. As companies drive growth-growth in the innovation of new products, growth through expansion into new geographies, and growth in core markets-they must align functions through S&OP.

From government to home solutions, RFID is changing, step by step, our way of working, answering our questions about the world we live in, as well as creating humanitarian solutions that can make a real difference in the lives of those in need. Many negative myths exist about RFID and its applicability, reliability and availability. They are oft repeated by those who have low to no contact with the actual solutions.

RFID is finally becoming the solution that will make integrated supply chain management possible. 2009 promises to be a banner year for the technology, with the introduction of new and more ambitious applications.

In past product lifecycle management research, we asked manufacturers why they think product launches fail-the reason most often cited was that the product doesn't meet customer needs. While still within the top three, not meeting customer needs has been replaced in this year's spending study by a new top challenge: higher than projected costs.

Because of margin and market growth pressures, life sciences supply chains are more dynamic than ever before. In 2009, best practice companies will continue to put in place data analysis processes and "human knowledge" collection procedures to spot red flags and safety risks in their end-to-end supply chains.

The instability of the international container shipping sector, capacity withdrawal on some routes and "slow steaming" practices will expose exporters and importers to greater risks.

The focus on green network design allows companies to reach to the core of the green supply chain movement by optimizing resources and reducing waste.