Top-performing companies in the food, beverage and household products sectors that leverage the demand chain will be in the best position to continue to grow, according to the 2012 Financial Performance Report by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and PwC US, entitled Profitable Growth: Driving the Demand Chain.

Fair Factories Clearinghouse, a non-profit organization that helps major brands and manufacturers collaborate to ensure cost-effective, well-informed business transactions and improved workplaces worldwide, has enhanced its software and collaboration platform that support a new approach for manufacturing audits.

Brian W. Hagen, managing director of the Decision Empowerment Institute, explains why supply-chain risk management has failed as a decision-making tool for many companies.

Everyone wants their business to grow, to broaden its operations within a territory or country and, eventually, across borders to other countries and continents. However, business expansion abroad entails a great deal of forethought, especially with regard to enterprise software applications.

Top-level executives from more than a dozen major U.S. companies joined with government officials to launch a nationwide public-private sector initiative to advance employment of people with disabilities. The companies and officials plan to work together to achieve common goals, including to identify and resolve employment barriers facing people with disabilities, share experience and best practices, raise visibility around the effort and awareness of the significant benefits, and expand participation.

There is great effort now to make buying electronics in a store appealing again, but the trends are not favorable. People are increasingly buying electronics online, even if they go to stores to examine product features.

As supply management organizations strive to extend their influence throughout the company and impact the bottom line with ever fewer resources, some are turning to managed service providers (MSPs) to make the best use of their organizations' time and talents. MSPs, sometimes called consolidators, can be used for certain spend categories, such as energy or telecommunications, that traditionally have been difficult for mid-sized procurement organizations to manage effectively.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association welcomed Mexico as a negotiating partner in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The TPP is a prospective regional free trade agreement among Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the United States.

The results of a recent survey conducted by the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in conjunction with an international trade association have served to underline the challenges associated with thefts of recyclable metals from containers.

The EPA plans to propose tougher air quality pollution standards for fine particulate matter, or soot, a microscopic particle released from power plants, factories and vehicles.