True supplier collaboration can drive innovation and value, but success depends upon a foundation of trust that enables partners to effectively deal with such issues as intellectual property rights. Jon Washington, director of product sourcing and global procurement at Diebold, shares his company's approach.

Aberdeen Group's new research reveals that 63 percent of 149 companies with predominant global supply chains have ranked supply chain visibility as a high priority for improvement. It also shows that the top 20 percent best-in-class companies claim to be compliant to GS1 Standards and track supply chain visibility at the item level.