Can't wait to ditch that old phone, computer, car or sweater? You're a victim of planned obsolescence.

The so-called platform economy promises to drastically change the nature of work. Is that a bad thing, or a good thing?

The ability to monitor the behavior and condition of one's suppliers depends on having access to hard numbers. But a surprisingly large percentage of companies lack this critical data.

Analyst Insight: It's surprising yet true that not many professionals in supply chain or S&OP are aware of Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC), a critical success factor metric. Many in finance are well aware of the metric. The elements are simple - Inventory Days of Supply + Accounts Receivable Days of Supply - Payables Days of Supply. Why is the metric so foreign and why doesn't everyone in SCM and S&OP use it to measure success? - Gregory Schlegel, executive-in-residence, Center for Supply Chain Research, Lehigh University

Analyst Insight: After 13 years of conducting the Warehousing Education and Research Council’s (WERC) annual DC Measures Study of key warehousing and distribution performance metrics, a pronounced gap remains between "Best-in-Class" and "Major Opportunity" facilities within several key performance indicators. To close that gap by 2020, Major Opportunity warehouses must understand both qualitative and quantitative metrics as they relate to performance improvement. In other words, move beyond the numbers and focus on their processes. –Karl Manrodt, Georgia College & State University; Joseph Tillman, APQC; Steve Murray, Warehousing Education and Research Council; and Michael Mikitka, WERC

Analyst Insight: As consumers' relationship with retailers changes, supply chains need to become more agile and responsive to fulfill the promise of an omnichannel world. Wholesale, retail and e-commerce supply chains, which have grown independently over the years, are merging - but significant transformation is necessary to help make omnichannel execution more profitable. - Parag Jategaonkar, performance improvement principal, Ernst & Young LLP

Analyst Insight: The 2016 DC Measures Study from the Warehousing Education and Research Council shows over 35 percent of respondents report to the C-suite, where interest in logistics performance will only increase. To better communicate to the C-suite, logistics needs to focus on managing and monitoring their performance by concentrating on the three pillars of performance management. In order to be successful, we must think beyond simple short-term results and move towards a better model for managing performance. - Joe Tillman, principal research lead for supply chain, APQC

The cash-to-cash cycle is a key metric for measuring the efficiency of a supply chain. But many companies seem unable to deploy it with success.

Analyst Insight: For the past 13 years we've studied metrics used in DCs across the U.S. During that time we've shared benchmarking data, reporting how some of the best firms use metrics to improve performance. Yet, gaps still exist - and bridging them can lead to greater performance gains. For the past two years, we have been examining how companies are using metrics to align to the strategic objective. The results have been surprising! - Donnie Williams, assistant professor of logistics and supply chain management, Georgia State, and Karl Manrodt, professor of logistics and supply chain management, Georgia State