Analyst Insight: In a recent supply chain survey conducted by IDC Manufacturing Insights, consumer products manufacturers consider themselves stewards of product quality more frequently than of either cost or service. Interestingly, the gap between companies that consider themselves primarily stewards of product quality versus cost is narrowest for the large enterprise manufacturers, suggesting that for the smaller players, it is the product itself that drives competitive success in the marketplace. - Simon Ellis, Director, Supply Chain Strategies Practice, IDC Manufacturing Insights

When people are asked to define lean, as often as not the definition centers on waste. But lean isn't all about waste. It is more about building organizations than trimming them. A popular definition is "do more with less."

Analyst Insight: Simply stated, the marketing mission of any business is to profitably create "something" that a customer will buy. The operational objective of the business is to deliver the "something" to the satisfaction of the customer. The financial objective is to charge a fee equivalent to the customer's perceived value while generating a return on the capital investment the business made to create "something." - Rich Sherman, Supply Chain Discipline Expert at Trissential

Analyst Insight: Today's businesses are witnessing the evolution of business process management (BPM) applications to meet new paradigms shaped by user experience and comply with the increased number and complexity of corporate demands. The next generation of BPM applications looks to increase efficiency in all stages of process design and implementation, virtualize the work environment of its users, and enrich the user experience - thereby ameliorating their usage, deployment and development. - Jorge Garci­a, TEC Senior BI and Data Management Analyst, Technology Evaluation Centers

Analyst Insight: The number one strategy for high-impact business performance is organizational and supply chain strategic alignment, coupled with effective supply chain segmentation. The hyper competitive supply chain landscape is a new normal. To compete leading organizations need to restructure in order to breakdown functional silos, create enterprise unification around common goals, and use technology and "big data" to create a "big picture" understanding of organizational goals. - Nada R. Sanders, Professor of Supply Chain Management and Iacocca Chair, Lehigh University

In today's environment of Big Data and analytics, effective supply chain decision-making is only as good as the data influencing the decisions. Drawing actionable conclusions based on the best information possible is critical to maintaining a supply chain that is efficient and effective, but also acts as a continual driver of strategic and competitive advantage. But how can your organization ensure that the data used to draw conclusions and make decisions regarding the supply chain is clean, relevant and accurate?

Analyst Insight: In order for businesses to succeed in an increasingly competitive marketplace, they must find new ways to add value. At John Deere, that means collaborating with dealers to expand the brand from selling equipment to offering solutions that improve the productivity of farming. For leaders in supply chain management, it means developing strategies that create value across the supply chain through innovation, responsiveness and agility. - Robert D. Boyle, Director, John Deere Chair, APICS The Association for Operations Management

FFE Transportation Services Inc. has launched a new guaranteed service for temperature-controlled less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments.

Rear Admiral Mark Heinrich, commander of the Naval Supply Systems Command and chief of the Supply Corps, reveals what it's like to oversee one of the world's most complex and critical supply chains.