Product lifecycle management and line extensions are vital to companies operating in the high-tech industry, perhaps more so than any other industry. However, while many high-tech executives believe they are industry experts in regards to product innovation, confidence wanes in their ability to manage other parts of the product lifecycle, particularly when it comes to managing global product launches.

More than a third of manufacturing firms in the small and mid-sized business (SMB) sector expect the economy to strengthen in the coming six months, while nearly half expect it to remain the same, according to the results of the second annual Sage Manufacturing Survey announced by Sage North America. Respondents also anticipate an increase in orders, production and exports.

I was privileged to accompany the 2001 U.S. Logistics Leaders delegation to Cuba, and ended up being the expedition's recording secretary. The trip diary outlined our activities and contacts, and plunged into observations about supply chain and logistics conditions in the island nation, an inescapable force in the Caribbean Basin, a significant presence among islands it dwarfed, and with a population of some thirteen million. The trip record was published in The Journal of Business Logistics later that year.

D&B announced the launch of its monthly U.S Economic Health Tracker, which provides a multidimensional perspective on the U.S. economy, with insights across key sectors of the U.S. economy, including small business health, total job growth, and overall U.S. business health.

NGO Shipbreaking Platform, a global coalition of organizations seeking to prevent dirty and dangerous shipbreaking practices worldwide, has published the complete list of ships that were dismantled around in the world in 2013. Of the 1213 large ocean-going vessels that were scrapped in 2013, 645 were sold to substandard beaching facilities in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, says the group. Approximately 40 per cent of these ships were EU-owned.

Chemical production is often described, understated as it might be, as a "harsh" operating environment. Machinery, components and workers are subjected to extreme temperatures, pressures and substances as they generate end products that can be used in a multitude of ways.

Just as KFC's China sales began to improve, the spread of bird flu is once again threatening the chicken restaurant's recovery, this time ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday, typically a busy period for the chain. The New Year begins on Friday, Jan. 31.