Why has it taken so long for warehouse-management and warehouse-control systems to move to the cloud? And which of the two is more likely to survive in the years ahead? Kevin Reader, chief marketing officer of Invata Intralogistics, has some answers.

The business of helping people live longer, healthier lives is not taken lightly in any regard. Suppliers to Boston Scientific must guarantee extremely high quality and delivery, because the smallest imperfection or delay could be life-threatening. For this reason, the entire supply chain depends on efficiency and quality. The global indirect sourcing and procurement (GISP) organization at Boston Scientific is responsible for all strategic and tactical procurement of indirect materials and services, using a center-led operating model to organize sourcing around the world.

HighJump Software has forged a strategic alliance with Speech Interface Design (SID) to provide voice-recognition technology to distributors and manufacturers.

Challenge: You can have the greatest system in the world tuned to maximum performance and the implementation could be disastrous if end users haven't been a part of the project and feel like they've had a system thrown at them. For a large, high tech company, over 40 distinct business processes needed to be developed or revamped and coordinated with the WMS.

I.D. Systems Inc., a vendor of wireless technology for managing high-value assets, has introduced a tool for providing insights into the performance of industrial vehicles in manufacturing and distribution facilities.

Cognex Corp. has incorporated 2DMax+ software for barcode reading into its DataMan 100 and 200 fixed-mount readers.

Challenge: A $17 billion medical technologies and services firm approached us in need of a logistically cost-effective way to respond to equipment service calls at medical facilities more quickly. Furthermore, the client's field engineers required fast, easy access to parts and tools availability information.

Challenge: Headquartered in Spain, our client is a global leader in the design, manufacture, distribution, and installation of products and services for renewable energy technology. When they needed a centralized fulfillment center and management system to optimize service and parts replacement in the Midwest, they called on Pilot's proven logistics expertise.