The English language is full of potentially polarizing statements. But few are more likely to inspire mixed feelings among DC professionals than some facsimile of this: "Our facility is getting a labor management system."

Analyst Insight: While much has been written about demand driven, daily demand variability drives operations crazy. Most current inventory planning and optimization applications are disconnected from daily reality resulting in operations relying on custom spreadsheets and tribal knowledge to reconcile the gaps between plan and actual. In addition, the inventory planning applications are often disconnected from the optimization applications (if implemented at all), further exacerbating the operations conundrum. - Rich Sherman, Supply Chain Discipline Expert at Trissential

Analyst Insight: The worldwide logistics market has experienced a growth rate of approximately 7 percent annually, which is notable given logistics costs average about 12 percent of total revenues globally. Of this total, an average of 46 percent is spent through outsourced relationships, which drove total spend in North America alone to $134bn in 2011. Given this growth and the increasing complexities of global trade, selecting the appropriate services to outsource and structure mutually beneficial relationships with logistics providers is critical. - Aaron Pernat, Senior Manager, and Gary Allen, Executive Director, both in Ernst & Young's Supply Chain Advisory Practice

It seems like a cruel joke. At the same time we hear about the return of manufacturing jobs from Asia to the U.S., we are inundated with stories about the growth of robotics, which threatens to take away those very jobs for good.

Analyst Insight: The talk in outsource circles these days continues to revolve around the need for bigger and better collaboration and innovation. Some articles talk about the end of outsourcing, but what they mean - and a better way to put it - is to think about the end of outsourcing relationships as we know them. - Kate Vitasek, faculty, University of Tennessee's Center for Executive Education. and Founder, Supply Chain Visions

Analyst Insight: With the government of India recently liberalizing foreign investment into the country's retail sector, many global retailers are eyeing the country as the next expansion opportunity. The experience of early entrants into India's organized retail has shown that supply chain inefficiencies are among the top hurdles to profitability. The unique Indian context requires creative sourcing approaches and significant investment in training and retaining local skilled supply chain talent. - Viktoria Sadlovska, Chief Research Officer, Prameya Research