If you manage factories, airlines, hospitals or farms, you probably know something about the Internet of Things. If you don't, your thoughts on the IoT may start and end with wondering why a coffeepot needs to talk to a toaster. But the fact is that the continuing development of precision technologies could dramatically transform our planet's fundamental infrastructure.

Let's face it: everyone likes to get a good deal on a purchase. For many consumers, saving money on something isn’t just a delightful coincidence: it's a necessity. This reality will also sound very familiar to businesses that are working with limited resources and stretched budgets. The pressure is on to save money on purchasing decisions, and that can make going with the lowest priced option seem like a good idea.

Globalization - that irresistible force that was inevitably, inexorably making the world flat - looks to be in retreat. Trade growth has never recovered to the levels reached before the 2008 financial crisis. Donald Trump is fueling his presidential campaign on fear of free trade and immigration. The economic problems of the U.S., he blasted in a June speech, are "the consequence of a leadership class that worships globalism over Americanism." Then came Brexit, the worst setback for the European Union, that most ambitious experiment in globalization. Money manager Bill Gross said Brexit marks "the end of globalization as we've known it."

E2open, provider of a supply-chain operating network, has acquired Orchestro, a vendor of demand-signal repositories and preemptive analytics for retail and omnichannel fulfillment.

All the technology in the world won't protect you against the myriad of events that can severely disrupt a global supply chain.