Retailers and their suppliers are under more pressure than ever before to deliver more goods to more destinations faster. To stay competitive, "retailers need to know where things are at all times so they can redirect shipments, rebalance inventories and respond to new demands on the fly," says Rich Becks, general manager, Industry Value Chains, E2open, which delivers cloud-based supply chain collaboration solutions.

A group of very important guests were transported on flight QR 8197 from Amsterdam-Schiphol to Las Vegas via Qatar Airways this past April. A 777-200 freighter was reserved for just 40 well-pampered passengers from 17 different countries, who flew "first class," so to speak, on the 11-hour, 20-minute flight. The combined net worth of these clients was about $160m. As rich as they were, they did little more on the flight than eat and sleep, with an inflight dining menu of 120 pre-packed haynets, water, oat bran for mash, mixed feed, apples and carrots.

Uber and its rivals have transformed the world of personal transportation. Now the concept is beginning to have an impact on the delivery of product ordered over the internet. Lior Sion, chief technology officer of Bringg, traces the progress of the trend.

Automated locker technology is becoming a key aspect of the "click-and-collect" trend in e-commerce retailing. Kent Savage, chief executive officer with Apex Supply Chain Technologies, explains why the concept's time has come.

An old killer app rides again. Radio frequency identification will become a key component of the Internet of Things because it bridges the physical and digital worlds, enabling the identification of objects and linking them to the internet.

Global supply chains will continue to expand in coming years, but at a slower pace than before, and in ways that follow different patterns, according to a report from Standard Chartered Bank.