US Foods has opened a distribution center in Seabrook, N.H., to better serve approximately 3,000 customers throughout the New England area.

While operators need to closely monitor the avian flu, which has caused the destruction of more than 30 million chickens and turkeys, chicken production is up 3.1 percent compared to last year, says DeWayne Dove, vice president of risk management for SpenDifference. This increase in production, coupled with a decrease in exports, has industry experts forecasting a 6 percent decrease in cost versus a year ago. Eggs, however, are in short supply, with prices up more than 10 percent. Tom Turkey breast is up approximately 10 percent.

Ford is one of several carmakers that have adopted the Adept 850 - a passive UHF on-metal tag with an 8.5-meter read range and a 4-meter write range - to store and access data about each manufacturing step.

Creating an ethical supply chain is clearly the right thing to do. But it can also help companies to cut costs and boost profits.