Buyers and sellers appear generally optimistic about the prospects for trade and the economy this year. Let's hope they're not whistling in the dark.

Analyst Insight: Customer relationship management evolved from contact management, a sales-focused process for suppliers. In many cases, CRM must be rethought; it should be stood on its head, starting with customers' needs and working back to suppliers. Because most companies lack sufficient resources to satisfy every customer, this approach initially leads to frustration. But "every customer totally thrilled" is the wrong objective. To the contrary, it's critical to focus: to "wow" the most profitable customers, and serve them perfectly. Supply chain responses must match segmented and targeted relationships to build satisfaction and profit. - Robert Sabath, Principal Essentialist SCM, Trissential

Analyst Insight: Years ago in the consumer products industry, the "supply chain of the future" looked much like today's supply chain. Industry change was gradual and incremental. But the pace of change today demands a more proactive and aggressive approach to future logistics planning. Market and competitive forces are completely reshaping how supply chains need to operate in the future. There are several opportunities for companies to improve their market position by improving internal operations. - Charles Trimarco, Managing Consultant-Supply Chain Management, Capgemini Consulting

Analyst Insight: In the world today, there are 6.8 billion people; 4 billion have mobile phones. Only 3.5 billion use a tooth brush! There are more U.S. mobile subscriptions than people; 70 percent use their smartphones during their in-store experience! Why should we care in CPG? One fifth of searches are for CPG products. Online-to-offline (O2O) commerce is expected to grow 50 percent over 5 years, outpacing offline commerce and exceeding online ecommerce by over 400 percent (!), according to Forrester Research. - Rich Sherman, Principal Essentialist, Trissential

Collaboration has been an alluring concept in the world of supply chain for years, but many have found that pilots often fail to expand beyond the honeymoon phase. Part of the problem may be trust gaps at the senior executive level that are worse than at lower managerial levels. This is not irrational, but reflects the fact that top executives see a struggle over jointly created value that is less obvious further down the organisation. - Kevin O'Marah, Chief Content Officer and Head of Research, SCM World