Analyst Insight: The issue of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indian retail has been in the headline news over the past few years. However, little media attention has been paid to the supply chain aspects of foreign retailers setting up shop in the country. The entrance of new foreign retailers into India will have a positive impact on domestic retail supply chains, bringing in global best practices, technological know-how and strengthening the position of local small suppliers. - Viktoria Sadlovska, Managing Director, Prameya Research, & Lead Author of the Pragmatic Value Chains Blog

Analyst Insight: Next-day delivery is the new normal. And fulfillment windows are compressing even further as companies like Amazon continue to raise customer expectations. But companies wrestle with what level of service makes sense, and how to justify investments. It's not about making every process in the DC faster. It's a delicate balance of revenue gains and improved customer service against investment and operating costs. - Helgi Thor Leja, Industrial & Electrical Industry Leader, Fortna Inc.

Analyst Insight: A number of factors are drawing increased attention to the order-to-cash (OTC) process. Achieving a perfect order, one that is filled to completion and arrives at the customer undamaged and properly documented, is under stress from doing new ways of business and increasing customer expectations. - Alex Bajorinas and Jim Morton, both Senior Managers, Ernst & Young LLP

Lean is one of the biggest management ideas of the past 50 years. No less than Ford's original assembly line, it has transformed how leading companies think about operations - starting in assembly plants and other factory settings and moving more recently into services ranging from retailing and health care to financial services, IT, and even the public sector. Yet despite lean's trajectory, broad influence, and level of general familiarity among senior executives, it would be a mistake to think that it has reached its full potential.

I'd like to propose a symbol for those huge new vessel-sharing alliances that will dominate the global container trades this year and beyond: a great big question mark.

Analyst Insight: Industrial manufacturing includes a broad range of sub-verticals. Given the current global uncertainties, these companies are focusing on manufacturing and supply chain excellence while trying to grow their top lines. This will not stop the leaders from looking at many exciting new technologies that are emerging. The "manufacturing renaissance" going on is as likely to be around new technologies adopted as around where the manufacturing takes place. - Robert Eastman, Senior Analyst, Technology Evaluation Centers