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

Analyst Insight: For both B2C and B2B, cloud technology is nothing new, but for supply chains the adoption has assumed a more guarded pace. That is to be expected: supply chain professionals are accustomed to operating in a world built on legacy applications and bolt-on point solutions. The promise of the cloud had been elusive, but supply chain systems are beginning to take advantage of the business model changes afforded by cloud solutions. - Guy F. Courtin, Vice President, Research, SCM World

The U.S. has seen a substantial portion of its manufacturing base eroded by cheap overseas production. American workers blame free trade. So why should we speed up the process?

All of a sudden, the future looks bright for nuclear power. Along with that rosy forecast, however, comes a raft of new challenges to the industry's global supply chain.