With the emergence of new digital technologies such as Mobility, Big Data, Cloud, Business Intelligence/AI, the IoT, etc., new and more abundant sources of data are available to improve forecasting and demand management. Companies that embrace digital and transform their demand management processes will gain significant competitive advantage. While the traditional statistical forecast may serve a baseline, demand analyses must extend across functions (silos) and include many different sources of causal data. -Rich Sherman, Senior Fellow, Supply Chain Centre of Excellence, Tata Consultancy Services

The fast food chain KFC has been forced to temporarily close most of its U.K. outlets after problems with a new delivery contract led to a chicken shortage.

The world’s biggest container shipping line is trying to stop customers like Amazon.com Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. from becoming competitors in just a few years’ time.

Digital disruptions continue to play an important role in the evolution of retail. The dot-com era of the 1990s begets the dot-com bubble that burst to create the dot-com collapse. By 2003 the few dot-com survivors began playing an important role in retail. By 2010 e-commerce had reached a level of significance creating the term multichannel retail, describing retailers who participate in stores and online. The field has evolved, and entered the era of New Retail. -Jim Tompkins, CEO, Tompkins International and MonarchFx