Andre Pharand, global management consulting lead for postal and parcel industry with Accenture, reveals the findings of the firm’s new study on creating the sustainable last mile for e-commerce deliveries.

Jonathan Havens and Kermit Nash, partners in the law firm of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP, review the experience of the food and beverage industry in the pandemic, in the form of lessons learned and possible permanent changes to the supply chain.

Bill Currence, president and managing partner of Cornerstone Consulting Organization, tells of the difficulties that manufacturers are experiencing in attracting workers in the midst of the pandemic, and what the employment picture will look like when it’s over.

Dana Watts, counsel with Miller & Chevalier, explains the “first sale” rule for reducing U.S. importers’ duty levels, and discusses whether it remains a viable method for achieving that purpose.

Rich Nanda, principal for strategy and analytics with Deloitte Consulting, traces the pace of adoption of artificial intelligence in business and the supply chain, and predicts that the technology is on the verge of wide acceptance.

Rob Handfield, Bank of America Professor of Supply Chain Management with the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative in the Poole College of Management at North Carolina State University, discusses the reasons behind the current worldwide shortage of ocean containers, and what carriers and manufacturers must do to solve it.

Melinda McLaughlin, head of global research with Prologis, shares the firm’s research into trends in the creation of order-fulfillment centers in urban locations, in response to the stellar growth of e-commerce.

David Simchi-Levi, professor of engineering systems at MIT, brings us up to date on the results of applying a supply-chain “stress test” to companies in multiple industries.

Abe Eshkenazi, chief executive officer of the Association for Supply Chain Management, discusses the findings of a new report by ASCM and the Economist Intelligence Unit, examining how more than 300 publicly listed companies withstood and responded to supply-chain shocks of the last year.

Kevin Keegan, principal with PwC Strategy Consulting, explains the concept and rationale behind the use of dual sourcing of manufactured goods to reduce supply-chain risk.