Analyst Insight: There has been an explosive and exciting level of growth and innovation in the development of new automation solutions for distribution operations, particularly in the areas of full-case and less-than-case automation. It is inevitable that companies in North America and other developing nations will increasingly adopt these solutions as labor markets contract due to the aging population in the decades ahead. - Marc Wulfraat, president, MWPVL International Inc.

Analyst Insight: Every year there are several surveys asking supply chain executives to rank the challenges they face. And, for as long as I can remember, supply chain visibility ranks at or near the top. This year's reincarnation of the control tower metaphor is being applied to supply chain visibility. Can you see me now? If it's so critical, why haven't we implemented it? - Rich Sherman, Supply Chain Discipline Expert at Trissential

Analyst Insight: IBM's recent Chief Supply Chain Officer Report - "The Smarter Supply Chain of the Future" - has pretty much validated our four-year informal polling premise that about 90 percent of all supply chains are not mapped out in any formal approach. IBM's respondents placed supply chain visibility among the Top 5 supply chain challenges. Seventy percent said supply chain visibility is one of their major keys to success - yet the majority of those responding have not addressed the issue! - Gregory L. Schlegel, Vice President, Business Development, SherTrack LLC, and Adjunct Professor, Supply Chain Risk Management, Lehigh University, Graduate Program

Analyst Insight: In 2013, four trends will become hot topics for transportation operations in companies large and small: transportation continuity planning, fuel efficiency and the move to alternative fuels, driver shortages, and transportation category management. - Mario Hegewald and Jim Osborne, Senior Managers in Ernst & Young LLP's Supply Chain Advisory Practice

Analyst Insight: Lately, activity in horizontal collaboration has increased. Although this is still not a scalable practice, the number of studies and pilot projects are growing. While many variations of collaboration exist, all significantly impact transportation management. - Bill Loftis, Senior Principal, Tompkins International

Analyst Insight: In recent years, due to the changing and challenging global economy, there has been much talk about the need to balance natural competitive pressures with collaborative engagement across the supply base. The trick, of course, is how to do both things - competition and collaboration - effectively. I believe it starts with trust. - Kate Vitasek, faculty, University of Tennessee's Center for Executive Education, and Founder, Supply Chain Visions

Analyst Insight: The increasingly hyper-competitive supply chain landscape requires a reassessment of "old" supplier relationships and a paradigm shift. Executives are scrutinizing old business practices, especially those related to supplier management. Manufacturers are reassessing outsourcing engagements and bringing many of them back in-house (termed "backsourcing" or "reshoring") given that many of the original reasons for outsourcing have changed. Increased supplier segmentation will force a reassessment of supplier governance, with leading companies having segmented supplier management strategies. - Nada R. Sanders, Professor of Supply Chain Management and Iacocca Chair, Lehigh University

Analyst Insight: Spend under management and compliance rates are considered key metrics to measure the success of almost any spend management program. Companies that try to achieve those by fiat alone will invariably fall short of their goals. Purchasing organizations are much more likely to succeed if they provide tools and systems that actually make the lives of their business users (the ones who make the purchase decisions) easier, rather than simply piling on more administrative work for the end user. - Bill McBeath, Chief Research Officer, ChainLink Research