Analyst Insight: It's no secret that companies in logistics-intensive industries are facing a variety of commercial and operational challenges. For example, consumer products and goods companies experience "margin squeeze," in which they pay more for commodity raw materials but typically are not able to pass along corresponding price increases to retail customers. High fuel prices, increasing wage rates in low-cost countries and concerns over supply chain disruption are causing manufacturers and retailers alike to rethink global sourcing strategies. - Ryan Godsil, Tony Ross, Alex Bajorinas and Jim Morton, all of Ernst & Young LLP

Analyst Insight: The food and beverage industry will see many changes this year. To stay ahead of the curve, food retailers will have to understand that the environment is changing and innovate toward a more flexible omnichannel supply chain. - Tim Pyne, Vice President of Retail, Consumer & Food, Tompkins International

Analyst Insight: The lack of understanding of the supply chain by the financial team is the third-highest obstacle in achieving supply chain performance. The supply chain is a complex system with increasing complexity. Many unknowing financial leaders try to manage it through Excel spreadsheets which is inadequate to truly understand the trade-offs. - Lora Cecere, Founder of Supply Chain Insights

Analyst Insight: The automotive industry is an orchestration of marketing, logistics and product development. This orchestration, which leads to higher complexity and demand, requires that many parts be available in manufacturing and services. And this global and complex way of looking at a problem drives the European automotive industry to operate in Asia, as well as localize their supply chains for sales in Asia. However, the logistics for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) between these two continents sometimes become complex. - Thomas Wiedmann, Managing Director, Europe, Tompkins International

Analyst Insight: Sustainability is a global business megatrend with cross-functional implications that for-profit corporations cannot afford to ignore any more than IT or quality management. Sustainability means balancing environmental impacts, social welfare and profit-making activities to promote value along the so-called "triple bottom line." Given increasingly conscientious consumers and growing limits to resource availability, success in the era of climate change will be reserved for companies that have sustainable supply chains and operations. - Nada Sanders, Professor and Iacocca Chair, Lehigh University; Director of EcoNautics Sustainability Institute

Analyst Insight: EDI continues to grow steadily each year. And with markets in growing economies yet to penetrate (Asia and South America), EDI has had a challenge making a firm beachhead in emerging markets, though EU and North American business partners from the retail, automotive, healthcare and financial services industries, to name a few, rely on and require EDI as their language of trade. - Ann Grackin, CEO, ChainLink Research

Analyst Insight: Sustainability has been on consumer packaged goods executives' minds - and part of their strategic plans - for some time now. In the past, many companies have pursued sustainability because they saw it as the right thing to do. At the same time, sustainability also creates positive morale among employees, helps to meet regulations such as those for emissions, and boosts companies' reputations. But only recently has sustainability truly been connected and aligned with financial performance. - Bruce Tompkins, Executive Director, Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium

Analyst Insight: Even a solid collaborative relationship between the buyer and the supplier can struggle if the consumer somehow gets lost in the cloud or pigeonholed on a complicated supply chain dashboard. The key is to listen to your customers constantly and set up communications frameworks within an adaptable governance structure to include and maintain a customer-centric focus. - Kate Vitasek, faculty, University of Tennessee's Center for Executive Education, and Founder, Supply Chain Visions

Analyst Insight: In a recent supply chain survey conducted by IDC Manufacturing Insights, consumer products manufacturers consider themselves stewards of product quality more frequently than of either cost or service. Interestingly, the gap between companies that consider themselves primarily stewards of product quality versus cost is narrowest for the large enterprise manufacturers, suggesting that for the smaller players, it is the product itself that drives competitive success in the marketplace. - Simon Ellis, Director, Supply Chain Strategies Practice, IDC Manufacturing Insights

Analyst Insight: The CPG industry's supply chain performance is middle of the pack: more mature than chemical or pharmaceutical companies and less mature than high-tech and electronics manufacturing companies. Several factors are at work to shift the processes to improve performance. Focus is shifting from inside-out to outside-in, from a vertical horizontal siloed orientation to horizontal processes that can better sense and respond, and from a supply chain focused only on product delivery to a value network focused on serving the customer. - Lora Cecere, Founder of Supply Chain Insights